Restaurant Workers Share What Caused A Coworker To Be Fired On The Spot

This Guy Was Pretty Stupid

“My mom has a milk allergy. She’s not lactose intolerant, she’s actually allergic to milk.

We were getting food at McDonald’s and she was very clear that she can’t have cheese on her burger because of the allergy. Low and behold there was cheese on her burger. She tried to be cool about it and just asked the guy for a new burger, so he sighs and says, ‘fine.’ Kinda weird but whatever.

He brings her back the same burger but with the cheese scraped off. It was a hot burger so there was melted cheese on most of the ingredients. Now she’s mad and demands to talk to a manager. The employee didn’t know that the manager heard her request and started walking over. The employee says, ‘I don’t have to do anything for you ‘witch” and turns around right into a furious looking manager.

We saw him storming out the back with no uniform as we left.”

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You Can’t Have This Guy Around

“I am a server at an Italian restaurant. A coworker tried hitting on a guest who was celebrating her 14th birthday with her entire family. Fourteenth! He was around 20/21.

Her friends were telling him not to try anything but he still asked for her number and her mom overheard everything. The mother quickly informed our GM who confronted the server and fired him on the spot.

About a year or so later he tried asking for his job back.”

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He Should Have Been Arrested

“The guy urinated in the Caesar salad bucket, the salad that was about to be plated and served to a 125 person wedding reception. In the employee’s defense, he asked to go to the bathroom and the head chef would not let him leave the salad station.

Luckily this place stocked romaine lettuce by the truckload, so they simply prepped a whole new batch of salad. Another sous chef called in sick (hence the reason this guy wasn’t allowed to leave the salad station) so the head chef appointed one of the bartenders to make the salads instead.

Still, I’ll admit that I never ate at that restaurant after that happened. This was part of the reason. As far as I know, the head chef worked there for many more years before the business got sold/closed. He was a great cook, but crazy strict on his sous chefs and dishwashers, thus he wasn’t very respected by his staff.”

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A Guy Gets The Poor Guy Fired

“A waiter got fired after our meal, I actually felt sorry for him!

To fully appreciate this story, the whole thing involves events outside the meal.

This friend who is a girl (Steph) was around 26 and never had a boyfriend yet. Another friend (Fiona) invited 10 friends for a birthday dinner at Olive Garden. It turns out Steph’s mother worked at that Olive Garden and knew that one of the waiters there was young and single. Steph didn’t want to get set-up or anything so the whole thing was kinda embarrassing for her, but her mother kept insisting that she at least see/interact a bit with him.

I’m not sure if Steph’s mother managed to assign him to be our waiter or if it just happened naturally, but it happened. We had a long table, one side facing the wall. Fiona and her boyfriend were on the inside (so the wall was behind their backs), Steph was on the end, my girlfriend and I were on the outside across from Fiona and her boyfriend.

The young/single waiter seemed nice enough, he wasn’t overly making conversation with Steph or anything awkward but he did acknowledge that he knew Steph’s mother. Now, in my opinion, the server didn’t do anything wrong but I think Fiona’s boyfriend was a little demanding as if he expected fine-dining service. Little things like ‘he should have brought the drinks out by now’ or ‘we asked for something 5 minutes ago, do we have to ask again?’

When the meals were ready and brought out to the table, the plates were given to each person one by one and placed in front of them. Now, remember I said Fiona and her boyfriend were on the inside so the waiters couldn’t really serve the plate from behind them. So in this case, the people who were sitting inside were given their plates from across the table. Even so, the waiter was placing the plates in front of people. When it was Fiona’s turn she and her boyfriend both reached up to grab the plate but it was hot and she recoiled a bit. Fiona’s boyfriend took personal offense to this and was in visible anguish that this happened to her. To me, it seemed like Fiona kinda shrugged it off like yeah it was hot but it is not THAT big of a deal.

We aren’t a loud group and although I am making Fiona’s boyfriend out to be very demanding, he’s still calm and polite when explaining things to the manager. He airs out all his grievances with the last straw being that the plate was hot and the waiter didn’t even say ‘careful it’s hot’ when giving it to them, but from my point of view I felt like they reached out for nothing since he was placing plates in front of people without them needing to touch it in the first place. It really seemed like they were creating their own problems that night.

So because Fiona’s boyfriend was polite (but upset) while explaining everything, I think the manager took it very seriously and immediately assigned a different server to us. (I’m thinking oh-no! cause I wanted to see some drama develop between him and Steph)

At the end of the night, the manager fired that waiter. Yes, all because he didn’t say ‘careful it’s hot.’

I’m just thinking WOW that must have been one terrible night for all those involved. Steph’s mom must have felt awful, the waiter must have felt even worse. To me, this seemed to stem from things that were not a big deal at all. I mean the server might not have been A++ service but my dude, this is Olive Garden, he was nice and didn’t spit in my food, what more do you need?”

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He Couldn’t Leave Well Enough Alone

“I was having dinner in a diner one night. As a woman was leaving the restaurant the server called her a cheap ‘witch’ for leaving a small tip. He then proceeded to follow her out the door talking smack about how he hates people that don’t tip well. He didn’t realize her husband was outside. Husband tells him to bugger off. The waiter throws a punch and the husband beats him up.

The manager saw what was going on and called the cops while screaming at the waiter that he was fired. I was looking for a job at the time. When everything calmed down I asked the manager if he was hiring. He laughed hysterically and hired me on the spot.”

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A Delivery Idiot

“I was the manager of a pizza place while in College and had to fire one of my delivery drivers on the spot. A lady came in with a grocery bag full of trash, including many of our receipts. Told us that the delivery guy dumped it out from his car onto her lawn. I comped her some things and told her I would take care of it.

I confronted the guy when he got back from his deliveries and asked him if it was true. The conversation went a little like this:

Me: ‘Hey man, we had a lady come in with a bunch of trash and said you dumped it on her lawn. Is that true?’

Him: ‘Yeah…’

Me: ‘Did she not tip you or something? What happened?’

Him: ‘No, my car was just dirty.’

Me:’So you just emptied all of your trash into her yard?’

Him (shrugging): ‘yeah’

Me: ‘Dude? What the heck? I can’t even comprehend why you would think that was ok, even if she didn’t tip you. The fact that you just did it ’cause your car was dirty’ is even more insane. I can’t have an employee with that little judgment. Hand me your money so I can count you out. You’re fired.'”

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Her Firing Fixed Nothing

“I’m a health inspector in California. More specifically, I inspect food trucks (mostly, normal restaurants, too). One of the requirements in California is that all food facilities must have hot water of 120°F when in operation, fixed location or truck. Failure to have even warm water (100°+) is an immediate closing.

So, I show up to this one truck that has a long history of not having warm water, working refrigerators, or even basic cleanliness. Low and behold, no hot water. No warm water. None of the refrigerators worked. I measured the temperature of everything in that truck and it was all 70°+ Fahrenheit. Even without the water issue, I had enough violations that I was going to close the truck.

The owner shows up and I reviewed the report with him, inform him that he’s being closed. For whatever reason (his history, I guess) he gets stuck on the hot water issue. He says that his female employee forgot to turn the water heater on. She always forgets to turn it on. I’m writing a few notes down on his report when he walks a few feet away and fires the girl. Sends her home crying. He then walks back over to me and says that he fixed the problem so he doesn’t need to be closed now.

He thought that firing the girl was the only fix he needed.

Imagine how angry he was when I still closed his truck. Imagine how much angrier he got when I made him throw away, and I’m not lying, over 350lbs of meat that he purchased the day before and stored in the refrigerators that didn’t work. Now, imagine one last time how much angrier still that he became when I then proceeded to pour bleach over all the meat because I knew he would try to fish it out of the trash when I left.

Now imagine how angry I was that he wasted so much food because he couldn’t maintain his freaking refrigerators.”

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Being Rude To Customers Is Never Smart

“I used to work in a hotel with a continental breakfast.

The owner of the hotel came in for a meeting with the managers and wanted to grab some breakfast before it was cleaned up because breakfast had just ended. He went in and the girl working breakfast told him to get out of the breakfast area. Now people are allowed to stay in the breakfast area but she was trying to kick him out for some reason and was being rude about it. He responded with ‘excuse me?’ and she swore him up and down and threatened to forcefully remove him herself. Fired on the spot.

I would say she may have been having a bad day but she was always a moody person. I was glad to see her go especially since she filed a false report and had me written up because I refused to let her yell at me and blame me for something I didn’t do.”

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Dodging Hard Work

“In high school, I worked at Perkin’s, first as a dishwasher, then as a cook. One night, I was the only cook, and the dishwasher was getting close to leaving. I told him to finish the dishes currently up, then he could go.

After he left, I found several hours worth of silverware in the trash, covered with a light layer of food to hide it. I called his house and told him not to come back. I had no power, but he really needed to be fired and it felt good to do it. Officially, he was a no-show, since I couldn’t actually fire him.

The next night, I told the assistant manager what had happened and what I did, so he called in a replacement and everyone was happy.”

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A Shocking Scene

“Funniest thing ever.

A coworker (we’ll call him S) who has been serving at the restaurant for decades apparently comes in one day and looks absolutely trashed. Not like ‘woke up this morning and drank’ but drank all night and is still feeling it. To make matters worse he had to train this new girl as a server.

About 10 minutes in I can see he’s having trouble keeping orders and carrying food. Later I find the trainee just standing still. I asked where S was and she said she thought he went to the bathroom. This trainee didn’t do anything for like 20 minutes because S was missing. When I walk into the kitchen I see one of my coworkers wiping something off of S’s pants.

I had to use the bathroom badly so I went upstairs and walked in. I opened the stall and there was poop everywhere. On the toilet, floor. There was a smeared handprints on the wall. It looked like a murder scene but the blood is replaced with poop. Immediately I go downstairs and tell my coworker (the one wiping something off of S’s pants) about upstairs. His face was priceless when he figured out he was wiping poops off of his pants. Later on, S ended up messing up so many orders that one of the managers just up and fired him.”

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Doesn’t Sound THAT Bad For A Waffle House

“I worked at Waffle House. A cook came in for the first time in weeks (clearly high on something) not wearing shoes. The manager goes to tell him that he can’t cook without shoes because it’s a health code violation. The cook gets angry, takes a pork chop off the grill with his spatula, shouts ‘EFF You’ and flings it at the manager’s face.

You should’ve seen the managers face afterward. The pork chop was hot enough from the stovetop that it burned his face a bit. Imagine having a pork chop shaped burn on your cheek.

Seriously, you would not believe the kind of crap that flies though at Waffle House. Another coworker of mine once blacked out from taking pills in the middle of a shift and faceplanted onto the waffle iron while it was on. She burned a grid mark into her face. No one cleaned the iron.”

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At Least He Was Honest?

“I worked at a restaurant that was having a meeting with everyone present, including the higher-ups.

Pretty normal meeting and everyone is discussing changes they’d like to see or changes they’d appreciate, etc.

At one point the head manager asks if anyone else has something to share. This one dishwasher raises his hand and says, ‘I know I’ve not always been the best, but I’m gonna work on that. From now on I won’t get high in the stairwell by the dumpster. I’ll walk down the street on my break. You won’t even smell it on me anymore, promise.’

Dead silence in the room. The manager speaks up ‘did everyone else just hear that?’ We all nod. ‘Great, so now I have to look like a jerk and fire you. What were you thinking?’

The dishwasher is shocked. ‘But, but I said I was fixing it. You guys won’t even know anymore!’ He was walked out and removed in front of the whole staff.”

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The Worst Person In The World

“I worked in a restaurant. A customer yelled at a waitress for giving him unsweet tea instead of sweet. ‘Stupid, idiot, useless’ etc. The bartender had accidentally swapped the tea decanters, wasn’t even her fault.

She comes back into the kitchen, crying, and telling us all what happened and we’re all sighing and telling her that he’s just a jerk and not to feel bad about it. One of the line cooks clears his sinuses and spits into the customer’s gumbo then stirs it up.

The kitchen manager fired him right then and there. Told him to get out and to never come back. ‘I don’t know how many times you’ve done this or if you’ll do it again. I can’t have this stuff back here. Never work in a kitchen again!’

Top of the shift, too.

Dude deserved to get fired. Never mess with someone’s food like that. Kick them out, don’t spit in their food. That’s horrible.”

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Instant Karma

“I was 21 and a hostess at a fine dining restaurant. For some reason, even though I was well versed on the seating chart and was careful to make sure it was fair, (2,4 and 6 tops equally spread out), this one girl had it out for me.

She came up to the hostess stand and SCREAMED: If I ever sat another kid or old person in her section she’d let me have it!

I went to the general manager and told him I’d quit. It was either her or me.

He fired her on the spot.

She threw a full-on tantrum and called me every name in the book.

Good freaking bye.

I ended up working as a server and then to bar manager over the 10 years that I worked there. She was on their ‘crap list’ per se. They just needed a reason to fire her.”

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Everyone’s Least Favorite Person

“She was a piece of work.

She never worked. She called out 2 weekends in a row, lying about broken legs or her car not starting. She lied to get other employees in trouble for her mess ups. She bragged about how much work she got out of to the owner’s son, who also worked there. We couldn’t convince the GM to fire this lazy little turd. He had a soft spot for her. Finally, someone showed the GM a Facebook post she made public absolutely trash talking him, the only person at work who didn’t hate her guts, and lying about how much she works and how the entire store is incompetent except her. He wrote her up for poor conduct, unexcused call outs, etc. She refused to sign the write up because she’s right that he was worthless and he fired her right there.

It was like a 160lb weight got lifted off of everyone there. 90% of the staff was looking for new jobs. She was a walking toxic cloud.”

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He Was Wasted When He Showed Up On His First Day

“When I was working at this Japanese restaurant we had to fire one of the new cooks his first day because he showed up wasted.

I actually had to go pick him at the bus station because I was the delivery driver. When I pulled up there I saw him finishing a tall boy of Bud Light. I was thinking, ‘Oh man, this might not be good.’ He got in the car and seemed okay, so I offered him some gum which he accepted and thanked me for.

When we got to the restaurant, I didn’t see much of him because I was out in the front, but man did I hear a lot. While the owner Carol and the other cooks were training him on what to do, he kept messing up and knocking things over. Carol was a really intense person (a crazy witch most would say) and liked to berate people at first, but I have never seen her as mad as when this guy accidentally lit a rag on fire.

That was it, she screamed, ‘You’re fired, get out!’ She had me drive him back to the bus station, which was one of the most awkward car rides I have ever had.”

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She Tried To Kill Someone

“I work at a popular ice cream store. This girl was just horrible, but we couldn’t afford to lose an employee due to being short staffed. This lovely afternoon, we were rather busy. After lunch rush, a very nice woman comes in and explains that she had an allergy to nuts. No problem. In the case of an allergy, we just go make the ice cream in the back with clean spades and ice cream that hasn’t been touched yet to assure nothing has come into contact with it.

On a busy day, it’s honestly a bit of a hassle, but it’s our job to do it. Besides, this woman was really nice. Horrible employee girl gets the job of making it. She’s complaining the whole time, saying it was taking too long and how people with allergies shouldn’t even be in an ice cream store. I ignore her and continue with the rush. I wonder what is taking her so long, so I hurry back to the kitchen to check on her. I find her being SCREAMED at by my boss.

Apparently, she didn’t believe the woman was actually allergic to nuts, she just wanted to make things difficult for the employees. So she decided to sneak small amounts of peanut butter in this woman’s ice cream. My boss caught her in the act, said she could have killed the poor woman, and fired her on the spot. We don’t have the space for employees who don’t take allergies seriously.”

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