'Nobody knew what to do': Dude gets fired for harassment, uses job as a reference anyways

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Jul 2, 2023 12:00 PM EDT

If you were ever to get dismissed from a role for a serious infraction, it would be common sense never to use that role as a reference—yet, doing so speaks to the delusional fantasy world you must live in that got you into trouble in the first place.

Whilst working as a retail manager, there was one person I ever had to fire for misconduct. Surprisingly, when that person then applied to our competitor months later, they used me as a reference… without giving me as much as a warning first. My reaction was much the same as the people in this story; I'm sure my shocked silence, as I was trying to make heads of what was happening, said more than any of the words that came out of my mouth afterward. There were some red flags when we hired them; a reference we received hinted at all the red flags that ended up occurring during their time with us—if we had read between the lines.

I'm still not certain whether or not this person was just banking on the fact that the job they were applying for wouldn't check references. Still, this is—and will always be—a bold move. If you ever find yourself in this position–ending a job on poor terms—maybe just leave it off your resume if you can, or find some other way to explain the lack of reference.

Read on for this story of workplace insanity. Next, check out this employee who complained and outed themselves after IT deleted illicit files off their computer.

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