'She took credit for all my work': 10 Workers share stories about the worst bosses they ever worked for

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Sep 12, 2023 12:00 PM EDT

As they say: It takes all kinds. It's our differences, our unique skills, perspectives, and experiences, that make us who we are, distinctive in our approach and demeanor from the other folks. The sum of our parts makes us decidedly better at different things, and when we band together, there's no telling what we can accomplish.

While that's all feel-good and hunky-dory, and while we should always seek never to judge, it's worth recognizing that, sometimes, these unique traits come together to create something that's not altogether pleasant. I mean, it's not as if any of us are perfect saints, but it doesn't take perfection for you to not be foul to others—yet, some people are just are… Selfish and cruel, with idiosyncrasies that are grating, antisocial, or worse.

And, when you find yourself working for one of these people, you'd better buckle up (and make sure any other safety restraints are properly secured) because you're going to be in for the ride of your life… and it won't be over as soon as you would like. These people make the worst bosses, and when you're working for them, you might find yourself exposed to a range of terrible and stress-inducing experiences.

Here are ten stories from workers who shared their experiences of the worst people they ever worked for. Peruse them below, and if you feel inclined, let us know your own story in the comments.

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  • 01
    Gesture - "At my old job, my boss would give me difficult projects from difficult clients. When I finished the project, she would go into the system and add her initials (whoever does the work has to initial after every step) and take off mine."
    via Arlington Research
  • 02
    Font - Who is the most insufferable a hole you've ever worked with?
    via u/Woodchipper_AF
  • 03
    Font - I_am_dean At my old job, my boss would give me difficult projects from difficult clients. When I finished the project, she would go into the system and add her initials (whoever does the work has to initial after every step) and take off mine. Then she would go to her supervisor and be like, "Look what I did! Hehe!" And she would get all the credit. When I finally figured out she was doing that, I wouldn't let her know when I was done, and I would personally submit my work to her supervis
    via u/Woodchipper_AF
  • 04
    Font - natureismyhappy Lady tried to get me fired and was totally harassing me - it backfired and she was escorted out by HR. I've been with my company for almost ten years now. See you never 1.0k ↓ Reply Share ●●●
    via u/Woodchipper_AF
  • 05
    Font - Corgon Matt, the new VP of operations decided that everything about our company needed to change, including undermining my role, essentially taking over my team, and started implementing these incredibly micro managing processes that nearly halved our productivity, then blamed it all on me. He then proceeded to place our junior as the team lead and left me on my own island. It really felt like he was trying to get me to leave and well, he got what he wanted. FO you, Matt. Reply Share 527
    via u/Woodchipper_AF
  • 06
    Font - rockit454 Dave. Dave is a guy who thinks he's much smarter than he is. He's been with the same company for 20 years and has worked his way up the ladder at a small company, where he now leads Operations. He's a control freak and micromanager and this job is pretty much all he has in life. He will do anything and everything to block progress and innovation and will ruthlessly stab anyone in the back who gets in his way. Sometimes I have pity on Dave because this job is as good as it's ever
    via u/Woodchipper_AF
  • 07
    Font - SureTechnology696 I worked for a company that paid you for the mileage for using your own car. They found out someone was logging hundreds of hours a week unnecessarily to get paid. I logged my time, but cheated myself out of 11 miles (.23 cents per mile) due to inverted last two digits. The manager wrote it up, documented and sent it to the home office. Didn't make any attempt to reimburse me. Same company. I was getting bonuses for being the top sales rep. every month. The manager fired
    via u/Woodchipper_AF
  • 08
    Font - curryp4n My new current 2 bosses. Both complete idiots. Both of them ask me questions that shouldn't be asked to the lowest ranking employee in the group. They ask me how to run metrics, how to respond to clients, etc. I suspect they do this because my higher ranking teammates will judge them. This alone doesn't make them a Coles. What makes them acoles is they load me with a ton of work (enough for 5 people) and then complain to me that I'm not meeting metrics. I had no problems meeting
    via u/Ekudar
  • 09
    Font - edgarpickle Sierra. Sierra knew the answer to every single question, had better ideas than you, had done more than you had done, tried everything that you thought of, seen more a problems than you had, and just all around was an insufferable know-it-all. Everything had to be done exactly the way she wanted it to be done even if it didn't need to be done that way, it still had to be done that way because that's the way she wanted it. She micromanaged everyone around. I was so happy when sh
    via u/Woodchipper_AF
  • 10
    Font - Munson4657 Guy that I worked with on a cabinet door assembly line. One night we got done about 30min early and this guy throws a fit. How is he going to pay his bills if they send us home early ect ect. Two nights later we had to work about 45min late. This guy starts throwing a even bigger fit. No one helps us, whining we have to work overtime ect ect lol. ↑ 1.2k ↓ Reply Share
    via u/Woodchipper_AF
  • 11
    Font - itsshakespeare David. When anyone went into David's room, he would make them wait to speak to him, depending on how important they were. So his boss didn't have to wait at all; his equals and his secretary would wait until he finished the sentence. I was the new start and sometimes I would wait ten minutes - and if I tried to leave, he would stop me and make me wait even longer. FO you, David 761 Reply Share
    via u/Woodchipper_AF
  • 12
    Font - miz_moon Linda. She threw a chair across the office after having an argument with another colleague as to who was working on a Saturday. ↑ 106 ↓ Reply Share
    via u/Woodchipper_AF

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boss workplace-stories jobs work workplace Horrible Bosses funny-work-stories fun-work-stories employment ask reddit
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