'[He] has been fired for stealing pancakes': 30 Foolish reasons workers got fired

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Feb 4, 2024 3:00 PM EST

You can push the limits all you want, but you'd better be prepared for the consequences. 

Some people work at the same place for so long that they get a little too comfortable. They start to feel immune to workplace rules and regulations. If you catch them bending the rules, they'll probably just give you a wink and a nudge because they think the higher-ups will have their back. Having friends in high places does help, certainly. But some people get fired for the silliest reasons anyway. For one example, a worker was fired for plugging her phone into her computer after being repeatedly warned not to. Sure, that seems like a very dumb reason to get the boot, but there were security protocols being broken. Other people who replied to this question had some way more shocking reasons they were let go. People shared stories of reasons they or their coworkers were let go in response to u/qwerty_sux's question, "What is the dumbest reason why someone at your workplace got fired?" A lot of the time the employees were clearly at fault, but sometimes the companies were just being very strict about their workplace rules. 

After you read through these strange and hilarious stories, read about the exact opposite scenario: these workers shared the reasons they quit their terrible jobs on the spot. 

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  • 01
    What is the dumbest reason why someone at your workplace got fired?
    via u/qwerty_sux
  • 02
    POOL captainmagictrousers 22 hr. ago A coworker infested the office with fleas, but he didn't get fired until he did it a second time. The first time it happened, the boss closed down the office and had an exterminator come in, and told the guy "Here's a laptop. You telecommute now." It turned out, he lived in a trailer with over a dozen stray cats. He kept taking in these strays and just not doing anything for them - no shots, no flea treatments, not even a
    via u/captainmagictrousers
  • 03
    bath. So pretty soon, the whole place was infested with fleas. He just didn't realize how bad it was because he was on some cocktail of medications that made him smell odd. Apparently the smell made the fleas not want to bite him. They just got in his clothes and he carried them to work. After a few days, he was already complaining to my boss that the laptop didn't work right. My boss tried to send me to this guy's trailer to fix whatever was wrong, but I said I would rather quit than set foot i
    via u/captainmagictrousers
  • 04
    So he told my coworker to just deal with it himself. A couple weeks later, the guy came in to the office to pick up his paycheck. In the 30 seconds he was inside, he infested the place again. After that, everyone threw a fit. The boss only fired the guy to avoid a full-scale revolt.
    via u/captainmagictrousers
  • 05
    bromosabeach. 22 hr. ago New office assistant was asked to drop some laptops off at Fedex to be shipped. Come to find out she literally just walked in, saw the line was too long and just left them on the counter. She expected FedEx to know what to do with them. We have no idea what happened to them. They decided to keep her, which was a mistake because she ended up emailing all of our competitors highly sensitive information by mistake.
    via u/bromosabeach
  • 06
    scissorslizardspock 21 hr. ago Dude I worked with at an outdoor retail store lit off a can of Bear Spray, indoors, during business hours. I wasn't there at the time, but as the Outdoor Supervisor, I got called in to deal with the mess. Thankfully, the idiot fired it into a corner behind the gear counter, so he mostly got himself. However, Bear Spray comes out in a kind of dense fog, unlike "regular" pepper spray that comes out in a stream.
    via u/scissorslizardspock
  • 07
    The whole store had to be evacuated and it took like 4 bottles of neutralizer to get the carpet "clean" again. Dumb Dumb claimed he dropped it by accident, but the security camera showed him very clearly popping the safety and hitting the thumb trigger. During his out-processing, the GM and I showed him the video and asked what was actually going through his head. He said:
    via u/scissorslizardspock
  • 08
    "I wanted to see how bad it was. It was really bad" The intrusive thoughts won, I guess. Last I heard, the dummy had bought a tow-truck and started a towing business.
    via u/scissorslizardspock
  • 09
    Captain_Coco_Koala · 22 hr. ago Did a minor safety infraction 10 minutes into the job, I pointed it out. He stormed off saying "Nobody tells me what to do".
    via u/Captain_Coco_Koala
  • 10
    Regnes 22 hr. ago I work for the Canada Revenue Agency, and we are instructed to never look at our own file upon being hired and told in no uncertain terms that it will be immediately flagged and would be the end of your career. At least once a year around tax season I will get a memo reminding us of this because several people looked up their own file.
    via u/Regnes
  • 11
    Plugging your phone into your computer is also a big no-no because it can store information or compromise the network, I get yearly reminders about that too. I once watched a co-worker plug her phone in, I told her to take it out, but it was too late and she was escorted out within the hour.
    via u/Regnes
  • 12
    goth-milk 21 hr. ago She already had a few trips to HR and then got moved to another department at another site. She went out to her car to go to lunch, then came back into the office. She then claimed someone put a note on her car in the parking lot that read: "Get out of town, racial epithet."
    via u/goth-milk
  • 13
    Hands note to supervisor. She got loud in the office area, started to list off names of who she suspected, and everyone heard what was going on. HR pulls her into a meeting later that afternoon and says "we had security pull the video recording of the parking lot for the first 4 hours of the day...do you wish to change your story?" She was let go immediately.
    via u/goth-milk
  • 14
    Head_Crash 22 hr. ago . They thought there was 10 inches in a foot, and did a bunch of over-height trucking permits wrong (example: writing 13.6 feet at 13 feet 6 inches) and ended up delaying the shipment of a crane for a critical construction job which got the entire trucking company blacklisted.
    via u/Head_Crash
  • 15
    red_dawn 22 hr. ago. edited 20 hr. ago Had a coworker who had a princess mentality. She thought she could do whatever she wanted one day and decided to test the waters. She decided to start leaving early without clocking out. The first one or two times people were fine doing it for her because maybe she was forgetful. However, she'd leave at 12-1 and then text someone around 5-6p to log her out.
    via u/red_dawn
  • 16
    Then it became repetitive. Leadership didn't do Then one day - she walked into the office kitchen, took someone's lunch out of the fridge and decided it was hers. She saw it was a sandwich but wasn't sure what it was and literally walked up to the very coworker whose lunch she stole and asked him 'Hey what's in this sandwich?' She didn't know it was his.
    via u/red_dawn
  • 17
    Lost his That's what got her. Asking someone what was in the sandwich she stole. Asking the very person who made that lunch. They finally decided to get her for timeclock fraud too.
    via u/red_dawn
  • 18
    Shahfluffers 21 hr. ago. edited 12 hr. ago I saw someone get let go because they didn't have a "good attitude." For context: Myself and a few other people had just been hired for an entry level accounting job. Those first few weeks/months were... rough. The CFO had a tendency of greeting newer people without telling them who he was. One would never expect this guy to be in C-Suite by the way he dressed. He didn't
    via u/Shahfluffers
  • 19
    even have a LinkedIn profile, so unless one dug around it was hard to figure out who he was. Anyways, he stopped by our pod and greeted us. Asked us how we were doing. One guy made the mistake of being honest and said that he was tired. And not in a cheery way. I didn't blame him. We were all tired.
    via u/Shahfluffers
  • 20
    The next day this guy was "let go." I overheard later from a gossiping supervisor that the CFO hated "bad attitudes" and made it a point to remove them from the company whenever possible. Since then I have been extra- guarded about how I respond to questions whenever I join a new company until I learn who to trust.
    via u/Shahfluffers
  • 21
    No-Rip5491 20 hr. ago Years ago I worked at a movie theater that had a coffee bar inside. On Thanksgiving one year, a guy working the coffee bar got himself a serving of whipped cream to eat with the thanksgiving meal we provided for everyone. He was suspended immediately for theft, then fired.
    via u/No-Rip5491
  • 22
    allennathan 21 hr. ago The company I worked for moved to a new office in a different building. the owners of the building served everyone lunch as a welcome gift. There were several platters of food. At the end of one of my coworkers shift, she took a whole platter home with her, without permission. This was before half the staff were able to have any of it. The next day she came in she was fired. She honestly didn't think she did anything wrong. It was for her kids.
    via u/allennathan
  • 23
    cejiv 22 hr. ago I just heard that a guy at my company was fired on the spot when he was caught with a stack of other employees badges. He was badging each one in at the door so the other people didn't have to come in to the office that day.
    via u/cejiv
  • 24
    Tb182kaci 21 hr. ago Called in and said he was going to be late because he had a job interview at another company.
    via u/Tb182kaci
  • 25
    jelloslug 22 hr. ago We have a machine shop and had just hired a new machinist. On his second day, he stole a bar of metal at the end of his shift. When confronted about it, he said he sold it for scrap. The scrap value of the bar was less than he made per hour.
    via u/jelloslug
  • 26
    ScrewAttackThis. 21 hr. ago Dude made a coworker uncomfortable by asking her out and not taking no for an answer. She mentioned something to HR in passing and they jumped on it. He was told to not contact her for any reason until HR can work out what to do (basically just over the weekend).
    via u/ScrewAttackThis
  • 27
    He contacts her and got fired on the spot. I talked with him about it after and he just did not understand what he did wrong. Worst part is he was planning on showing up to a work event even though he was fired. Thankfully he at least took my advice to not do that.
    via u/ScrewAttackThis
  • 28
    elevenghosts 22 hr. ago She had a heated disagreement with a coworker whose mother was a VP. Apparently, there were other reasons but everyone knew the catalyst to termination was the argument.
    via u/elevenghosts
  • 29
    17 SEM Guardian-Boy · 21 hr. ago . Worked at a grocery store for my first job. Friend got fired for Not taping his receipt to his bottle of water he kept at his register. Manager said, "It sends the message to customers that employees get free products." Luckily the manager herself was also fired not long after that for being all around and our new manager was crazy awesome.
    via u/Guardian-Boy
  • 30
    Fluffy-Hotel-5184 - 22 hr. ago my immedate supervisor p[lamnned a european vacation with her girlfriend for a year. Got time off in writing, paid out $12000 in advanced deposits etc. Two days before she was supposed to leave the big boss said he was going on vacation and she had to skip her european fully paid trip. She went anyway and got fired for it.
    via u/Fluffy-Hotel-5184
  • 31
    Constable BlimeyChips 21 hr. ago Guy tried to hit on the girl that helped us clean up after closing time by inviting her to the back "for some fun times, just me and you baby." Girl was 15 years old and the daughter of the owner.
    via u/Constable BlimeyChips
  • 32
    Maleficent_Nobody_75 21 hr. ago A coworker of mine called in to say he was sick, one hour before he was supposed to start his shift. Two hours later, he is observed at a bar by several employees, where he then takes pictures with them as if nothing has happened. As stupid as it is, he sends these pictures to people who are currently at work. This was of course forwarded to the boss the next day
    via u/Maleficent_Nobody_75
  • 33
    The_mingthing 20 hr. ago . He was supposed to take several samples of water from several different spots, over several days. He took one large sample from one spot, and distributed them to several bottles. These samples were all analysed for specific tracing chemicals... When all samples taken at one specific shift all came out identical, and it always happened during his shift...
    via u/The_mingthing
  • 34
    EdelwoodEverly 21 hr. ago I worked at a Sonic and we had a new policy: no leggings. They hung up signs around about it, texted the group chat, the whole nine. They did this for two weeks. A co-worker came in with leggings and refused to go home and change or use the spare pants one of my co- workers kept in the car. She was fired.
    via u/EdelwoodEverly
  • 35
    wickedpixel1221 remote job, on her first day of onboarding she calls into the zoom from the airport, waiting to board a flight to the Caribbean for vacation. 20 hr. ago .
    via u/wickedpixel1221
  • 36
    MeBaali 22 hr. ago They sat in the "wrong" seat during a meeting. It was their second week on the job.
    via u/MeBaali
  • 37
    crowmagnuman · 20 hr. ago Worked at a frozen-food distribution warehouse. Strict rule about eating the product, naturally. A guy was once bringing down a pallet of chocolate chips from the top rack, and one of the boxes scraped the steel, showering him with frozen product. He and I walked to the supes office to report, and while I was filling out a
    via u/crowmagnuman
  • 38
    witness form, he noticed there was a chocolate chip just sitting there on his shoulder. He ate it. They fired him. He was 6 years in, and one of our best workers. Shift Mgr lost all respect from his employees from then on, and became the of our jokes.
    via u/crowmagnuman
  • 39
    Eastern-Tip7796 20 hr. ago Tradesman got caught doing cash-in-hand jobs through the company. He would go to the job through callouts from the company, then do the work cheaper under the table and say the customer wasnt interested.
    via u/Eastern-Tip7796
  • 40
    The issue was, he did a a fair bit where they were old people who sort of didnt 'get' what was happening. So he did a shoddy job one time a customer called up yelling and screaming about the work. There was nothing on the system etc, the boss went out and looked at it, got caught and fired etc. Hilarious.
    via u/Eastern-Tip7796
  • 41
    FoxtrotSierraTango 20 hr. ago Theft, and stupidly easily traceable theft. I was working at a place that did online sales and had company gift cards. We had a couple laying around for testing. One day a guy pulls one out of the drawer and notes it's been redeemed. Oh well, crappy record keeping. Same with the next one, and the next one. Now it's suspicious. Look up the account it was redeemed by, all of them the same and not our test account. Pull up customer data, dude doesn't work for us. Check
    via u/FoxtrotSierraTango
  • 42
    Facebook friends, there's a guy that works for us, but not for long. Dude lost a $60k/year job with lots of upward mobility over maybe $200 in gift cards. Whatever...
    via u/FoxtrotSierraTango
  • 43
    Dedj_McDedjson 22 hr. ago Boasted about stealing merchandise in front of the head of profit protection.
    via u/Dedj_McDedjson
  • 44
    mnb82209 20 hr. ago Back when I worked at Burger King we would take the bucket opener (a metal pry bar type tool) and bang the out of the freezer door when we were frustrated. The door looked like a golf ball with dimples all over it from the hits with the tool. One day I came in and we had a brand new freezer door installed. The area VP big shot had come in to over see the installation so he was hanging around for the day. Well Dave
    via u/mnb82209
  • 45
    comes in for his shift and sees the brand new shiny and SMOOTH door and says " this won't do at all" as he picks up the bucket opener and proceed to smash the out of the door. The VP sees this and just starts screaming "WHAT THE ARE YOU DOING??? YOU'RE DONE GET OUT!!". Dave looks at me says "see ya round" and walks out the door.
    via u/mnb82209
  • 46
    APez26 20 hr. ago One of my ex colleagues was in a car crash on the motorway. When we went through the detail of it she hadn't realised that her licence had expired after she failed to update it. She had been driving company cars with no licence and therefore insurance for years. Her response;'I didn't know what it meant, I thought it just renewed'
    via u/APez26
  • 47
    YOU CAN'T Buy happe CAN BUY CUPCAKES COFFEE Youngblood519 21 hr. ago Complained about the taxes on his check to the boss despite the boss having nothing to do with the taxes, and then broke the monitor on the punch in clock on his way out. Fired instantly.
    via u/Youngblood519

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