20+ Employees who quit their jobs on the spot: 'I protested my write up and told them... they had no idea what they were doing'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 7, 2025 3:00 PM EST

If you were looking for a sign to quit your job and find one where you're happier, here it is! 

There are plenty of reasons why you might not quit your job on the spot, even when you really want to. Sometimes we just get fed up at work, but after taking a walk around the building and doing some deep breathing, we realize that it'll all be okay. Maybe your boss is impolite, or clients are breathing down your neck, but you might still enjoy the work enough to stay. 

However, sometimes the perfect storm convinces an employee to quit on the spot. For some people, they were relying on an important vacation, only for their boss to turn around and deny their vacation leave. Other people were given so much responsibility that they realized if they left the job, the company would crash and burn without them. How tempting! Some people chose to quit on the spot, leaving their bad bosses to cover their shifts and deal with all that craziness on their own. You can check out a bunch of these satisfying stories below. 

Up next, read about the employees who got some petty payback on the landlord who evicted them, sharing that suddenly, "We had 7 days to move everything we owned." 

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  • 01
    'I put my letter of resignation on his desk while he was gone. My only coworker left with me. The owner... returned home to the letter, undone work on the counter, and 0 employees'
    via NordWood Themes on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    People who quit their jobs on the spot-what happened?
    via u/ArianWhisper
  • 03
    TwinFrogs At last minute, owner/manager/CEO dictator revoked my Christmas leave. My wife was terminally ill, my daughter was about to move off to college, and it would be our last Christmas together, ever again. It's the only time in my life I've ever said "F You!!" to a bosses face.
    via u/TwinFrogs
  • 04
    pikadegallito They tried to have me come in and run the store literally as I was coming out of anesthesia from surgery for an injury I got working there.
    via u/pikadegallito
  • 05
    "Hey, I know you just had surgery and are still in post- op, I need you to close tonight. You don't have an option." I quit and let an attorney deal with it.
    via u/pikadegallito
  • 06
    nomercyvideo I was working for a major video game company back in 2003. We were in crunch time, working from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. 6 days a week. Right before lunch, our supervisor walks in and says
    via u/nomercyvideo
  • 07
    "Good news everyone, we get to come in on Sundays. now, but it's only a half day!" The moment he was done with his speech, I walked over to his desk and told him I was quitting immediately.
    via u/nomercyvideo
  • 08
    He warned me that I would never work in the game industry again. I didn't give a proper 2 weeks, I told him that was fine and finished my day. I ended up working in the industry for another 3 years until I freaked out and quit for good! Never again.
    via u/nomercyvideo
  • 09
    darkenough812 I got told I wouldn't be getting a raise because I asked for the raise. But apparently if I hadn't asked I would have gotten it. My boss then said I was on the "sh list" of the higher boss (for asking) and that I wouldn't get a raise for at least a few months. Yeah I quit right there lol
    via u/darkenough812
  • 10
    Imightbeafanofthis Dumba es were exploding acetylene gas for yucks and the owner of the company thought it was cool. I quit on the spot. Addendum: the owner of the company was given it by his dad on his eighteenth birthday, and his dad took the company back after a few months.
    via u/Imightbeafanofthis
  • 11
    yellowspaces Had a supervisor who was really unprofessional and disrespectful. When I turned in my two weeks I also left a personal note for my manager telling them exactly why I was quitting, and that I refused to work any more shifts with the supervisor during my exit period. First week was fine, but I walked in one day and there was supervisor. Gave them a
    via u/yellowspaces
  • 12
    chance but they quickly pulled some crop, so I walked out and skipped my remaining shifts. No spectacle, but I'm still proud that I stood up for myself.
    via u/yellowspaces
  • 13
    chrisgond I had a verbal agreement with my manager that she'd reduce my hours so I could continue working during the school year. She put me on for 40 hours per week on the first school time schedule. I spoke to her about it and reminded her of her word.
    via u/chrisgond
  • 14
    She stonewalled and denied everything. I apologized and walked out of her office. I graduated and got a good job writing software. 30 years later KMART no longer exists. F you Beth.
    via u/chrisgond
  • 15

    This is completely infuriating, what a hypocrite

    Clint_Ruin1 Head mechanic at a small but busy bicycle shop .Been there 5 years or so with no raises other then promised "soon" Owner showed up with a nice new car and started the same old spell about there not being enough money to offer a raise of any sort. Told him to get f ed walked out and down to the
    via u/Clint_Ruin1
  • 16
    main competitor down the road. Better pay and better place to work. Once word got out I was there a lot of the cliental followed me there. Old place was out of business in 9 mths or so.
    via u/Clint_Ruin1
  • 17
    ManYonX Spent a year fixing things, hired a team, the system started generating real pnl, the boss who f ed everything up started to re- engage as the situation turned around, making stupid suggestions a burning valuable time. We had a meeting where he was going on and on and I remarked that it was counter productive. He calls me after
    via u/ManYonX
  • 18
    the meeting and says "what the f was that???" | responded that it was becoming "unpleasant, with the meetings and change of course". He said "if you don't like it leave" and I said "ok" and walked out. Everyone stood there shocked as I left. Fast forward a year later and everything was f ed up again ...
    via u/ManYonX
  • 19
    radarsteddybear... I worked for a photographer, and we were on a tight deadline schedule. Most of the office had been let go for the summer, so it was just me (the head of my department), one coworker, and the owner. I come in to discover the owner left town with his family on vacation.
    via u/radarsteddybear4077
  • 20
    I hit my breaking point. I put my letter of resignation on his desk while he was gone. My only coworker left with me. The owner had no idea what had happened until he returned home to the letter, undone work on the counter, and zero employees.
    via u/radarsteddybear4077
  • 21
    mistiry Newly in the field in my own, early 20s and no prior experience being up high on ladders. Believe it was my third day out. Cable install tech. Got to the site and it was a midspan drop - meaning along the wire on the pole, midway between poles. And right in the way we're trees and bushes making it next to
    via u/mistiry
  • 22
    impossible for me to get the ladder correctly positioned. I tried for a good while and then called dispatch. They complained about my complaint, and basically told me to s k it up and figure it out. So I tried again, getting the ladder hooked but nearly vertical. I got the best angle I could on it and climbed up a couple of rungs but the
    via u/mistiry
  • 23
    ladder tipped back. A few more repositions later and now I have the ladder against a tree but there's limbs and bushes poking thru the rungs. I start to climb and maybe 4 or 5 rungs up the whole ladder shifts sideways and I nearly went tumbling. Called dispatch and they more or less told me I was to stay there until I had the job done. So instead I packed
    via u/mistiry
  • 24
    everything up, told the customer I couldn't help them, and went back to the warehouse, dropped all the equipment and cable boxes and such that I had, and left. Didn't even say a word to anyone there.
    via u/mistiry
  • 25
    Sajiri This job I worked at years ago had a habit of telling people "oh there's no work atm have a few days off and we'll let you know when to come back" then just... never call people back, because they didn't want to have to actually fire the person. They did it to me after a job got messed up when I was
    via u/Sajiri
  • 26
    following my supervisor's directions. I asked him multiple times, "are you sure? (Thing we don't want) will likely happen if we do it" and he kept telling me to. Then when the customer complained, he suddenly blamed it on me. The next day they pulled the 'hey there's no work right now' thing. Except they did actually call me back the next week
    via u/Sajiri
  • 27
    when they realised nobody else knew how to do my job and they were floundering. I came in to my office to find it a mess, and this guy I got along with came in and was surprised to see me there. Told me how management said they let me go, and had him doing my job but he had no idea what to do. I was pretty ped then, so I walked to the office, handed over my high vis vest and walked out. The manager
    via u/Sajiri
  • 28
    was being really arrogant... then about 5 mins later as I was driving away, she realised they still had nobody who knew how to do my job and started spam calling me. When I wouldn't answer, she started texting me begging me to call her back to work this out. F that place. Never went back. Also about 6 months later that manager was fired.
    via u/Sajiri
  • 29
    A year after that the company was bought out.
    via u/Sajiri
  • 30
    vivekorn Quality and Health and Safety Manager here. Managing Director asked me to falsify a First Article Inspection Report for a product going to an aerospace company. I said I would not do that. He told me I would if I wanted to continue working there. I chose not to continue working there and reported him to the relevant agencies.
    via u/vivekorn
  • 31

    There's never money for raises, but somehow there's always money to hire new people

    impliedfoldequity I was denied promotion for the third time in 4 years. Always great performance reviews. Max score. "Example to others". First time it was "too soon" as I only been in the Company for 10 months but of those 10, 5 were a complete crisis where management gave
    via u/impliedfoldequity
  • 32
    up/burned out and I had to save the dat. Second time the acting manager convinced his buddy to run for promotion as well so he could pick him. but I was made "high potential" without any benefits or raise or projects or training,... Third time they didn't even post the job internally, when I asked for a reason I was
    via u/impliedfoldequity
  • 33
    called into the HR manager who said "you stayed at home for 2 weeks in the first co id lockdown which showed lack of commitment". I was working an extra day on overtime for 3 years on that Point. At least 20 days a year.
    via u/impliedfoldequity
  • 34
    I told her I would be taking up all my paid overtime and send in my resignation at the end of the day and that I Will also be requesting a formal exit-conversation with the VP (he knew me from my first year when I had to save the ship). Sh hit the fan real fast after that
    via u/impliedfoldequity
  • 35
    Hu... I was a floor nurse at the time. My Boss promised me that if I worked thanksgiving eve and thanksgiving day, Halloween eve and hallween day, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that I could have New Year's Eve and New Year's Day off (my favorite holiday). I agreed and did it (the halloweens and the
    via u/HuckleberryGlum1163
  • 36
    thanksgivings dates). Out of nowhere, She revoked that promise like the first week of December saying we all needed to "be part of a team" and that she couldn't honor that promise and that I was expected to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I didn't quit on the spot, but I gave a week's notice 2 days later that I'm leaving.
    via u/HuckleberryGlum1163
  • 37
    I didn't cover Christmas/Christmas eve and New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!!!!! her face was priceless!!! She was like I cannot believe you're doing this to me at a busy time like this!!!
    via u/HuckleberryGlum1163
  • 38
    Last thing I heard about her is that a lot of the nurses ended up leaving and she is no longer a manager, she is a simple floor nurse herself now!!) she was fuxking crazy, she wouldn't even allow us to drink coffee! She took away our coffee maker saying it's unhygienic to have this in a hospital! Not even the nurses lounge! crazy!
    via u/HuckleberryGlum1163
  • 39
    Silvervirage I've told this a few times before so I'll try to keep it condensed. Worked at a Jason's Deli. Everyone there got sent on break/home right before Sunday rush started. We had 2 managers in, me, and a cashier. One manager in the office on her phone, one manager eating at a table. I try to run the entire line on
    via u/Silvervirage
  • 40
    my own but can't take food out. Manager on the floor tells me take food out. I try, and after I get back to the line one time the other manager is there saying don't run food, keep making tickets cause they are piling up. Both managers go back to their little spots not helping, just occasionally coming every few minutes to tell me to do the opposite of what the other said.
    via u/Silvervirage
  • 41
    Eventually it gets to where both of them are standing on opposite sides of me trying to scream over the other one. Important note, Jason's deli is a place where you go to the line and order and it's all made in front of you there, we weren't in a kitchen, we were front and center of a crowded restaurant and they were literally screaming impossible things. So I took my apron off, yelled to the
    via u/Silvervirage
  • 42
    store that I was sorry for the wait on everything but if they have complaints the paper menus had a number to call, and left.
    via u/Silvervirage
  • 43
    The store manager called me the next day saying that he wouldn't fire me if I came back in and apologized to bith of the managers. I told him I wouldn't tell corporate to look at the cameras If they both called and apologize to me. That was a lie, I did that before I even left the parking lot.
    via u/Silvervirage
  • 44
    Xt... I was hired as a manager of a warehouse, first time being a manager. The first thing I was told was to "create structure, and to find the 2 most useless people to terminate and replace". Well, to create structure I very quickly found out that no one had a valid forklift licence, all health and safety
    via u/XtremeD86
  • 45
    and OSHA stuff was outdated by 6+ years and none of the forklifts had their annual inspections done. To top it off, there was O record of anyone doing a daily forklift inspection (where I am, it's a requirement 100% at the beginning of the shift or when someone else starts to operate that lift truck). I was also asked to "find cheaper suppliers" for warehouse related stuff. "What is my
    via u/XtremeD86
  • 46
    budget" I asked? "There isn't one, just find cheaper. 2 employees were identified which wasn't hard, because they just chose to show up when they felt like it. I tried to terminate, my boss wouldn't let me. The forklift licences? He refused to bring in a trainer. He wouldn't allow me to order things from any other company. Why? No idea. The annual inspections? Too
    via u/XtremeD86
  • 47
    expensive. And then people started refusing to train me (which I didn't realize until after all this) but told my boss they did and that I wasn't picking it up. And then the sabotaging of my work started and orders started to get picked up which we then got fined $1000+ because they weren't supposed to go out
    via u/XtremeD86
  • 48
    until 3 weeks later. All of this was over the course of 2 months. I spent 6 months being unemployed between this job and the previous one where the company went under. Told my gf I can't take this crop anymore and that the legal repurcussions I could face if someone were to get hurt are far too high to risk this anymore. So decided I
    via u/XtremeD86
  • 49
    was going to resign first thing the next morning which she supported. I arrived to work 30 minutes early, grabbed all my stuff, put it in my car and who walks in but the complete b that made my life h I in that place, starts screaming at me in front of all the staff about how I sent an order out 3 weeks early and I reminded her that she forgot that she CC'd me on an email where she told that
    via u/XtremeD86
  • 50
    customer to pick the order up and that she could f right off. Got up, started walking to my bosses office and as I was walking in ready to tell him to f right off and that I was done, he terminated me. Which funny enough for them worked out better for me because I got the unemployment back for the next 6 months. On my way out (pretty ped off) I announced to the staff on the floor that when I was
    via u/XtremeD86
  • 51
    hired, my first day I was told to find 2 of you to terminate first so take that for what it is in how the company values you. Fast forward 8 months later I've finally found a new job, and found out that about a week ago at that company I was just talking about, someone fell off a forklift at a higher elevation and broke their pelvis and were now facing a massive lawsuit as
    via u/XtremeD86
  • 52
    well as huge fines as well. Good riddance.
    via u/XtremeD86
  • 53
    freefreebradshaw I worked for Homegoods as my first job, and i always had to get the carts. I applied at Shop Rite and interviewed for a stocking position. I made it very clear in my interview with the manager i just didn't want to have to get carts anymore and would literally do anything else.
    via u/freefreebradshaw
  • 54
    Second day on the job. Cart guy calls out. The same manager who interviewed me asked me to get carts. I gave him my apron, walked out, and applied at the pizza place next store. They didn't have any carts. It was a fun job.
    via u/freefreebradshaw
  • 55
    HowardTheDuck86 I had a meeting with my manager who said I wasn't working hard enough. This was after months of me working super hard, with them just sitting on their computer shopping. Something broke in me and I just quit. I said it was impossible for me to work harder so I guess I'm not good enough for them and quit. They were shocked and
    via u/HowardTheDuck86
  • 56
    tried to persuade me to stay. I refused. In the next few days after I felt so relieved. Like I finally stood up for myself. I decided to retrain, this time as a therapist (which is something I wasn't never brave enough to do before). December this year will be my 10th year as a therapist and I couldn't be any happier.
    via u/HowardTheDuck86
  • 57
    Garrdor85 I got a writeup at my call center sales job, albeit being the #1 performer for the past 4 consecutive months, between 100+ employees. Even 6 years after my year at that job, my coworker said nobody has achieved my stats. Anyways, I protested my write up and told them straight up that they had no idea what they were doing, and that an efficiency
    via u/Garrdor85
  • 58
    consultant would consider them de d weight and give me a management position. The corporate latte drinkers/clock watchers were offended, and gave me a final warning. I talked to my team lead about it; Laid it all out and explained why I was walking off the job. He
    via u/Garrdor85
  • 59
    agreed with me and walked too. We got Costco hot dogs afterwards, and joined a class action lawsuit against the company later on (for other reasons).
    via u/Garrdor85

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