'We were audited and fined $80k': 25+ Workers whose brainless bosses left them speechless

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 9, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Boss makes a dollar while you make a dime… and that boss is hardly doing anything at their job. There are many such cases: some bosses love to offload their workload onto as many other workers as possible. That way they have more time for the really important stuff they have to do each day, like avoiding checking their emails and Slack messages, watching YouTube videos while snacking, taking long lunches, and planning their next vacation. They don't have time to help you on a big project! They're talking to Mary in accounting for 2 hours straight while you type away. 

I get it, no one really wants to work that much, so if you can offload your work and get away with it, kudos to you. But some bosses aren't just adding more work to their employees' plates: they're also doing their boss's job for them. For some of these workers, the realization that they're 10x brighter than their own managers is enough to send them looking for a whole new gig. 

Next, read about the "entitled man baby" who threw a first-class-flight hissy fit when another flyer wouldn't trade seats with him: "The audacity of that guy." 

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  • 01

    "How did you first find out your boss was actually just an idiot that makes more money than you?"

    Queen_lucya Once I told my boss I was 1/3 done with the work I had to do He said "well you better hurry the others said they has finishes 1/6 of the work" He walked away and I just stared at him for a few seconds
    via u/Queen_lucya
  • 02
    Lauer99 When he told me instead of taking my new higher paying job I should just work more hours at my current one for him.
    via u/Lauer99
  • 03
    adeiner I had a boss once who refused to register to vote because she didn't want jury duty and then got jury duty because that's not the only way they pick. She ended up serving for a week.
    via u/adeiner
  • 04

    Girl...... come on now

    bir... My manager (woman who's in nursing school) thought that women were pregnant for 12 months.
    via u/birb_in_disguise
  • 05
    Peregrine2976 Dropped a ton of cash renting art from a museum's art bank for our (decrepit Chinatown) office. Then didn't have money to pay salaries.
    via u/Peregrine2976
  • 06
    davidmitchellseyes When they fired the woman who did HR (she wasn't qualified for it, and had no training to do it so whatever), and I overheard the owner/boss have this conversation with a co- worker. Boss: "So, what is HR anyway?"
    via u/davidmitchellseyes
  • 07
    Co-Worker: "Human Resources" B: "Yeah, but, like, what do they do?" CW: "Well, they take care of employee conflicts, deal with internal complaints, stuff like that" B: "Well, we don't need that. Besides, you can do that"
    via u/davidmitchellseyes
  • 08
    So now we don't have HR, and bonus, the co-worker they were talking to deals with conflict by telling people to "fill out a hurt feelings report". And yes, it is a family owned/operated business.
    via u/davidmitchellseyes
  • 09
    Cheezburger Image 10502935808
    via Jason Strull on Unsplash+

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

  • 10
    Axl_Bundy The time he got really bitchy/passive aggressive a few months after he hired me which finally boiled over when he got mad and said "I HIRED YOU BECUASE I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO RUN THIS COMPANY FOR ME!" I'm a graphic designer by the way.
    via u/Axl_Bundy
  • 11
    An... When he went on a tirade about how "Fresh Frozen Brine Shrimp" was the same as "Fresh Brine Shrimp". They had recently d d (they don't live very long in the shop) so in order to save money he collected the little de d bodies of the shrimp and froze them.
    via u/Anom8675309
  • 12
    When I had to explain the reason people feed LIVE MOVING brine shrimp to their fish to entice them to eat other foods that are more nutritious or in most cases to get them to eat at all.... I knew he was a fish store owner in name only. He still went on to sell the de d little bodies as 'Fresh frozen Brine".. which is dumb.
    via u/Anom8675309
  • 13

    This can be infuriating

    Lufernaal Asks me to do stuff that helps no one or makes nothing better. He has us doing stuff that he literally can't explain why.
    via u/Lufernaal
  • 14
    [deleted] When he keeps asking me why the inventory looks "dirty" (physically dirty) and doesn't care about the accuracy of it. My job doesn't even have anything to do with the warehouse. I'm an ops analyst
    via u/[deleted]
  • 15
    [deleted] My manager told me to mop the breakroom floor. I did. She freaked out that it was slippery (two seconds after I was done).
    via u/[deleted]
  • 16
    LeftChoux My boss thinks he is a programmer. (SQL) He told me he did not like that I have one table that contains both active and inactive computers with a field that indicates active\inactive and told me (demanded) tha I should create 2 tables one for each computer state.
    via u/LeftChoux
  • 17
    TheMonkey Men I told my boss since he wouldn't listen to me we needed an industrial engineer to make our dept/machine more efficient. He said, "no way in h I are we bringing in an engineer." 3 weeks later my company hired an engineer and when they came to our Dept the engineer asked him what he wanted to do differently he
    via u/TheMonkey Men
  • 18
    froze turned and said, "well let's go talk to Themonkeymen he's worked here a long time he knows what needs to be done." this boss makes at least double my salary if not more
    via u/TheMonkey Men
  • 19
    abad84 He couldn't do basic math while pretending to have a master. Couldn't use Excel either...
    via u/abad84
  • 20
    forumdestroyer156 She has no idea about basic 101 things related to our industry that a fresh intern could demonstrate on the spot. Now, every job I do I have to explain from the beginning what it is, why we're doing it and why it's important. She nods, makes an "insightful" comment, then forgets it completely. I'm the only one on my team with actual experience in
    via u/forumdestroyer156
  • 21
    certain areas, and naturally have to do all the work in those areas. When it comes time for the credit, it's a "team effort" where she led from the front.
    via u/forumdestroyer156
  • 22
    Cheezburger Image 10502969600
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 23
    davidmitchellseyes Another one At my old job, (hardware, paint, tools etc) they promoted this weirdo. One of his first orders was for us to all start wearing big yellow buttons that just said "YES" in black block lettering. The idea being, that no matter what a customer wanted, we had to provide it. I asked them,
    via u/davidmitchellseyes
  • 24
    "well, what happens if they're asking for a product that doesn't exist?". Which happened more often than you'd like. He said to "just figure it out for them". OK then, good talk. And if he ever heard me telling a customer that "I'm sorry, but semi-solid water- based oil ceiling and boat paint in a matte gloss finish doesn't exist", he would come up, cut me out of the
    via u/davidmitchellseyes
  • 25
    conversation, then sell them something that wasn't anywhere close to what they needed. Resulting in returns that were almost impossible to talk about with the angry customer without saying "I'm sorry but YES, my boss. is an idiot".
    via u/davidmitchellseyes
  • 26
    _AlternativeSnacks_ This pertains to my former job. It wasn't one big lightbulb moment so much as my constantly having to advise him on how to run the office or implement a procedure or use or software.... he's a glorified babysitter. Love the guy to death but not as a boss.
    via u/_AlternativeSnacks_
  • 27
    FoleyX90 When I created functions for similar procedures instead of copying & pasting the exact same code & modifying it in various spots throughout the program. "What if we hire a developer that doesn't know how to use functions?" Then we shouldn't have hired them.
    via u/FoleyX90
  • 28
    [deleted] I worked for a mid-sized engineering and manufacturing company. The owner had started the company from scratch. He had several patents to his name, proprietary machining processes, and a loyal costumer base.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 29
    His son, not so much. Nepotism ruined the company. You couldn't keep qualified staff and needless to say, that loyal customer base disappeared in short order. The son I'm sure made bank, just not long term.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 30
    donutshopsss I did business with company A while working at company B. Company A offered me a job because they liked how I operated. I went through an extensive interview process, they said I was great, they had my resume, knew my experience and specialties, what I was capable of, etc. After a few weeks they kept telling me "you need a
    via u/donutshopsss
  • 31
    degree in electrical engineering to understand this" when they knew I had no understanding of electrical engineering and left that part of the job description out when they hired me. I was p ed so I spent the next few months interviewing at other companies while getting paid a nice salary. I had another job before they fired me. No regrets.
    via u/donutshopsss
  • 32
    thisisntrealnope Boss at a pool was proud that she managed to convince the health inspector to let us stay open when the chlorine levels were well over the allowed amount
    via u/thisisntrealnope
  • 33
    olivia0207 When I worked in construction, the director was a guy who couldn't use Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. Like at all. He couldn't even (or wouldn't even) open a blank page. He also didn't know what sequence design worked, didn't know what piles were, and read contracts on the fly. He just had a very commanding presence and talked like a
    via u/olivia0207
  • 34
    politician. But you talked to him about details for 10 minutes and you learned he didn't know SH. Like he seriously bullshitted his entire career with gift of gab.
    via u/olivia0207
  • 35
    [deleted] I work in mechanical engineering. My bosses (multiple levels of management) not understanding the product. and only sees unit sales. Expects a small team of 4 to complete a one year project in 3 months. "We can test on the customer's site, they will understand any failures." No they won't.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 36
    This is what happens when a construction company buys a mining company.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 37
    jadepaint My boss laughed when I put my respirator cartridges in a plastic bag to keep them fresh (Standard procedure). He said "well there is air in that bag isn't there". SMH
    via u/jadepaint
  • 38

    Do they fight the urge to correct her?

    [deleted] When she told me I should have no problem with this new task because "it's not rocket scientist". Also, she says "pacifically".
    via u/[deleted]
  • 39
    zerobot She needed to send an e- mail to somebody really important. So she forwarded me a long e-mail exchange they had and told me which one of those e-mails needed to be replied to. Instead of replying herself she wanted ME to replay but she e- mailed me what I had to reply with. She included an image she needed me to insert into the body of the e-
    via u/zerobot
  • 40
    mail. She didn't know how to insert an image into the body of an e-mail and is why I had to send this e-mail from MY e-mail account on HER behalf. The image she wanted me to insert was a screenshot of nothing but text. It was about 6 words.
    via u/zerobot
  • 41
    fievelm I used to do computer repair. New boss was hired, and it started to become obvious she knew nothing about computers. Every morning she'd ask me what I was going to do for the day, then repeat back what I said as an order. I told the receptionist about this, and she told me I was probably just overreacting.
    via u/fievelm
  • 42
    Then one morning the receptionist was in the repair room and witnessed this exchange: Boss: Fievelm, what are you working on? Me: I'm installing Windows on this machine, cleaning spyware off of that one, and transferring data between those laptops.
    via u/fievelm
  • 43
    Boss: OK. I need you to install Windows on that machine, clean the spyware off of that one, and transfer the data on those laptops. Can you get all that done? I look over at the receptionist and her mouth was agape. Thankfully that boss did not last long, and I moved on to greener pastures.
    via u/fievelm
  • 44
    Awkward_Clock My first boss was a really nice guy. I'm not saying I could have done his job better than him (but definitely I had some co- workers who probably could have). My boss was around 30 years old. To start, he Oked the hire of multiple employees that would only have a 2 1/2 month career at the store (myself included lol). Most of us had to go
    via u/Awkward_Clock
  • 45
    back to school after summer break, meaning he would have to hire like 3-4 new employees and train them by himself all at once. Second, he had a degree in comedy???? And his jokes weren't even funny. He had very little common sense and business skill and made decisions and commands that just made life harder for employees.
    via u/Awkward_Clock
  • 46
    [de... Before I quit to be a stay at home dad I was inflicted with a supervisor named Vicki (name changed). Vicki was this arrogant idiot of a woman with almost no idea of how to actually do the work, yet her managers lauded her as the "Queen of Eligibility" because she schmoozed them well. On top of this, the company I
    via u/[deleted]
  • 47
    worked for promoted from within, which is good, but provided no management training, which is bad. On the management side of it Vicki had no sense of humor, and no idea of how to professionally discipline a person. Another supervisor asked me to help with outbound calls and I jokingly refused and she joked back with me because we both knew that of course I'd do it.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 48
    I heard her mention to Vicki she tapped me in to help and mentioned my joking around as a positive. Vicki didn't understand the joke and walked over to me, and in front of everyone berated me loudly about how I WILL do the work and I WILL NOT EVER talk back to a superior. The other supervisor came and de-escalated the situation. She just had no idea how to handle people and her position gave her a
    via u/[deleted]
  • 49
    false sense of power. On the work side of it she just knew nothing. You'd ask her a question, she would say she needs to get back to you, and then vanish. You'd ask her for an answer later and she would say you never asked in the first place. Even if you had e-mailed the question and she replied it didn't happen, because she didn't have the answer. I remember asking her a very
    via u/[deleted]
  • 50
    simple question, clarifying if I needed to get a new eligibility form from a customer or if I could just use the one I had that had a white out mark on it. She said I should know this. I agreed, but since I didn't what should I do. She said she would need to get back to me, and when I asked why she said she didn't have time for this, and I told her she SHOULD have time since she is my supervisor
    via u/[deleted]
  • 51
    and I'm an employee who needs help....I never got an answer. My team and I had problem after problem with her. She just couldn't do anything correctly, ever, and would never admit a mistake, just become aggressive when shown proof she was wrong.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 52
    I left the company for dadhood and a week later a friend I had there let me know wonderful news. Vicki, who had been with the company for over 15 years, had been terminated. No specifics were given to the employees, of course, but the rumor was that she screwed up a massive project that could have gotten the company in tons of trouble, then tried to hide it, then blamed ME (I was
    via u/[deleted]
  • 53
    not even there when the project started) and then the other employees. Normally this would have worked, but this time the director was involved and she was gone.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 54
    rgm480 He was afraid of me taking his job.
    via u/rgm480
  • 55
    PokyCivi I worked for a production. company that never put a dollar into advertising our products.
    via u/PokyCivi
  • 56
    [de... My first real job was at a company owned by a guy whose family owned a bank. He'd gotten a EE degree from MIT sometime in the 1950s, and he didn't keep up. His fragile ego wouldn't permit anyone who was better than him to stay in the company for long.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 57
    He regularly hired someone who would get one thing working and shipped, and then he'd make their life miserable and the company would lose them to a competitor.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 58
    [deleted] When they wanted to charge $30 for 4 items and $70 for 8.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 59
    jackrafter88 I work in construction. Our COO came to us from the insurance industry. But he's remodeled his house before so, yeah.
    via u/jackrafter88
  • 60
    [deleted] In my last programming job my main boss feared written communication and types. with his two index fingers. He had every trait that describes a toxic micromanager.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 61
    Wazards Spends money on "fun events" instead of hiring people when we are understaffed severely.
    via u/Wazards
  • 62
    ravemama13 Working as a pastry chef for a catering company: My boss would eat the pastries I'd prepped for tastings, even though he was "on a diet" and "it couldn't be him." He finally stopped blaming it on the cleaning staff when the other manager threatened to look at the security cameras.
    via u/ravemama13
  • 63
    Also, I had never worked in a commercial setting before that job, but I streamlined the inventory and ordering system two days after starting, showed them that their pricing model for desserts was bl ding money, and then gave my notice six months later when it turned out the boss had lied about there being health coverage. (I turned 26, so couldn't be on my parents' plan anymore.)
    via u/ravemama13
  • 64
    Ray... Dumb comments/discussions/tasks since day 1 where a good indicator for him being a dumba that makes tons of money while doing simple tasks.
    via u/Ray_Bone
  • 65
    elaxation I work in HR. My old boss threw out 7+ years of employee files, medical clearances, and 19 forms. (which verify your legal ability to work in the US and have to be kept for a determined amount of time) because she "hated paper." She did not create electronic records of anything, which the government agencies that funded our programs
    via u/elaxation
  • 66
    wouldn't have allowed anyways for auditing purposes. We were audited and fined 80K by the government for sh any HR intern or person with the ability to google. "how long am I legally required to keep employee files" would know. She made 6 figures more than I did.
    via u/elaxation
  • 67
    Cheezburger Image 10502969856
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova For Unsplash+

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

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