Boss fires employee's dad, karma strikes years later when the boss comes to the company the employee is now managing looking for work: 'The look of panic in his eyes set in'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jun 18, 2025 12:00 AM EDT

Bad leaders will be predominantly self-interested, only concerned with their own aggrandizement and advancing their careers. Chances are, you know the type and already have a clear picture in your head of who this person might be. Every new role or work group they enter, they'll come in with some "holier-than-thou" "I know better" attitude, even if they've never worked in an industry like this before, and enact the same copy-and-paste plan, slashing operation costs without bothering to even talk to any of their new subordiantes first. And while their bosses don't know any better and assume that their new hire does (they interviewed so well!)

However, when they can apply for their next role, they can include "Reduced operation costs by $X amount" on their CV, where X is a substantial and almost unbelievable number that is sure to catch the attention of a hiring manager. Plus, they can conveniently omit the fact that those reduced operation costs hamstrung the business and led to the failure of the workgroup, because that still hasn't happened yet and everyone at your old job, except the lowest level productive workers who warned this would happen, is still running around trying to figure out why the ship is sinking.

Years after his stepfather was fired from the company where the pair of them worked, this manager was presented with a unique opportunity to step onto the karmic scales and balance them in favor of karmic justice, making good on the wrong done to his stepfather years before when the owner of that company came seeking to do contract work for the company that he now managed. This owner had been one of those bosses, not worried at all about those under him, he couldn't even remember that the manager had once worked for him, but he would soon come to realize that he wasn't getting any contracts here.

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    "Owner fired my dad, then came asking for work. Denied."

    Back in 1997, my step-dad was the operations manager at a company that did telecommunications work. He hired me to work at the company for the summer, but I ended up enjoying the work and made a career out of it. About 4 months into my employment at the company, the owner and my step-dad had a disagreement over something very trivial and the owner fired my dad. Since he's my step-dad, we have
    via wilit
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    Cheezburger Image 10518658304
    via Grove Brands

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    different last names, and I didn't feel like I would get caught up in this issue. I had my own issues with this company as well. Mostly not being paid correctly and being denied benefits promised. Ended up working for another 18 months for the company before I left to work for a major telecommunications provider that we had done some work for.
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    At the new company, I eventually took a position where I was responsible for hiring contractors, much like the company my dad and I worked for, to do construction. One day I got a call out of the blue from the owner of the contractor company. He wanted to see if he could get on my list of approved contractors and was hoping we could discuss it over lunch.
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    Typically a project of this type would be a $75k-$200k project, and I would do 20-30 projects per year, so it could be a lucrative source of revenue for them. I agreed to a lunch date with the owner at a fancy restaurant I always wanted to try. His pitch consisted of telling me what his company was capable of, how he valued his employees and took good care of them. He mentioned the list of other companies he's done work for and the quality of the work. I mentioned that I used
    via wilit
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    to work for his company and he clearly didn't remember my name. I also asked if he remembered the guy who hired me, and he said he did. When I mentioned he was my step-dad, the look of panic in his eyes set in. He clearly remembered my step-dad. I closed out the lunch meeting with a thank you for the food and an apology that my contractor list was full of more capable contractors, but would keep him in mind if something were to change. Never heard back from him again.
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  • 07
    sgt_oddball_17 Be nice to the people you see on your way up. You will see them again on your way down.
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  • 08
    TheGypsyThread The look of panic - you'll never forget that moment
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  • 09
    withthedraco Yeah not providing agreed upon pay and benefits is wild and definitely illegal.
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  • 10
    SatanlsALawyer A nice meal and a polite way of saying f you at the end? Gotta love it. How did your step-dad react when you told him about this though?
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    BardicLasher "I value my employees." "I worked for you for two years and you have no idea who I am."
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