Former employee calls out ex-boss for not paying him for 2 weeks after he was fired: ‘I had the audacity [to ask] for the money I earned’

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jun 27, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

So many employers can get away with unfair treatment of their workers, but one thing bosses should always avoid is messing with their employees' paychecks. Everyone knows that when you mess with someone's money, you could be in deep trouble.

For some reason, this dude's boss genuinely thought he could get away with not paying his former employee for two weeks after he fired the guy. It doesn't matter if there was a disagreement or if the author was bad at his job. Under his contract, he needed to be paid for his final days at work. After weeks of nothing but radio silence, the ex-employee finally came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to get his money back unless he demanded it. Of course, this kind of confrontation isn't easy, but considering the fact that the former boss was clearly not planning on following through, the confrontation was necessary.

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    Cheezburger Image 10522057984
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • The ex-employee shared a tense exchange of text messages with his former boss, where the latter tried to accuse the author of being unprofessional. We all know that not paying your employees is about as unprofessional as it can get. Thankfully, the author stood his ground despite receiving threats from his ex-boss that “reputation is everything” and she wasn’t planning on giving him a good reference in the future. At this point, who cares about the reference? That ship had already sailed. Just give him his money already!
     

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    < 5:20 . LTE Tue, May 9, 9:10 AM I have sent you everything you have asked for multiple times. As a business owner it's your job to pay your employees. I should not have to continually ask you for money I earned weeks after you fired me. Venmo me.
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    As an employee you should have a little more respect for you job! I have been VERY ill and yes some things slip through the cracks when I'm juggling a thousand things. I wouldn't have even had you work that day had I known you were going to just bail on the event last minute! Very disrespectful!!! In an industry so small your reputation is everything and unfortunately I will never give you a good reference! Venmo sent! A iMessage A Cash
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    econdonetired 13 hr. ago Report it to the labor board.
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    ProfitLoud 9 hr. ago I agree, in a small industry your reputation matters. Not paying wages is something I'd imagine hurts future hires.
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    SilverSageVII 8 hr. ago Exactly. If they wanna break the law that's FAR worse than any quitting ever could be.
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    jharkness09 11 hr. ago Your response: "You have until EOD Tuesday to pay me. Then I go to the Labor Board"
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    Then actually do it. I don't know what state you live in (assuming you're in the US) but you also may have access to free legal services. Google it!
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    Redwood829 11 hr. ago Do you have to notify them? Like why even say EOD, just go straight to Labor Board?
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    Cheezburger Image 10522058496
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    Partridge 13 hr. ago This will be on your permanent record good sir!
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    FloatingAwayIn22 11 hr. ago Speaking of this being a small industry; if anyone ever asks me if they should work for you, or hire you for an event, I will never give YOU a good reference either.
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    Renyen0 11 hr. ago Company name? Yelp review time
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    One-Complex9014. 10 hr. ago Imagine being such a pos, that you would say have more respect for your job, after being fired. Kick rocks ya stupid b
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    m00ph 11 hr. ago Are you in California? You get your average pay for up to 30 days or until you're paid out in full, which ever happens first. They have to pay you out when they terminate you, or within
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    3 days if you quit. There are some exceptions, like commissions, but most people should be covered.
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    botw_ 10 hr. ago OP. now that i've talked to other people about this situation they have said that a good reference from her is almost more of a red flag, so i guess i dodged a bullet
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    hamsdre 10 hr. ago I would have replied with: "See, that wasn't so hard now was it? Next time do your job on time."
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    Windronin 8 hr. ago Cracks me up how every industry is "a small one where reputation is everything "
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    ZenBricks 9 hr. ago This happened to me in an out bound sell's job, I pressed one of the managers for several months to no avail.
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    However karma did come with rapid descent in the form of an FBI raid for other things. In hindsight, happy I left when I did.
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    Scary_Band2391 3 hr. ago I feel like somewhere there's a private message board that all managers and franchise owner types join and give each other advice.
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    Just because of how similar these exchanges and excuses are across the board. You can almost predict what the boss person is going to say word for word.
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    SilentJon69 4 hr. ago Being ill and having a thousand things to juggle is no excuse for not paying your employees.
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workplace-stories employee work stories toxic-workplace job work toxic-boss overworked-employees Horrible Bosses company toxic-work-environment
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