10+ new hires who got fired for ridiculous reasons: ''[The new] cook stole a 25 lb bag of onions!'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 9, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

Some people can't help themselves when it comes to holding down a job. Sure, from time to time, people make mistakes and those mistakes can lead to catastrophic consequences that new hires may or may not have able to foresee. Still, regardless of whether or not you're a cook in a busy restaurant, an entry-level hire in a corporate environment, or a construction worker who has just joined a new team, there are always some clear "no-nos" at work that should, in theory, be self-explanatory.

We cover plenty of stories here at FAIL Blog that follow unfair treatment from employers and the ensuing comeuppance that they often deserve. However, in this instance, we have compiled several instances in which new hires were rightly fired early on for egregious errors that any sensible employee would not have committed. While we tend to sympathize with employees in 99% of these tales, it is very difficult to side with them in this case!

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    Vit cer SORRY NO FUEL
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • A friend of mine shared a recent story about a coworker she had who took all of her PTO just after getting hired. Naturally, her bosses had questions, and when she returned, it became clear that she had no idea how to behave in a proper work environment. The amusing part is that when she was inevitably fired, she became a social media influencer, divulging highly embellished stories about how unfairly treated she was at her former place of work. Sadly for her, it's pretty clear that she was in the wrong there… as were many of these new hires!

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    Wilhelm... Not me but my dad. He has a small handyman company with less than a hand full of employees. His tools somehow have the habit of growing legs when he's at construction sites so he rigorously writes his name on everything with permanent marker.
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    One day, shortly after he hired someone new, his folding ruler is missing. He asks around if anyone has seen his folding ruler but that doesn't seem to be the case. He doesn't think much of it, sometimes things get lost.
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    The next day he sees the new hire with a familiar looking folding ruler. He asks him to see it. New hire refuses. Dad tells him that he's his boss and insists he shows him the ruler. He complies under pressure. Sure enough, there's my dad's name on it in capital and bold letters.
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    Now that could've been an honest mistake and there probably wouldn't have been any repercussions if he simply said "Oh, my bad. Must've put the wrong one in my pocket. Here's you're ruler" ... But the new hire
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    insisted that this was his ruler and that the name on the side of it wasn't my dad's handwriting but rather a note the new hire had written on it himself to remember my dad's name.
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    What makes it even more stupid is that my dad's company pays for the tools of his employees. He could've simply asked for a folding ruler and my dad would've given him one for free but, no, he needs to steal the bosses folding ruler and give the stupidest lie imaginable as an excuse.
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    arbrady ⚫ I worked at a retail store and found one of my coworkers was using the company iPad (that we used to play music and order lunches) to go on Craigslist and search for hookups. She didn't even bother to delete the search history.
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    carbusin... My coworker at a coffee shop. 1. Told a customer she didn't feel like making x drink and she should go elsewhere.
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    2. Wore cookie monster PJ pants while we had a very strict "black or khaki pants, no jeans, no leggings" policy at the time.
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    3. couldn't figure out the concept of milk?? This still baffles me to this day. Like I was trying to show her how to steam milk properly, she was off in la la land and when she snapped back into the conversation asking, "What
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    are we doing again" followed by me reminding her and she quite literally asked what was in the gallon jug that I poured into the metal pitcher. I told her it was milk and she just looked at me, her eyes saying, '???!??!!?"
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    ConvertibleBurt1 · I am a chef at an upscale restaurant, the sauté cook has a lobster dish on his station that involves a technique called deglazing that involves alc ol so in turn the pan catches on fire briefly and flames up. When you do it correctly (hard to do it. incorrect) the alcol is cooked off and the flame goes out. Every
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    time he made this dish he would deglaze the pan, catch it on fire and then blow it out, blowing his own germs and nastiness all over someone's food and everything in the blast radius. That was a week
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    ago. Fired him after he did it multiple times after being asked not to. Maybe it's because of the current state of affairs, but I couldn't believe a trained cook would do that.
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    Cheezburger Image 10526802176
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    CanineRezQ · • They stole a $3 bottle of wine that could have easily put on the "house" check for employees. Prep cook stole a 25lb bag of onions.
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    Pomegranate Planet ⚫ The guy had somehow hung on by the skin of his teeth when caught making plastic model funny cars at his desk (pro tip: throwing a newspaper over the model doesn't hide the smell of the glue), but when a client called complaining about our hero trying to sell him golf clubs out of the trunk of his car, he was gone.
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    drumandbass01. Had an employee that was going to get fired for simply showing up late constantly with no legit reason. During the term meeting she tells me another employee cut the brake lines in her car - it's obvious this was to save her from being fired. She didn't realize that something like that gets cops involved. She was termed, and
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    then detectives showed up to her house to get statements. Of course, no evidence of lines being cut and now she's dealing with police for making false statements.
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    DaughterEarth • She didn't show up for her first shift, then tried to blame us for it, then refused to turn in her uniform and key. FIRST SHIFT. What the h I lady? Okay first solo shift, she showed up for the 2 training shifts before that, but still I can't believe it
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    CactusPearl21. We had someone fall asleep at his desk with a lit ciga tte in his hand. In a office full of cubicles like maybe... 6-7 years ago? Smoking wasn't legal anywhere indoors let alone in an office building Imao And the first time he wasn't even fired. He was fired when it happened again!
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    USPSA-Addict. Dumb stole a $100 bill out of the register at the end of his FIRST shift alone on register.
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    woodenman22. Years ago, at a lumber company. Had a guy, less than two hours after he started on his first day, pick up his car with a forklift and stand underneath it to see what was rattling when he drove.
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getting fired workplace-stories fired work stories toxic-workplace job fired story work employees Horrible Bosses company toxic-work-environment
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