Employees swap stories of the most ridiculous things they’ve seen coworkers do to get fired: 'He was arrested and fired the same day'

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Aug 3, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Aren't we all a little scared of getting fired? Unless you really hate your job (in which case... congrats?), most of us try to keep things just professional enough to avoid getting called into HR. Usually, if you do get the boot, you know you had it coming. Maybe you were on your final warning, maybe you were late more times than you'd like to admit, or maybe you coasted through a whole quarter without hitting quota even once. Either way, most firings don't exactly come out of nowhere.

But every now and then, someone gets themselves fired in a blaze of glory. Or, more accurately, a burst of pure stupidity. We're talking about employees who do something so dumb, so obviously fireable, that it makes you wonder how they got hired in the first place. 

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  • That’s what happened in this thread where people took to the internet to share the wildest things they’ve seen coworkers do that got them fired on the spot. From stealing from the office to camping on company property for six months just for fun (yes, really), these stories are a crash course in what not to do if you want to stay employed.

     Some people are just walking HR violations.

  • ALL COLOR NOW HIRING
    via Nathan Sack for Unsplash+

  • "What is the stupidest thing you have seen people do that got them fired from their job?"

    I saw a guy get fired for stealing $6 worth of gasoline. He was leaving the jobsite but before he left he took a can full of company gas and dumped half of it in the tank of his personal vehicle. All he had to do
    via florida_gun_nut
  • was talk to me and I would have helped him but he chose instead to steal fuel. He was fired the next day for theft. What is the dumbest thing that people have done that got them fired?
    via florida_gun_nut
  • BacupBhoy A manager at a place I used to work stole a box of windscreen wipers. Yes, windscreen wipers.
    via BacupBhoy
  • This guy was on a very large salary and a brand new company car, unlimited mileage, every year. He lost the job and his very large company pension.
    via BacupBhoy
  • He was in his 50's and had worked there for over 30 years. There was no way he was going to make up that loss.
    via BacupBhoy
  • Longjumping-Air1489 Dude robbed the convenience store on the way to work. The same convenience store he would buy coffee from for the last four years.
    via Longjumping-Air1489
  • When the police came and asked for a description, the workers gave the police his name and where he worked. He was arrested and fired the same day.
    via Longjumping-Air1489
  • Yota8883 I have stories. I'm 30+ years in manufacturing at the same facility. I started 2 months after the facility opened. Yeah, I have stories.
    via Yota8883
  • Cheezburger Image 10535589888
    via Karolina Grabowska For Unsplash+

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

  • A coworker didn't show up for a couple days. No one could get a hold of him. He turns up in Arizona (we're on the east coast) with the story he was drugged and kidnapped, tossed in a trunk and taken to Arizona. Police report
    via Yota8883
  • confirmed his store.... until it wasn't the story. I think he did time for the false police report. Like !! ******* Another coworker, this is very recent but no firing.
    via Yota8883
  • They found out he was living in a bushcraft shelter in the woods on company property. Was there for about 6 months. He had a home. He did that kind of stuff. Vacation for a week in the middle of winter to
    via Yota8883
  • go camping full bushcraft style in the woods for a week. Just don't do it for 6 months on company property. ** *** Everyone came off break and there's a guy laying
    via Yota8883
  • full prone on the ground holding onto a post. ? He was holding onto the post that holds material in a large hanging bag, like 9000 lb. of our product. He mumbled something about making sure it didn't float away.
    via Yota8883
  • This was nightshift. He admits that he was doing dabs out in his car during break. They didn't know what to do with him at 2 am so they locked him in the conference room in the front offices for the rest of the night.
    via Yota8883
  • Shift change is 7 am. "Hey, this is what's going on with this machine, and that machine is running good, blah blah, see ya tonight in 12..." and out the door the night shift went. HR lady also comes in at 7, her door right next to the main door for the office. She
    via Yota8883
  • gets a jump when someone is out pounding on the door screaming. It's dad. " is my kid!" he's screaming. They night guy totally forgot about the kid locked in the conference room. He was still locked in there.
    via Yota8883
  • Later in camera footage outside, he stumbled out. of his car to the ground and rolled through the entire parking lot to the front door before he got up and came in. Like rolled like a little kid rolls in the grass.
    via Yota8883
  • ******* Here's a guy who was fired for unfair labor practices and got his job back. Unionization campaign. going on, he was fired after the 3rd time getting caught smoking in the propane shed! Union filed
    via Yota8883
  • unfair labor practice charges and they were forced to hire him back. Fired immediately again after the vote (of no union.) He's a cop now. ********
    via Yota8883
  • A guy comes in on his off- shift. His girlfriend was working, in the back with a couple of guys. He walks back and started to beat the sh out of her. He got jumped and his a hauled out by the 3 guys standing right there.
    via Yota8883
  • Snurgisdr Before our performance reviews, all the managers. would meet and discuss all their people to get feedback from other departments. One guy was
    via Snurgisdr
  • curious what they were going to say about him, so he taped a voice recorder to the underside of the boardroom table. It came unstuck in the middle of the meeting and landed on the floor. I don't know how
    via Snurgisdr
  • they traced it back to him, but he got marched straight out the door the same day.
    via Snurgisdr
  • jaydubya123 I worked at a home improvement store in the Midwest where you "save big money". Someone dropped a can of white paint in the outside yard.
    via jaydubya123
  • When it dried my buddy took a sharpie and wrote "visit our paint department for big savings". They fired him for tiime theft
    via jaydubya123
  • sunflower8731 Manager chose to ignore the lock out, tag out procedure and tried to force a worker to use the equipment.
    via sunflower8731
  • JoisChaotic Whatever Young kid in day 1 hour 3 of orientation went to his car for his 15 minute break. Took a gigantic hit off the bong, opened his door, and puked all over. Came back and was
    via JoisChaoticWhatever
  • let go about 45 minutes later. He came back smelling like he lit a dispensary on fire. This was at a casino. Surveillance is EVERYWHERE.
    via JoisChaoticWhatever
  • The hoops you have to jump through to get a gaming. license and Literally, his job went up in smoke.
    via JoisChaoticWhatever
  • AlanStanwick 1986 I work for a huge company and the president of our trucking division got himself fired for secretly owning a trucking company on the side. This guy had to
    via AlanStanwick
  • be making at least $300,000 a year at my company but got greedy apparently. He obviously had access to our bids for potential shipping so he would go in with a little lower bid with his secret company that was in his buddies name. This was 15
    via AlanStanwick
  • years ago and I still don't know how he was found out but man what a stupid move.
    via AlanStanwick

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humor employee fired FAIL job work coworkers layoffs comedy workplace funny
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