'He was fired on the spot [and] sued for his extra leave': 20+ HR employees whose workers left them speechless

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 5, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

Modern workers really do owe Human Resources our gratitude. There was a time where workplaces could be downright awful to work in: bosses could treat employees disrespectfully, or treat men differently than women, not to mention the ways that people in now-protected categories could be treated unfairly. So while you may roll your eyes at having to complete several hours of HR-mandated training videos each year, it's really for the best that we all have protections and equal rights in the workplace. 

However, some employees take their HR rights a bit too far. Just ask the guy who got upset that someone wasn't saying good morning to him, or the woman who took it upon herself to ban any and all scents at her company. Just read a few of the anecdotes from the HR professionals below, who had some piping hot workplace tea to spill. 

Up next, read about the way this 16-year-old got back at her stepmom's driving rules by refusing to take her 13-year-old sister to dance class: "Sorry Tina, I'm not allowed to take you to ballet." 

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  • 01

    'Human Resources employees... What’s the most “what the h***” complaint you’ve had to deal with?'

    [deleted] He doesn't say Good Morning to me.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 02
    lux_nox_ez This was abput 10 years ago, a guy in accounts pretended his wife had d d. He faked her funeral, took compassionate leave (quite a lot of extra leave, as the wife was Indian and he claimed he had to go to India to sort out her estate), was given £500ish from an office collection.
    via u/lux_nox_ez
  • 03
    Unfortunately he hadn't let his wife in on the scam, and she phoned the office looking for him one afternoon. I believe the complaint that came in from his supervisor was 'You know X's wife dd, well I just had a phone call from the afterlife'.
    via u/lux_nox_ez
  • 04
    He was fired on the spot, sued for his extra leave, and is the reason we ask grieving workers for death certificates before we allow any extra PTO.
    via u/lux_nox_ez
  • 05

    A small misunderstanding

    dert1313 I work as an intern in an office of 30 people. A couple days ago I received a complaint to my manager because an employee said "The intern complained that the company doesn't buy enough muffins for the
    via u/dert1313
  • 06
    employess". What actually happened was I walked to the table for a muffin, didn't see any, and said "Aww man I wish there were more muffins".
    via u/dert1313
  • 07
    Group of employees talking in office setting
    via Curated Lifestyle For Unsplash+

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

  • 08
    malpatypuduzamal... Not HR, but I used to help. my HR team in organizing a summer event for families. Nothing special, just a grill party for employees with some extra events for children. This was a large company of around 300 employees.
    via u/malpatypuduzamalpa
  • 09
    A week before the event, one guy rose hl because we chose the date when his daughter was on summer camp...
    via u/malpatypuduzamalpa
  • 10
    DanimusRex My mom (who works for the state) had to deal with an employee who was catching pigeons on work property then taking them home to bbq them.
    via u/DanimusRex
  • 11

    This office sounds so toxic

    [del... Have a huge list and can flesh these out more later. 1. A manager complained that a guys accent was too thick. After speaking with the manager (who frequently uses poor tasting slang) and the heavily accented gentleman I can honestly say the
    via u/[deleted]
  • 12
    manager was the issue and they guy didn't have a thick accent. 2. Guy kissed his gf hello after finishing work. The act was reported homophobic as an act. 3. A guy kept asking other people if they're on break the same time as he to pray with him. Frequently. 4. A woman called herself b and another
    via u/[deleted]
  • 13
    employee reported her for insulting an employee. Yes the actual complaint stated she called herself bitchy. 5. Girl complained that another guy was stalking her every night. She would ask a guy to her to her car. It was the same guy. That one was weird. She actually used his parking space
    via u/[deleted]
  • 14
    at his house to save money since he lived close to work. She then later complained that he stopped letting her do this, I can only assume due to the stalking complaint. There's a ton more Added: 6. A manager reported every single one of his employees
    via u/[deleted]
  • 15
    in his branch for coming in late. Turned out he told them to come to work an hour early (unpaid) but they came 15-30 minutes early instead (unpaid) so tried to write them all up etc
    via u/[deleted]
  • 16
    BiloxiRED I'm not in HR but I know those folks pretty well. My work used to let people dress up for Halloween each year. Company is about 350 people in size. People used to have a blast. There would be parties and contests for costumes and pumpkin carving, etc. I would guess. about 65-70% of the building would really get into it every year. One lady
    via u/BiloxiRED
  • 17
    complained to HR that some of the costumes were upsetting to her because they were sat ic. Were talking vampires here, folks. Dracula. Like the classic teeth, black cape, white skin template vampire we all know. That was the end of Halloween for the entire building. I hated that b
    via u/BiloxiRED
  • 18
    hotsauce_shivers Not HR, but in my office there was a HUGE deal of who kept finishing the pot of coffee without starting a new one. Lemme tell you, some office workers had to go 4-5 minutes without coffee, which caused chaos.
    via u/hotsauce_shivers
  • 19
    atomsandgrace04 I am actually HR! I've had a few what the h | complaints: 1. Employee complained about other people's perfume affecting her allergies but wore heavy perfume herself. She said everything outside her home gave her allergies. With a doctor's note, she was
    via u/atomsandgrace04
  • 20
    allowed to work from home but was more than happy to come to company events and get smashed. Yeah, makes total sense. 2. We had an employee who was abrasive, r de, arrogant, actively tried to get people fired, and was a little too flirtatious with some women. There were several
    via u/atomsandgrace04
  • 21
    complaints about the guy. The "what the h_l" part of it is, no matter how much documentation we collected about the guy, the executives refused to discipline him because he had been at the company for 20+ years and had a unique wealth of knowledge that would be extremely hard to replace.
    via u/atomsandgrace04
  • 22
    3. We had an executive who scared her department so much, people were afraid to use the bathroom. If some people took maybe a minute too long in the bathroom, the supervisors grilled the person about where they were and sometimes penalized them for that. The supervisors were under so much pressure from
    via u/atomsandgrace04
  • 23
    the executive. It took a long time because people were too afraid but finally, a few people came forward to us about the issue and we put a stop to that immediately. HR is an interesting world but can be very stressful and at times, a very lonely place to be.
    via u/atomsandgrace04
  • 24
    SweetSurreality I'm not HR but we had an issue with scented stuff in our office. Some people had a sensitivity and there was little air flow so if someone sprayed something, they had issues. That's not the bad part. It ended up being a feud between two sections that had to be mediated by HR. On the sensitive side, there was a supervisor who looked for reasons to write
    via u/SweetSurreality
  • 25
    up those who might be wearing something scented. She tried to write up someone for wearing a scented deoderant and someone for carrying scented lotion in their purse (they hadn't even opened it). It didn't help that the sensitive one liked to claim a migraine and go home if she even suspected someone was wearing a scent.
    via u/SweetSurreality
  • 26
    They ended up stopping the whole issue by setting a trap and mentioning the scent of some new lotion. They all talked about how good it smelled. Strangely, the 'sensitive' one got a migraine and the entire group was called in to the office to be written up because even the supervisor could smell the (nonexistent) lotion in her
    via u/SweetSurreality
  • 27
    office. When called out on it, HR had to come in and put a stop to the whole issue. Note: I understand that people have sensitivity to smells. I am one of them (old lady perfume makes me have an asthma attack) and in the beginning it was reasonable. People followed
    via u/SweetSurreality
  • 28
    the rules. But this turned into a witch hunt on one side with someone taking advantage of it. At one point, the supervisor demanded to search people's purses and bags to make sure they weren't bringing in scented items (didn't even have to be using them). HR did tell her that was illegal though lol
    via u/SweetSurreality
  • 29
    Group of employees discussing papers in office setting
    via Curated Lifestyle For Unsplash+

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

  • 30
    throwpl1away Talking to an employee about underperformance and she complains because I wasn't telling her how great she is after every text she sent.
    via u/throwpl1away
  • 31
    kelism Chewing too loud Typing too loud Had to go home because it's too cold (hottest month on record, A/C in server room next room over is dong)
    via u/kelism
  • 32
    "They can hear him." Direct quote. Apparently he was laughing from across the building (not loudly) and they were not okay with it.
    via u/kelism
  • 33
    613lady This girl I work with has a major case of resting b face. She is actually one of the sweetest people. Someone put in a complaint about her for "face threats". I thought it was a joke at first.
    via u/613lady
  • 34
    Employees looking at computer together
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 35
    twunkypunk There is currently 'yoghurt gate scandal' at my place of work. Someone's yoghurt went missing from the fridge and they complained to HR.
    via u/twunkypunk
  • 36
    NettyTheMadScien... Obligatory not HR. But I once lightly tossed the keys. to a fellow employee. It's something I often do, but this particular employee didn't like me. Later on I was asked by my manager why I threw the keys at my coworker. Apparently my coworker told them that I got angry and huffed and chucked the keys at his chest. I was utterly
    via u/NettyTheMadScientist
  • 37
    flabbergasted that I was considered to be the one in the wrong. When asked the standard "what should you do next time to make sure this doesn't happen again?" I didn't know what to answer. I considered answering that maybe my coworker shouldn't be such a puss-a b. Luckily my Team Lead stepped in and told me the right answer was "not to toss the keys next
    via u/NettyTheMadScientist
  • 38
    time". After the meeting I busted up laughing. It became something of a running joke with my other coworkers whenever we tossed the keys to each other.
    via u/NettyTheMadScientist
  • 39
    GroundbreakingE... (obligatory not HR) but i work in the IT dept for a major company who are getting behind saving the oceans in a big way, and are doing their own project to help. Part of this was to change everyone's desktop background to a picture of two dolphins in open water (it was forced to everyone but you can change it). We got a complaint on the very
    via u/GroundbreakingEmu7
  • 40
    first day it was deployed because someone had a phobia of dolphins and seeing this on everyone's screens was giving her severe anxiety. Laughs were had, and our build team were absolutely incredulous. They thought we were joking when we escalated it.
    via u/GroundbreakingEmu7
  • 41
    Moyrog A worker had to go visit the client's offices in a different country. The first weekend comes by, we get a call from the hotel that we booked for him charging us for the "total loss" of the room. It turns out that this person somehow triggered the fire alarm by putting a lighter under the smoke sensor,
    via u/Moyrog
  • 42
    causing the fire sprinkler system to be activated, flooding the whole room, as well as part of the floor where his room was. He still to this day claims he didn't mean for the fire alarm to go off...
    via u/Moyrog
  • 43
    surelythisisfree I'm waiting to have a complaint against me. I eat my lunch at morning tea time (about 10:30am). Always have. I keep getting complaints to me that I'm making people hungry too early with the smell of my food (usually pasta or similar). At some point it will annoy some one enough to raise the issue higher up I reckon.
    via u/surelythisisfree
  • 44
    Dea... Not in HR but when I was a waitress there was this married couple that found something new to complain about every time they came in. The one that got me was 'Your booths are too tall, you need to lower them for us.'
    via u/D***beatMermaid
  • 45
    Not only were these the same exact booths that they had sat in several dozen times previously without any issue, but also were permanently bolted to the wall, because, you know, they're booths...
    via u/D***beatMermaid
  • 46
    slowshot When my employer was purchased out of bankruptcy by a private corporation, the new owners sent all office personnel a notice that stated all office staffers would be required to wear a business suit at all times. The H.R. Director (a very wonderful woman,
    via u/slowshot
  • 47
    about 60 years old) promptly turned in her resignation. If she could not wear blue jeans and a blouse to work, she wasn't interested in keeping her job. The entire office staff notified the new front office that if an exception was not made for the HR lady, they would also quit. An exception was made for her.
    via u/slowshot
  • 48
    HulksBlackSoul Not complaints but accommodation requests at a large cable/internet provider: -a call center agent requested to be allowed to use a coloring book and crayons why taking calls. -another call center agent wanted to be moved to a different location because
    via u/HulksBlackSoul
  • 49
    she was in the witness protection program -about 12 requests a month for call center agents to sit on exercise balls. For safety and liability reasons and your lack of a doctor's recommendation for that, no. -another call center agent requested a bathroom break every 6 min.
    via u/HulksBlackSoul
  • 50
    -and another requested his ESA (dog) to come with him to work for his bipolarism. Coworkers complained that the dog stunk and wasn't groomed. Then we learned that the director of the call center was highly allergic to dogs. Before we had to come up with a decision, he up and quit mid shift because his vacation request wasn't approved after only being employed for about 26 days.
    via u/HulksBlackSoul
  • 51
    bor... When I was a shift manager at a convenience store I had a cashier just decide to take off her shoes and socks because she was "uncomfortable" this isn't the moment. The moment was when I informed my boss and he said not to worry about it. I left that job two months later and she was still doing
    via u/bornforbbq
  • 52
    the same thing. Maybe it's just me but if I walked into a store and saw that I'd walk right back out. Edit: I should also point out that I did talk to the cashier in question multiple times before I informed my boss. and we did have pads so that your feet didn't hurt.
    via u/bornforbbq
  • 53
    NumenSD After a promotion at a previous job, I was given my first employee to manage. After the first day of training she complained that it was bulls that she agreed to take this job only to find out there was no immediate benefits regarding maternity leave. Turns out she was 6+
    via u/NumenSD
  • 54
    months pregnant and was only looking for a job that would pay maternity leave. My boss told her not to bother coming back for training the next day
    via u/NumenSD
  • 55
    Nissir Not in HR but friend gave me her organizations b list a week or so ago, the highlights were: 1. Free omelet day wasn't inclusive enough because they were vegan so they wanted it canceled. 2. Server room was too cold.
    via u/Nissir
  • 56
    3. Joe has too many pictures of his kids on his desk, it is distracting. 4. Someone keeps parking in my space (building doesn't have assigned parking) they had just claimed a space as "their's". 5. Bell on the microwave is too distracting, everyone should be sure to stop their food
    via u/Nissir
  • 57
    before it goes off. 6. Blow dryer in the bathroom didn't last long enough, had to press the activation button multiple times. 7. Like 20 complaints about what other people choose to eat, including too spicy, too stinky, takes too long to cook in the microwave, and not locally sourced...
    via u/Nissir

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