Boss brags to essential contractor about firing contractors without notice, essential contractor quits with 10 seconds of notice in return, leaving the company scrambling to pick up the pieces: 'Hey, thanks for everything, this is my last day!'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Sep 23, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

There's a reason why The Golden Rule is called as such and is pervasive in one form or another across cultures globally. "Treat others the way you want to be treated" is a simple yet profound lesson, one we're supposed to learn in preschool, that encompasses all sorts of moral, ethical, and social cues that we're supposed to take with us for the rest of our lives. 

It's surprising then that so many people don't take The Golden Rule into practice, seeming to have never earned a gold star on that part of their childhood development (or seemingly learned social skills and ethics past that point at all). Yet, have still progressed into roles that we would consider to be high achievement in society, and go about expecting to be able to treat others poorly, with disdain even, and that they'll face nothing of the sort in return.

You'll come across this all the time in the workplace, whether it's that coworker who thinks that they can treat you with contempt every time your paths cross—and that you should be fine with that–or your boss who hasn't learned how to walk a two-way street and thinks that they can behave with impunity.

This boss was one of those bosses, and he showed his true colors when he commanded the firing of contracted staff with no notice and then bragged to his two managers about how he hired contractors specifically so that he could fire them on the spot if he wanted to. This was either brazen or simply foolish since the managers themselves were contractors, a point that maybe the boss had forgotten. Either way, the exchange left the contracted managers with an uneasy feeling about the situation they found themselves in, suddenly aware of the precarious employment position they were in. And at least of the managers left resolved to find a new positon, and a chance to treat the boss exactly how he treated his staff.

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  • 01

    "My contractor coworker quit with 10 seconds notice after what our manager said about contractors"

    I worked an engineering contract for a while. They were pretty open ended, like a lot were, with a vague (but not binding) length specified. Kind of like: "This contract is expected to be for 12 months, but it is at will of the employer,
    via BigMax
  • 02
    An older man talks on the phone with a large smile on his face
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+
  • 03
    and could end earlier or be extended further." But for those that do that kind of work, usually they stick to the vague timelines, and a lot of well performing contractors get extended.
    via BigMax
  • 04
    Anyway... one day our team of 10 (all contractors, managed by one full time employee) let 3 of the contractors go. (And they had ME do it!!! Technically I was running that team, but... I was a contractor too, and not in charge of any firing like that.) So they were told "this is your last day" at 4pm.
    via BigMax
  • 05
    Me and another contractor asked our sponsor "hey - how come we didn't give those guys any notice?" He said brightly "that's why we hire contractors! So we can cut them loose at a moments notice whenever we want to!"
    via BigMax
  • 06
    We didn't love that answer. Also - it was a weird thing to say to two other contractors... He basically told us we'd get no notice and be let go instantly someday.
    via BigMax
  • 07
    Anyway, long story short, that other contractor was a VERY sharp guy. He started interviewing, and got another job. He told me about it (and I didn't tell anyone else). It started in a few weeks. He just kept right on working the contract job, and was right in the middle of a bunch of work that only he understood.
    via BigMax
  • 08
    At 5pm on his last day he just stood up, grabbed his laptop/mouse/docking-station, walked to our sponsors desk and set them down. He just said brightly "hey, thanks for everything, this is my last day!" The guy said "wait, you're leaving?" and he just said "yes, thanks!" and walked out. That was it.
    via BigMax
  • 09
    Two men discuss something on a computer screen
    via Kübra Arslaner For Unsplash+

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

  • 10
    (He did also hit 'send' on a more official 'last day' email at the same time too.) It was really funny, his work was half done, he didn't answer any calls or questions about it, and it took us like a month to figure it all out and get that project back on track. If the sponsor hadn't been SO delighted about being able to fire contractors at any second, that guy would definitely have given a nice two week notice and worked to have a smooth handoff of his work.
    via BigMax
  • 11
    LongSchlonggSilver I work in construction and have had coworkers fired with no notice. My boss the owner said that he was not required to give any notice in our industry. I worked for that company for a little more than 10 years. When the writing was in the wall for me to move on I worked my shift and found my boss at the end and told him I was done effective immediately.
    via BigMax
  • 12
    He practically begged me to stay and train a replacement for the machine I run daily. I told him he had 10 years to figure out a back up and since I no longer work for him it was none of my business. He asked why I didn't give any notice and I regurgitated his line about no notice required in our industry.
    via BigMax
  • 13
    My favorite part of the conversation was when he asked if I could at least come in for a few complicated jobs that week and I said it was akin to breakup s and no. I
    via BigMax
  • 14
    SPerry8519 That's why the whole "You have to give 2 week notice before quitting" concept is absolute bulls 1. You don't give ME a 2 week notice to fire me and 2. 9 times out of 10 if a notice IS given, you just fire the person anyway, so what's the point?
    via BigMax
  • 15
    Working_Guidance8577 Respect runs both ways. Employers fail to understand this as often as employees
    via BigMax

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