15+ Employees who were fired for bizarre reasons: 'I was fired for not putting ketchup on a customer’s table'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 10, 2025 3:00 PM EST

These employees were fired for reasons that left them speechless, but at least they're finally now revealing the full stories! 

You can be the best worker at your company and get fired. You can be the worst worker at your company and also get fired. It's not always about you — sometimes your boss has it out for you, and has decided they need a scapegoat to shield themselves from their own boss's criticisms. Other times, that workplace needs to cut costs, and they do so by picking employees strategically depending on their type of job rather than their performance. Not to mention that sometimes it's for the very good reason of letting higher-ups enjoy a bigger salary at the end of the year by letting go a bunch of workers who make peanuts. Who cares if a few people are out of work and can't pay rent when the CEO needs a fresh coat of paint on his private jet? 

These workers did not hold back while describing the exact situations that got them laid off. However, quite a few of them also discovered that they were way happier once they had a new job, anyway. It's a good reminder that bad things do happen to good people, but sometimes they're also blessings in disguise. 

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  • 01
    Man with worried expression looks at iPhone while holding pen in other hand
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 02
    Elsa_the_Archer I was fired for playing solitaire on my 15 min break when I was working as a receptionist. The doctor who owned the clinic was dumb enough to put that as the reason in my termination letter. I collected unemployment after he tried to appeal it. They explained in great detail how stupid of a reason this was for termination.
    via u/Elsa_the_Archer
  • 03
    hooch21 Worked at Best Buy in the mid 90s when I was 16. I worked selling computers, and was pretty good at it. We also sold things like memory, and hard drives that were behind lock and key. Part of our job was to take the tagged inventory from the trucks, and put it on the shelves. This included said memory.
    via u/hooch21
  • 04
    So I close one night, put away all the new inventory, lock it up, and hand the keys to the manager. They do their checks of our department and we leave for the night. Next day I'm scheduled, I go in and the loss prevention manager said he has me on video stealing memory. I laughed and said, show me the video. Well I'm somewhat tall, red hair, and white. The video he shows me has an
    via u/hooch21
  • 05
    older, very short, white guy with a shaved head. He told me that it was me, and that I was fired, and only showed me the video once, and immediately turned off the monitor. Being 16, I didn't know any better, said some things on my way out, like fuck you, fuck this place, and the like, and I left. Turns out the loss prevention guy, and his son were stealing for years to
    via u/hooch21
  • 06
    the tune over $250,000 and the guy on the video he showed me was his son. Anytime problems popped up of missing inventory, they just fired a random person to keep the attention away from themselves. When police arrested them, their house was loaded with televisions, computers, everything from the store.
    via u/hooch21
  • 07
    TL;DR fired for stealing when the video was of the loss prevention manager's son stealing.
    via u/hooch21
  • 08
    [deleted] I was fired for accidentally showing up for a shift I was not scheduled for and then leaving when I found out I was not scheduled for said shift.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 09
    fannyj I once worked for a small private school. A new supervisor was hired, and she called an after-hours meeting the Wednesday night right before Thanksgiving. One teacher didn't attend and she was fired. When the new
    via u/fannyj
  • 10
    supervisor was finally let go, I heard from the owner that they had 4 lawsuits from employees being wrongfully fired.
    via u/fannyj
  • 11
    wombatarangutan Someone was stealing from the register. I got blamed. Turned out to be the owner's brother (who blamed it on me). I was let go just before Thanksgiving. I never got my job back, but the owner did apologize months later.
    via u/wombatarangutan
  • 12
    Man in tan shirt uses credit card to tap screen while holding phone in other hand with restaurant background
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+
  • 13
    Iowa Transplant21 Accepted job and notified them I would need X date off for my sister's wedding (2 months after the start date). Came back from my sister's wedding and shit hit the fan while I was gone. Not my responsibility, but my name. was on some of the changes in the document. Canned that day for "not being there when they needed me"
    via u/Iowa Transplant21
  • 14
    engineertr1gg Guy preparing to retire, who had been training me to take over his job for the past 7 months, felt I was ready to take over completely. Boss was afraid to lose 30+ years of experience and fired me to keep the old guy for a little longer.
    via u/engineertr1gg
  • 15
    From what I understand there was a pretty big fight. Old guy was a wonderful reference for me with the new job I obtained, with a 20k+ pay raise, and begrudgingly agreed to stay on for another year.
    via u/engineertr1gg
  • 16
    myneighborsown... I broke my hand and got fired for asking to take a day off to go to the doctor, I never called in there once in the five years I worked there
    via u/myneighborsownd****s
  • 17
    Ph... Supposedly, I "argued with the owner's wife about working weekends". I specifically told them I can work weekends, but cannot work anytime with less than a day's notice. I'm not at your beck and call for $8 an hour, fuck me right?
    via u/PhoenixQueenAzula
  • 18
    dojijosu Got fired from a public library for taking TWO carts to collect books from the outside Dropbox instead of ONE. The past few times I emptied the dropbox on a Monday it required two trips, So I brought two carts instead.
    via u/dojijosu
  • 19
    It turns out the matter of how many carts were used in emptying the dropbox was a matter of a library board vote and I was in violation of a town ordinance.
    via u/dojijosu
  • 20
    Mind you, I wasn't fired. I was placed on paid administrative leave pending a library board inquiry at which I was welcome to call witnesses. I couldn't keep a straight face, so I resigned.
    via u/dojijosu
  • 21
    scottwax During my senior year in high school, I was working at McDonald's, it was right after Christmas and we were really busy. I'd been there 4 hours, had 2 to go, was supposed to get a 30 minute break, since we'd slowed down I asked if I could have a break. The shift manager said no one was getting breaks. I said "thanks a lot", she told the assistant
    via u/scottwax
  • 22
    manager (pretty sure they were sleeping together) that I told her to fuck off. He fired me on the spot. Wouldn't even let me give my side of the story. A week later I was working. at Jack in the Box. Was a shift manager in 6 months, did that through a couple years of college, dropped out (never wanted to go anyway) and moved up to assistant manager and then
    via u/scottwax
  • 23
    a couple years later, general manager. I remembered how shitty I was treated at McDonald's and made sure I treated my employees well. Had the 3rd lowest turnover rate in a 95 restaurant region, had the second highest average hourly pay...and #2 in profit improvement. Take care of your people and they'll do the same for you.
    via u/scottwax
  • 24
    [deleted] My first job ever was as a dish washer. I was so proud. I was 18. Of course, my parents didnt believe me so my mom called them and asked them if it was true. They fired me that night because they felt I was unreliable. I have yet to let my folks live that one down...
    via u/[deleted]
  • 25
    RocketDocRyan My wife got fired once for giving a high level donor (she worked for an art gallery) a bottle of water at a big dinner and art auction. Her boss had insisted that there be no water at the event, but when the donor asked for water, my wife went and found some damn water. Boss found out and fired her the next day for insubordination.
    via u/RocketDocRyan
  • 26
    [deleted] I got a middle level position at the company where they boasted at how family orientated they are. They are the kind of company that has a small arcade and puttputt and ping-pong table and encouraged people to relax and play them.. After a month of being there I decided to play some co workers in ping pong since I'm pretty decent
    via u/[deleted]
  • 27
    at it. The owner and his son ends up walking through the doors and sees me playing. and challenges me. I play the son and absolutely demolish him. He got extremely upset and walked away after throwing the paddle at me. Later that week I was fired for not fitting the culture. Cool
    via u/[deleted]
  • 28
    streetmitch kinda fired I guess. Got a job offer and they wanted me to start asap, but told them I want to give my job at least a weeks notice. turned in a 1 week notice. Later in the day went to our scheduled breaks 5 minutes late because I was busy doing something at work that I couldnt just put down. So I came back 5 minutes late. manager came up to me
    via u/streetmitch
  • 29
    acting really mad and said I was fired for abusing breaks. I just laughed handed him my badge and started walking to my car. he tried stopping me saying HR needed to see me to fill out paper work. laughed even more and got in my car and left. Took the week off to relax before starting my new job.
    via u/streetmitch
  • 30
    Professional_Mar... I got fired from Sonic when I told them I was no longer going to be available for last minute call ins because I'd gotten a second job. My boss was not happy, because I lived the closest. So he stormed off and started screaming, "Guess this is Professional_March54's last day! I hope your happy!". I tried to clarify that I'd still be
    via u/Professional_March54
  • 31
    available for set shifts, I just wouldn't be ON Call anymore. He screamed at me to shut up. I hadn't clocked in yet, and I could sense a tantrum so I asked if I should even bother clocking in. He threw a burger at me and told me to get the fuck out. So I did. They had a Drive-Thru line wrapped around the building, and I was the only non-family employee on until 3.
    via u/Professional_March54
  • 32
    SpyJane I worked at a bar that was notorious for firing people. It well known that no one lasted for more than a month, and it was a big deal if you made it longer than that. I made it to month three when I was fired for not putting ketchup on a customer's table. They were eating shepherds pie and salad respectively and didn't even ask for ketchup.
    via u/SpyJane
  • 33
    originalusername... When I was getting hired they told me I work Monday- Friday only. Great. Couple months go by, work no weekends. Plan family vacation for upcoming weekend. Leaving for vacation right after work. At 4:30 they tell me I have to work the weekend. I say I can't I have vacation. They say it's mandatory.
    via u/originalusername1589
  • 34
    Go home, decide to go on vacation anyway. Call in Saturday. Come in to work on Monday, fired. Spent the day fishing.
    via u/originalusername1589
  • 35
    William2n9 I worked at this hotel doing afternoon/evening shift and two overnight shifts a week. They listed the following reasons for letting me go: Claimed I was leaving property without clocking out because I wasn't on camera the entire time. The date they said specifically was an evening that I spent cleaning up the meeting
    via u/William2n9
  • 36
    space because it was slow. I was also not the only front desk person on shift. When working overnight I would sit on a chair to do the audit from midnight to 3am. Sitting on a chair at the front desk was not allowed, even at midnight/early morning. Also when working overnight I had to fold linens so I would listen to the
    via u/William2n9
  • 37
    radio/music through a Bluetooth headset while folding and cleaning up the back. That was also not allowed even at midnight/early morning. They honestly probably just didn't like me but after they fired me I went and got a new job at the hotel next door and started making a lot more money and was able to do all the things I was let go for.
    via u/William2n9
  • 38
    NotGAF My brother worked part-time in a hardware store. In winter, the low season, the store would stop scheduling the newest employees, and would start scheduling them again in spring. My brother. was one of the new guys and wasn't scheduled in the winter.
    via u/NotGAF
  • 39
    In the middle of spring, he went to check when he would start again. There was a new manager he didn't know and she told him he wasn't on the employee list. Without a reason. Apparently they just assumed he wouldn't work again and terminated him without telling him.
    via u/NotGAF
  • 40
    Since we have good labor laws, my brother got a few thousands in settlement for lost income.
    via u/NotGAF
  • 41
    [deleted] Didn't wear a tie that I was never given. I was supposed to have a black tie as part of my security uniform. They never gave me a tie and told me not to worry about it. I worked nights anyway.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 42
    Then some exec did a walk through and saw I wasn't wearing a tie and told them to get rid of me and I was out on my ass.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 43
    Isneret My boss asked me to come in his office and fired me on the spot with the excellent reason of "you know why". I was pretty distressed and way too shy to protest and left with that. Learned afterwards that is was because I had a cold that
    via u/Isneret
  • 44
    day and was a bit tired. Joke on him, it's illegal to fire people on the spot in my country and I brought some well deserved justice on him.
    via u/Isneret

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