Wildest times employees deservedly got fired: 'The meeting was the consultant stealing a laptop from a client cubicle'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jun 23, 2026 7:45 PM EDT

Some employees make you wonder how they ever got hired in the first place.

We have all worked with that coworker who baffles us in their ability to keep their job, yet somehow be incompetent at everything to do with it at the same time. We may have also experienced working with someone who seemed fine on the surface, but left the company abruptly for shocking reasons. Firings are an unfortunate but routine part of professional life that sometimes do not get used when they should, and other times are totally and inarguably deserved.

It is rarely a pleasant experience to be made to leave a job without your consent, but there are certain things which no employer is ever going to get past. They are going to expect a certain level of professional conduct, and you will be penalized for not adhering to this, even if you have your reasons for doing so. All work comes to an end eventually, and some exits are more dramatic than others. This can prove to be a blessing in disguise for someone to figure out that they are not on the right path, and it can even turn out to be a celebration for those who they used to work with.

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  • A close-up of an employee's hands carrying a box of office belongings down some outside stairs
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A close-up of an employee's hands carrying a box of office belongings down some outside stairs

  • While it isn't always a pleasant experience to watch somebody leave the workplace for good, there are occasions where it feels more than justified. Perhaps they mistreated people, were incompetent, or even guilty of something that has legal repercussions. Whatever their failings, there is every chance that under the right circumstances, they might have been able to get away with it. This makes it all the more satisfying when somebody who should not be doing their job is faced with the ultimate consequence for their actions. Every so often, justice can get served—even somewhere as unequal as the workplace.

  • What was a time when someone absolutely deserved to be fired?

    I'll never forget the woman in the IT department that I had to fire. Suzy had been there a long time and her new supervisor built an interesting case against her. Suzy would disappear for 4-5 hours for a one hour meeting, and come back with a fresh haircut. Suzy also took many many personal phone
    via Aarunascut
  • calls on the company's land line - this was pre-cell phone days. Suzy seemed to often need a non-work related ride to another facility of ours several miles away the driver said he took her 2-3 - times a week - to her BANK.
    via Aarunascut
  • It turns out Suzy was running her uncle's travel agency from her office in IT. When I terminated her for theft of company time and resources, her defense was she had a brain tumor. It takes all kinds...
    via Aarunascut
  • An employee carries a box of his office belongings down some stairs outside
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    An employee carries a box of his office belongings down some stairs outside

  • berz34 Back in the 1993-94 school year. Girl from the yearbook staff was walking back from getting pictures of another event and saw a teacher helping a student in class, and knowing the yearbook didn't have many pics of the teacher yet, she pokes head in and snaps a candid picture, and continues on her way. Turns out
    via berz34
  • the teacher was a paranoid, and when he hears the camera click, he runs out of the room and chases the girl down, corners her and is berating her and wanting to know what she's doing and why she's taking his picture, and then physically snatches the camera from her and pulls out the film, destroying pictures from several other recent events from the school year.
    via berz34
  • By the end of that day the teacher had been sent home, and by the end of the week it was announced he would not return to finish the school year (2-3 months. remaining).
    via berz34
  • An employee looks pensive as he carries a box of his belongings outside
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    An employee looks pensive as he carries a box of his belongings outside

  • Severe-Reality5546 A government contractor job. I had a co-worker that admitted he would work as little as he could while submitting reimbursement reports that included stuff outside what was allowed, just to see what he could get away with. After far too long of getting away with his shenanigans, the gov't customer finally had enough and told the
    via Severe-Reality5546
  • contracting company to pull him off their contact. He was placed with a different project, same result. Put on a third project, same result. At that point, the company couldn't place him anywhere and he was finally let go.
    via Severe-Reality5546
  • FireDude 1987 I was a professional services consultant for a software company on a gig at a client site training a newbie. Had been to the client site a few times, but first time training someone. About mid week I get a call from my manager saying that the new guy will most likely be terminated and asked that i sit in on a meeting with the client and
    via FireDude1987
  • our other consultant. The meeting was reviewing a video of the consultant stealing a laptop from a client cubicle. They graciously offered to not press charges if he returned the laptop. He denied he did anything. I had to him back to his hotel, was asked to take all company equipment and I asked him again to return the laptop he took from the client. He
    via FireDude1987
  • just stared at me. Ultimately, the Client thanked me for working with them didn't terminate our contract, pressed charges on the laptop thief and won.
    via FireDude1987
  • Deep Tutor_9018 Nurse here: Big bald guy at work. Used to tell pretty disgusting dirty jokes with patients around. No empathy whatsoever. Refused to assist me in an emergency procedure because "he was busy". When I confronted him about it he screamed some pretty explicit bad words at me in front of patients. Same week he physically
    via Deep_Tutor_9018
  • intimidated 3 female nurses. that was the start of it and it only got worse. manager been trying to fire hi for about a year now but this is the Netherlands and its extremely expensive and din near impossible to fire somebody. So he got transferred to another ward. they're not happy with him over there.
    via Deep_Tutor_9018
  • Other-Mess6887 We had the county sheriff come in and escorted the new marketing guy out in handcuffs. Seems that he got too "anxious" waiting for flagman to change sign at road construction and nudged him with his car bumper. He was arrested for vehicular assault.
    via Other-Mess6887
  • AndSo-Itbegins When the feds came in and took our new boss out in handcuffs. Seems he'd been dipping into University funds in his old position at the school snd some of that was government sourced. Never saw him again.
    via AndSo-Itbegins
  • David_Apollonius A lab technician at a pharmaceutical company I worked at decided that he didn't need to do the analysis. He could just make up the results and forge his measurements. Moral of this story: Fraud will get you fired.
    via David_Apollonius
  • x-men-theme-song Fired an employee from a hotel because he kept messing up the check in process for guests. Either not finishing the process or putting them in the wrong room. Multiple times he was giving keys to rooms that were already occupied
    via x-men-theme-song
  • l_am_just_so_tired99 I worked in a shipyard a while back. Lots of welding/ oxyacetylene cutting etc. I was on night shift doing my rounds and found the fire-watch guy asleep. Instant dismissal.
    via I_am_just_so_tired99

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