17 Work Horror Stories That Hopefully Aren’t Familiar

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17 Work Horror Stories That Hopefully Aren’t Familiar

When work gets strange, unfair, or just plain awful.

Published 3 months ago in Wtf

Most jobs come with the occasional bad day, but some work experiences go far beyond spilled coffee or a missed deadline.

From nightmare bosses and toxic coworkers to crazy office mishaps and truly chaotic customer encounters, these are the kinds of work horror stories that make you wonder how people made it through the day.

Hopefully, your job isn’t anything like this, but if it is, you’ll find plenty of relatable (and maybe therapeutic) moments in this collection.

These real-life tales from the workplace are wild, frustrating, and sometimes just plain ridiculous. And they are proof that when it comes to work, truth is stranger than fiction.

1
Pregnancy gone wrong
A colleague told her manager she was pregnant. The manager informed the team lead, who responded, “Couldn’t she have kept her legs together?”

2
Pink eye disaster
I worked at an upscale Italian restaurant and once showed up with pink eye symptoms. I told the owner, who said it was fine as long as I didn’t touch my eye. His lack of concern was one of the reasons I left shortly after.

3
Chicken meltdown
A manager once shoved a rack of thawing chicken at me, micromanaged everything, and accused me of purposely trying to cut her while I was chopping food. She often belittled me in front of coworkers and yelled at me just before firing me.

4
Not-so-service dog
At my last corporate job, someone had a “service dog” that clearly wasn’t trained. The dog was badly behaved, but due to legal restrictions, the center couldn’t do anything.

5
One pot of dishwater
I once worked at a Subway where managers wouldn’t let us change out the dishwater during our shift. We had to use the same dirty water all day. They also banned us from using hot water or turning the tap on fully. I had a better job already, so I quit.

6
My mom buys my clothes
At my first supermarket job, during orientation, they asked for our clothing sizes for uniforms. Trying to be funny, I said, “I don’t know, my mom buys all my clothes.” It was followed by silence and years of coworkers thinking I didn’t dress myself.

7
“It’s only her Nan”
An old manager, who was eventually fired, once refused a part-time employee a single day off to attend her grandmother’s funeral. He said, “It’s only her Nan.” The shift was only four hours long, but he acted like she was requesting a month-long vacation.

8
Forgotten on day one
On my first day at a new job, I attended an HR orientation with other new hires. Afterward, their managers came to collect them, except mine. Turns out my boss was on vacation, no one expected me, and I had no desk or computer for an entire week.

9
Fired for having a conscience
In college, I worked at a credit union. I got fired for refusing to follow a policy that told us to upsell credit cards to people who were constantly overdrawn and clearly struggling financially.

10
Grandma-shamed
Near the end of the holiday season, around 11 PM, I got a rare call from my grandma while chatting with coworkers. Concerned, I answered. Afterward, the manager publicly scolded me in front of new hires, saying, “This is an example of a bad employee. What’s your name?” I explained it was my grandmother, but he didn’t care and said if I used my phone again, I’d be fired. Meanwhile, he spent half the day texting on the sales floor. I quit a few days later.

11
Fitting room surprise
I used to be a supervisor at a thrift store. People would use the fitting rooms as restrooms.

12
Punished for being sick
A coworker undergoing cancer treatment missed several months of work. When holiday vouchers were handed out, he was denied one due to his “sick leave record.” HR was contacted, but they stood by the decision, saying “rules are rules”, even though it was a global company and likely a system error.

13
The fugitive guard
In a government job I had, we found out the 60+ year old security guard at the gate had been a fugitive for a murder in the 1970s. He was caught after I left. No one suspected him, he seemed like a friendly, grandfatherly man.

14
Secret zoom bullying
At a call center I worked in, some employees created a secret Zoom channel just to mock and bully one person. That individual eventually found out, and everything blew up after that.

15
Toxic boss
My former boss constantly used negative reinforcement. It was a small company with no HR, and he exploited that. Since we worked on commission, he often threatened to cut our pay if we didn’t perform. He drank in the office, used drugs at holiday parties, and encouraged managers to join him, likely so he could hold it over them later.

16
Heart attack? Still have to come in
In 2012, my dad had a heart attack the morning of my shift at a major bank. I called my manager from the hospital, and she immediately said, “No, no, no, we’re busy today, you have to come in.” I told her I was staying with my dad, who was critical. She kept insisting I call her back with an arrival time. She never once asked about him. I didn’t go in, and I never forgot how she responded.

17
Alone on my first day
On my first day of an apprenticeship, my boss, the secretary, and the other office staff were all absent. I had to ask strangers in the production area to let me in. I had no computer, no directions, and no idea where to go for lunch, so I stayed at my desk, alone and hungry, for the entire day.