‘How did that one coworker get fired?’ – 23 tales of workplace woe that will make you feel like employee of the month

Every workplace has a legendary tale of an ex-colleague who did something so foolish, or strange, or unacceptable, that they got the sack and nobody has stopped talking about since. Over on Reddit, user aquatic_armageddons posed the simple question:

How did that one coworker get fired?

And the replies will reassure you that your habit of pinching post-its is certainly not the worst thing you could be doing at work.

1.

‘Peeing into a coffee cup under his desk, despite his office being about 12 feet from the bathroom.’
–doglywolf

2.

‘For trying to see how loud he can scream. Was his first day, we are having quiet day in the office. Everyone working. Suddenly this guy screams on top of his lungs. He was gone before echoes of his scream stopped.’
–racist-hotdog

3.

‘Email server admin. Fished out some juicy executive chatter and sent it to every network printer in the company.’
–zombieblackbird

4.

‘I worked at the stock exchange in a high security environment, being exposed to high confidence news which could directly affect the prices of shares. All our private transactions and our bank account was monitored 24/7.

One day, the door opened and the police rushed in, cuffed one of our coworkers and left. He secretly tried to use the information for insider trading and got caught.’
–moleman0815

5.

‘They fired a help desk guy where I worked for having a bottle of Jack Daniels in his file cabinet, re-labeled ‘Documentation’ on the bottle. I thought that was hilarious, but the company didn’t.’
–punkwalrus

6.

‘Called in sick with “light sensitive” illness and migraines but forgot that his colleague/s were friends with him on PSN and they noticed that he was playing call of duty.’
–ArtisticWatch

7.

‘When I was in high school, I worked at a car detail place. A guy brought in his Lamborghini one day. Boss said it’ll be ready on Monday. The guy that owned the car was out with his wife Saturday night and sees his car pass by him. Turns out one of the office guys took it out for a joyride.’
–ubottles65

8.

‘Flight attendant. Passenger upset because they ran out of her meal choice. Him: ma’am I said we’ve run out of chicken not fuel. Calm the fuck down.’
–PennyLane787

9.

‘Let’s just say their ‘sick days’ always seemed to fall on Mondays after big sporting events. The boss finally caught on and gave them the boot.’
–psuhunt93

10.

‘Spoofed an email from the CEO to his friend telling his friend he was fired..’
–pceimpulsive

11.

‘Asked him if he liked hockey – started yelling about the liberals and wokeness ruining the sport’
–Stimpy97

12.

‘Categorically refusing to stop shout-discussing her personal and medical issues with a coworker halfway across the office despite myself and HR talking to her repeatedly. She spent the next year texting me once a week asking for a job/reference.’
–FirmlyThatGuy