‘What’s the dumbest thing you’ve been fired for?’ – 23 jaw-dropping miscarriages of justice

Being sacked is bad, what with the loss of money, status and security. But have you ever been sacked for a reason which felt utterly unfair, and added a big fat dollop of injustice on top of all the other negatives? Over on Reddit, user Sketch99 asked:

‘What’s the dumbest thing you’ve been fired for?’

And there were plenty of people with tales to tell about getting fired for very shabby reasons indeed.

1.

‘Was supposed to send a rejection letter after a failed job interview to someone I knew but waited a few days so he could have a good weekend.’
–fuzzykat72

2.

‘I refused to lie under oath in a deposition.’
–blahbabooey

3.

‘I was 91 days away from qualifying for pension through my work, and was fired with 90 days severance so they wouldn’t have to pay.’
–simsational84

4.

‘A coworker saw me injecting myself in the stomach with insulin and fired me for injecting drugs while at work.’
–bigbiemusic

5.

‘Requesting to have my desk moved after the person who sat behind me shot me with a pellet gun.’
–Silly_Somewhere1791

6.

‘I took a coffee mug home from the office kitchen on a Friday. Got a call from HR on Saturday asking me to come in for an emergency meeting and was fired on the spot.

‘Turns out I was seen by security walking out with company property, the coffee mug from the office kitchen. Later I was able to prove it was my personal mug and was offered my job back but I declined to return.’
–akoforever

7.

‘Got fired for having pneumonia.’
–Hopeful_Staff7001

8.

‘Worked at a bar and got fired for not IDing a clearly 60-year-old woman for a glass of wine during a holiday evening rush by myself.’
–guywhopaints

9.

‘Not technically fired. I was an IT contractor for a while. The client firm decided to make some contractors permanent. I was one of two on my team. Only one was going to get the job. The other would not have their contract renewed.

I was the better engineer. He was the better socialiser. He got the job.’
–f0gax

10.

‘1979: was forced to resign my commission from the USAF as a C-141 pilot , because they found out I was gay. Luckily I had a great attorney and got an honorable discharge, and am now happily retired from Delta , and enjoying retirement with my (now) husband of 42 years.’
–rickmaz

11.

‘I got fired for ‘stealing time’ because I clocked in three minutes early. Apparently, those extra 180 seconds were a real threat to company profits!’
–OldDistance3979