12 OFFICE DISASTERS That Went From Awkward to Apocalyptic

We all want fulfilling careers and supportive workplaces, but let’s face it — real life doesn’t always play along. Sometimes the job you thought was steady takes a wild left turn, and before you know it, you’re walking out with a box of your stuff. In this collection, we’ve gathered true stories of people who got fired or forced out in the most unexpected — and often unbelievable — ways.

• I got hired at a company where everything basically revolved around one major client. One day, I was asked to cover for a manager and hop on a Zoom call with their rep. Everything was going smoothly... until a second guy popped up on the screen — their senior partner. He looked at me, squinted, and said, “What the hell are you doing here?” It was my ex-stepdad. He left my mom after a messy breakup and swore he never wanted to see me again. That same evening, I got a call from the office saying the client requested a new account manager. The next day — an email: “termination by mutual agreement.” Yeah... real mutual.

• I work with medical data. One day, we were all called into a meeting to discuss why a coworker had been fired. She had uploaded the wrong client’s data to the wrong folder and given one practice another’s patients’ data. Thousands of names, social security numbers, and medical histories were compromised just like that. © Mister-builder / Reddit

• I fell asleep during a big executive meeting with about 30 people. When they called my name, I looked up to see everyone staring straight at me. I lost an $80k/year job. Ended up getting fired about a week later. © OwnedByMarriage / Reddit

• I was denied a raise by HR after consistently working 60–70 hours a week. My VP, who had supported and requested the raise for me, told me to stop putting in the extra time, work my 40 hours, and spend the extra time applying for new jobs. Within a month, a meeting was called to “mutually part ways” because my work wasn’t getting done.
  I was gratified to learn that they had to hire two people to do my job after I left. © scoyne15 / Reddit

• A nurse once took a photo of her entire emergency department track board with all the patients’ names, birthdays, and complaints and accidentally posted it on her public Snapchat story. It was meant for her friend, but everyone saw it, and someone notified the hospital. © eatandgreetme / Reddit

• I accepted the role of leading a team of freelancers on a high-stakes project while being a middleweight contributor because my boss was attending an awards festival. Midway through the project, someone from the global office assigned a boss from another company within the same holding to keep tabs on us.
  This person turned the project upside down, asking us to have tasks completed by 9 AM, only to show up at 4 PM and demand everything be redone for the next day. After three weeks of this (amounting to 230 hours of work) and making no progress, I came home, hearing my heartbeat pounding loudly, and decided never to work in that industry again. © FlakyCronut / Reddit

• I sent a scathing email about my boss directly to my boss. It wasn’t meant for him.
  To this day, I still have no idea what possessed me to put his name in the address bar. I noticed his name at the exact moment I hit send. You have never felt that much panic. © Happy1327 / Reddit

• I remember a coworker of mine getting fired because he put laxatives in his own lunch bag. Some idiot kept stealing parts of our lunches. Turned out it was our supervisor. © DeicideandDivide / Reddit

• I made the mistake of trusting my boss to be a good person (and not a corporate slave worried about his own standing in the company) and telling him about an opportunity that came my way, genuinely asking for his advice.
  I told him I could stay on for up to 2–3 months if needed to help ease any new team members into the role. Two days later, I was called in by HR and told that my last working day would be 2 weeks from that meeting.
  I also lost the other opportunity (I don’t know if my boss had anything to do with it or not). I had to move out of the country because I was on a visa that didn’t allow me to stay. This essentially ended what was possibly a very promising career. © mentlu_manja / Reddit

• I went on a first date with a girl who turned out to be a horrible person 20 minutes in. I did what I could to get out of it because she was telling stories about crazy things she’d done and was proud of. I didn’t pull anything to get out of it, just dodged landmines and asked a ton of questions about her so I could get out of it sooner. Then I said I wasn’t feeling the connection and wanted to be honest so we didn’t waste each other’s time.
  I found out a week later that she contacted my previous employers because she found my LinkedIn, told them stories about how I talked a ton of bad things about them all. And now I can’t get a reference from my previous three jobs... even from people I was on good terms with.
  All because I went on a date with a psychopath. © FirstFlight / Reddit

• I got laser corrective surgery done on my eyes. The mistake was that I had been doing fine with glasses. The surgery caused issues that prevented me from driving at night, which brought my paramedic career to an abrupt end. © NutellaPatella / Reddit

• Swear this felt like something out of a bad sitcom or one of those weird jokes your aunt tells at dinner. I just got hired at this new place, and one lady there — probably mid-50s — immediately started asking me the most random stuff, “You know how to fry pies? Any issues with your period?” Then she starts trying to set me up with her son — says he’s smart and “not the type to run around with girls.” I said no, obviously. Next day, I get called in and they straight-up tell me, “You made a bad impression, and the team doesn’t want to work with you.” Like... really?? Honestly, it’s bad. But if staying meant dealing with that mess — yeah, I’ll take the unemployment.

Here are stories from parents who were totally shocked by what their kids said.