Bad bosses, hmmm

Tammy Binford · August 2004

You may have heard about "National Dumb Bosses Day" coming up Aug. 23. A couple of Forumites have tried to clue you in today by posting a column from another website that describes the "stunningly stupid" antics of some dumb bosses who were judged to be the "winners" of a Dumb Bosses Day Contest. We had to delete the threads because of copyright concerns, but we thought you might want to weigh in with some stories of your own. Think back. You've probably known some bosses who wouldn't be considered the sharpest tools in the shed? Tell us your stories, but be careful. One of the winners in the article ended up being promoted to plant manager!

Tammy Binford
Editor, M. Lee Smith Publishers

rad · August 2004

A group of employees, including one supervisor, were standing around thinking of all cities and states & countries that started with "New" - New York, New Jersey, etc. Meaningless banter, who knows how it started. Well, one person offers up New Guinea. Supervisor says "Ya, thats where all the Italians live". Everyone looked at the supervisor and then looked at me, the only Italian in the group. I didn't know what to say so I walked away as he yelled "Oh come one, I didn't mean anything bad". Clueless...

HRQ · August 2004

My four-year-old pronounces Nebraska "New Braska". He's not really a boss but thinks he is one...

National Guard · August 2004

Reminds me of myself long, long ago ... We lived in Florida (just north of Tampa). Any time my parents got into an argument, my Mom would usually say that she was going to leave and go to "My Ami." I couldn't wait to grow up and go to this very cosmopolitan city. I wanted to go to "Ami" too! It wasn't until I was about 7 that I realized that there was no such place as Ami! I have since been to visit Miami and don't want to live there.

And... My bad boss story... While I was working for a previous employer I was having some marital problems (my husband cheated on me). We seperated and reconciled a couple of times. During one of the reconciliations my boss was so furious with me for reconciling that she made sure I was terminated. She told many of the managers that I was looking for employment elsewhere and how I hated working there. None of this was true but they believed her. I started to hear about the things she was saying about me and asked her about it. She admitted to it and stood her ground - saying she did it because she was mad at me for reconciling with my husband!

So here's the happy ending. I moved on to a new job with a terrific boss and a new husband.

HRinNH · August 2004

There's a good article about bosses so incredibly dumb that they deserve their own category of awards:

[u][url]http://pbpinfo.com/links?ID=-1947694154&L=HREZ-28-b[/url][/u]

safety · August 2004

In my ‘younger days’ I was employed by a medical supply company and had the pleasure of delivering liquid oxygen to home bound patients. I had injured my back and had to have help on my route and the store manager, who, by the way, always signed her name with PhD, was the only one who could make the trip with me. I had been an ee of this company for about eight months and while on a long stretch of road we were having a conversation about my performance to date. She was telling me what a great job I was doing etc. and I thought what a great time to ask for a raise, so I did. After asking for more money this bright boss responded to my request with a question and I quote “why do you need more money, do you have a drug problem?”

I did not answer her, did not say another word to her the rest of the day and vowed in my mind to find another job. The next day I found another job and when I approached her to give my notice of leaving she asked why I was leaving. I told her that the next time someone asks for a raise it would be wise not to accuse him or her of a drug problem.

Rockie · August 2004

So much for a PhD. I once knew of a fellow who had file cabinets in his office with gold plaques on them with his name,PhD. This actually became his name among his employees...Joe Blow (comma) PhD. Talk about egotistical!

dbutton111 · August 2004

In a small physciatric hospital I was the lone HR person. The new CEO came to discuss our high work comp rates. At the end of the meeting she asked for a list of all employees who had a work comp accident and what the accident was. She also asked that I inform her of all new accidents. Fine, not a problem. I received a memo from her via inner offic mail (this was before e-mail) later that day telling me to terminate about 20 employees for insubordination. I couldn't imagine what havoc had happened that day where 20 people would all have gone ballistic. Then, as I read the names, I realized that the 20 names I was looking at were also on the work comp list I had given her. The next inner office envelope I opened had another memo from her - that I was to terminate all employees for insubordination who filed a work comp claim in the future. I immediately ran to her office to see what this was about, I couldn't believe what I had been reading. She was dead serious. I asked how filing a work comp claim could be considered insubordination - she replied that all employees are required to take safety classes and that if they were injured it was because they must have failed to do something right. Plus, she said, if we fire them then we won't be liable for the work comp claim. Just fire the employees with new claims before they get to the doctor's office.

Hmmm. . . don't think so. Plus, all the retaliation claims we'd be facing, and unemployment, and discrimination, and God knows what all else.

After a few days and her refusal to relent, I quit. She couldn't grasp the reason why and actually listed my termination as terminated due to insubordination. At least she was closer to the truth with my term then with all those poor injured employees' terms.

Hunter1 · August 2004

Did you check her credentials? She might have been one of the patients posing as the new CEO.

ritaanz · August 2004

Here's mine. I worked for a manufacturing company in Newark, NJ. Was in the process of interviewing for a lab tech. My office was located at the end of a long hallway. Unless you were coming to see me, there was no walk-by traffic.

The applicant I had at my desk was obviously under the influence of drugs. As I was trying to wrap up the interview and get him out of the building, he pulled a knife and told me if I did not hire him, blah, blah, blah. Somehow I managed to get him to believe that he was under consideration and to put the knife away.

As soon as he left, I went to my boss, the CFO, and told him what just happened. I requested that a bell be installed in my office, ringing in the Plant Manager area. If such an incident occurrs again, I can ring the bell for help.

His responce....he picked up a letter opener from his desk and told me to use it in the future. The man was dead serious. Is that it? I asked. He nodded and waved his hand for me to leave. As I got up from the chair, I gave him 3 weeks notice. Best career move I ever made.

HRinNH · August 2004

The worst boss I ever had used to whine, cry and stamp his feet when he didn't get his way (literally)...but none that would rival the rest of your stories. :-S

psrcello · August 2004

I've had two really bad bosses. One was the CFO of a manufacturing company, in charge of accounting, payroll, and HR. Every year, when he did the performance/salary review of a young, female accountant, he asked her whether she intended to have another baby any time soon, and explained that if she did, he wasn't going to be giving her a raise. After I discovered this, I tactfully told him that it wasn't a good idea to make this kind of statement. He couldn't understand why this wouldn't be "work related" - after all, if she missed three months on maternity leave, it would certainly affect her ability to perform. (This is the same guy that told me that I'd never be accepted because I wasn't "one of the boys".)

The second one was the president/owner of a small but growing company. He persisted in referring to his entire workforce as "a bunch of f***ing losers", and wondered why we had 300% turnover. An employee lodged a protest over a payroll issue one day (he was docked 30 minutes pay for being 1 minute late - the president was the one who ran payroll). I explained to the employee that I had no authority to overrule the president, so he asked to talk to him - the president refused, and the employee said, "I quit", and walked out.

When the president found out what had happened, he proceeded to chew me out in front of a lobby full of other employees picking up paychecks, and told me that the next time someone got mad and quit, I was to chase him out the door and physically tackle him and drag him back into the building. (Not my style!)

Anyway, I'm happy to say I love my current job, and my current boss knows how to do it right - put the right people in the right positions, and then stay out of their way and let them do their jobs!

HRinNH · August 2004

>Anyway, I'm happy to say I love my current job,
>and my current boss knows how to do it right -
>put the right people in the right positions, and then stay out of their way and let them do their jobs!

...any openings in your office? I'll fax you my resume!

Bad bosses, hmmm

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