I once worked for a judge that decided the probate court staff should have a potluck party. We weren’t told when we signed up with our dishes what it really was.

When we got there, it was a party for the judge and her attorney friends. No, none of them brought food. We (the court staff) were completely ignored. She didn’t even talk to us. I got pissed off and left. That obnoxious #%*%# made six figures and could afford to cater her own parties instead of taking advantage of underpaid government staff that hadn’t received a raise in five years and really can’t say no to a judge.

What is your obnoxious boss story?

[Row Jimmy]

I used to work is the software business - it's a bloodsport generally dominated by men. Back in the 1990s, anyone who had a pulse could make it.......which meant a lot of the executives were clowns. I was at customer dinner one night in California and my boss told the most inappropriate joke in mixed company. Now, I'm no prude and have my share of moments, but I felt like crawling under the table. I was incredibly embarrassed.

[*Laurie*]

I can't think of any. I've been very fortunate to have really kind bosses at every job I've worked. But then, I wouldn't be able to work at a job in which the boss was a jerk.

My very first job (before I was diagnosed with any mental health conditions) was always horrible to me and one day when she knew my cat was seriously ill (my very first cat) she made a nasty comment about "let that thing die", then the day my girl Beauty died I went into work really upset (she was due to be euthanised as soon as I finished work) my boss said she was glad Beauty was going to die.

She hated cats and didn't keep her hatred of cats to herself.

Originally Posted by whispershadow

My very first job (before I was diagnosed with any mental health conditions) was always horrible to me and one day when she knew my cat was seriously ill (my very first cat) she made a nasty comment about "let that thing die", then the day my girl Beauty died I went into work really upset (she was due to be euthanised as soon as I finished work) my boss said she was glad Beauty was going to die.

She hated cats and didn't keep her hatred of cats to herself.

OMG that is horrible!! What a sadistic B####!

I love my fur babies; they are family

[divine1966]

I’ve met some strange bosses, they were all good to me but weird. One did nothing but drank coffee all day and kept saying “what a day! What a day!”. He was eventually fired as job wasn’t getting done. Then I had one who drank in the backroom, by the end of the day she was unsteady, she retired but I think she was caught drinking. My current boss really loves me and is a decent boss but she totally lacks class. During meetings in her office she applies make up or eats. When she eats she offers others a bite, off her plate lol No thanks. She never just sits still and listens to a person.

[Mountaindewed]

I had a boss that was mean to me and didn’t realize it. And she would just tell me not to take things personally and that she wasn’t treating me differently.

One time a guy left a sign on. She was joking with him and asking if he wanted to wear it. 5 minutes later I accidentally left a sign on. She angrily slammed it right in front of me. I didn’t say anything. I really wish I had said to her “he left the sign on 5 minutes ago and you were joking about it. What’s the difference?

I think she had undiagnosed mental health problems. She came from Eastern Europe and she told us one time that in her culture mental health problems just get swept under the rug.

I got out of there and now the whole company has gone bankrupt and is closing every store.

So I guess that might have been part of her problem.

[splitimage]

I once had a boss who was a total jerk. He actually started one of my performance appraisals by saying "Everybody hates you." I got up, said "You're obviously not prepared for this meeting, I'll respond in writing to HR."

Karma won out, I finished my MBA a few months later, and was promoted into a position in the company that was working on restructuring, and one of the things I was deciding was whether or not he'd keep his job.

splitimage

I knew I was in trouble when I showed up for my first shift and a woman came from the boss's office blubbering in tears. I was later introduced to her as his wife. "Wow!" I thought, "If he would treat his wife that way in public how would he treat everyone else?" I soon found out. It was a car dealership and and every evening he would call in the worst performing salesman and service writer to yell and scream (while the rest of us cringed as we could hear it). Grown men crying was the norm. He threatened not to pay my owed back pay; but, as I had proof of his charging for service that wasn't done or cheaper parts, the threats didn't fly very far.

[Shazerac]

I had a job with an import export company. It was family owned operation. They didn’t bother to tell me the “boss” father had Alzheimer’s. They were just humoring him and waiting for him to get bad enough to remove him from power. It was like working in the twilight zone. I was given tasks that made no sense. I finally figured out was going on. One day the “boss” came thundering up to me screaming about the margins on a report were not right and put his hands around my throat. I grabbed my purse and ran out the door never to return. I didn’t bother to tell them I quit. I think that was rather obvious.

[emgreen]

Given my mood swings & occasional periods experimenting without meds, I'd be foolish to blame too much on my bosses (& most were OK). In addition to the bipolar stuff, I was also a practicing alcoholic (I've been in recovery more than a decade). Given that background, at best, I could be classified as an extremely obnoxious employee, & at worst, I was a (foul censor-worthy term).

I had a boss who decided to give me feedback on a sensitive issue by doing an (unkind) impression of me.

She was actually a qualified therapist too.

[Mike_J]

Once spent an hour with my then General Manager explaining an expense report for $20 that covered 5 meals.

[Emotionally Dead]

I am actually a boss now, but when I was working for another company I once came into work one day with someone else doing my job. I am not even kidding. My boss wasn't even there yet, and there I am watching someone else do my job. Once he got in, he told me he was cutting my hours in half and that this person was taking my spot. I couldn't believe it, because I literally hadn't done anything wrong. He told me I could either take it or leave it, so I left it. I went and started a new job the same exact day, and I never looked back. Turns out he got in fired for sexual harassment less than a year later, so joke's on him.

[Confusedxx]

I had a boss that would constantly scream at me, belittle me, and just was pretty much harassing me when I was at work or home. I made some dumb mistakes, but nothing major that really deserved what she did. She would send me page long text messages along the lines of...

How DARE you deny a delivery to someone? Who the HELL do you think you are? I know the owner likes you but he hasn't made you a manager so I am just going to have to have a talk with him about your behavior! (I was like flabbergasted. The delivery guy was walking out the door and a delivery order called in that would have taken him about an extra hour and he had to go to work so I said pick up only.)

One of the employees was running about 5 minutes late or so, and her prior person needed to leave. So I called her asking how far away she was since the other girl kept asking me... (this girl was a b*ch but that's besides the point).... once again another text message...

I need to have a talk with you. You are NOT a manager. You had NO right calling her asking her where she was!

One day I accidentally gave away a retailer price instead of customer price and the place called pissed off. A simple mistake.....

What the hell is wrong with you? You know I had to just spend an HOUR smoothing things over with that company!

The owner had sort of made me "defacto" shift watcher. He wanted me to make sure people weren't on their phones when he or the woman wasn't there etc. He said that was the role of the front counter person etc. So I tried to do as he asked. She fought me every step of the way. I tried explaining to her that this is what he asked me to do, I do not want to be a restaurant manager. No dice. I even got chewed out because someone told her when I was calling in the tips the servers would forget to put on card transactions, I said I was *manager*. I had tried saying I was just a *counter person* but they wouldn't do it for anyone other than a manager. I had no malicious intentions in it.

The woman was a complete and raving lunatic. The owner ended up firing her, but due to her behavior he actually called a few of her old jobs (which I am surprised he didn't prior to hiring her but whatever lol) and found out she was fired for being verbally abusive to the staff. I was young and inexperienced at the time and prior to her becoming verbally abusive I had warned her that the owner was talking about firing her and putting me in her position(he was a pig and flirted with all the women). Being 20 and dumb, I thought I was doing the woman a favor telling her the guy was a slime ball. I told her I liked her and I didn't want to see that happened and did NOT wnat her job. I had no intention of being a manager, wanting to be a manager, or doing anything aside from my job. I was in college and working there for money.

Nope. She got so bad that I ended up quitting due to her harassment. The last straw for me was when I got angry when I had did something wrong, she began yelling at me in front of everyone in the restaurant and told me to leave or she was calling the police. The owner was away on vacation at the time, and I called him on the way home crying hysterically. She had "suspended" me until he came back. He ended up paying me for all the time she had suspended me plus for the upcoming holiday. He was a pig in some aspects, but he generally wasn't a bad guy. I talked to him a lot about things and he was really nice to me (whether it was sexual or not doesn't matter, he was still very nice) In the grand scheme of things a job at one of the busiest restaurants in the county wasn't the best place for me due to my anxiety, and the entire experience was absolutely miserable. I was attracted by the pay but in the end I accepted the fact that it just wasn't for me. I am happy at my desk job now with a boss that is only slightly mean when he is annoyed lol.

That was almost ten years ago, and I have worked many jobs since then. I've never dealt with anyone who behaved like that...ever again. I have even managed a few people myself. She really had no business being in a managerial role. There is a right way to talk to people, and a wrong way to talk to people. Someone who behaved like that has absolutely no business managing a freaking paper bag, let alone a restaurant.