Horrible Bosses - the worst you have ever had?

[carocaro]

Saw the trailer to the above movie and got me thinking about my worst ever boss.

Mad large woman who would not let us use the fridge to store our lunch; she once put a pitta bread of mine in the bin in from of me as I had dared use the fridge! She suggested we use lunch boxes with ice packs a la primary school.

Same woman had a tiny dog who hated thunder and lightening and once when there was a storm and she was out of the office called me to say to go pick up the dog and sit with it on my knee until she got back. It pooped all over me, runny poop, and she never said sorry.

Had a letchy pervy boss who once said to me on a client night out if I had remembered to set my alarm for the morning, perplexed at such a question I said no and he said "how about I roll over and nudge you?" JUST VILE.

Leaning on my manager's desk to ask for a holiday, he grabbed my wrist and licked slowly up my arm and told me I 'tasted nice'.

When my colleague's wife gave birth to twins prematurely whilst on holiday our then boss expected him to come straight back to work while his wife recovered in hospital abroad and watched the babies fight for their lives. He didn't, and the boss never forgave him for it.

I once worked for a prestigious human rights organisation, which seemed to believe in human rights for everyone except their junior staff, who were regularly to be found in floods of tears.

I was hired because I already had experience of responsibility and working autonomously in my role (was told this at the interview) yet my boss insisted on micromanaging everything I did.

She took a real dislike to me and was thoroughly unpleasant- including blanking me completely when I said good morning to her. Some of her best tricks:

Having a go at me for not using a complicated piece of software in my first week even though she knew I was not going to be trained to use it until the following week (although I got my revenge just as I left when I discovered that she did not know how to use it so all the amendments she had made to my work did not make it to the final draft!)

Several times 'retraining' me to work in a different way to how I had been used to, and then when I followed her instructions to the letter ridiculing me for working in such a stupid way.

Shouting at me in front of the office for missing a deadline I had been given, and when I calmly gave her the memo she had written saying that the deadline was not for a week hence completely ignoring it and not apologising.

Not checking her emails for two days, then opening a document I had sent her in the wrong format and corrupting it. Having a go at me for not chasing her for a response to the document on day 1. Refusing to let me attend a scheduled meeting with a colleague and making me sit at my desk twiddling my thumbs whilst tech sorted out the corrupted file. Then having a go at me for rushing through the rest of my days work and being late leaving for a meeting in the afternoon.

Having a go at me for Interrupting her to check urgent work.

Insisting that I sit at her desk or her colleagues desk in a different part of the office, and different floor to where my desk was. For no discernible reason. And literally shouting at me for taking too long to sort out a trolley to move all the files I would need to work on that day.

None of these incidents are by themselves as serious as some of the things people have posted, but the whole of the atmosphere in that office (did I say it is a prestigious human rights organisation?) was awful. I remember the first office team meeting when I made a suggestion (something simple about printers) and literally received open-mouth stares of surprise- junior staff apparently were expected to attend but not participate. The company had such a big problem with employee stress that they arranged free massages every fortnight.

My particular boss was so awful that she had been made to go on an anger management course and because she had taken no holiday for so long was made to work a 4 day week, on the threat of disciplinary procedures.

Sorry for the rant- needed to unload that. I lasted 4 months in the job.

I had the one who kept inventing pretexts to get me into a room on my own with him.

When those failed (I was an agency care assistant, so started phoning with my availability and posting timesheets, thereby never setting foot in the office) he started calling my flat with pretexts to come to visit at 10pm or later in the evening (he was married with kids, I was reliably informed).

When that failed (this was pre-mobiles, so he had my flatmates to content with), he simply showed up on the doorstep shortly before midnight one night drenched in the vilest of aftershave. Thankfully, three of my male flatemates were home to meet him on said doorstep, and threatened him with the police and all relevant regulatory bodies.

And then my paychecks started getting lost in the post...

And then I got offered a job at almost double the hourly rate with a rival agency and wrote to his manager explaining exactly why I'd sought alternative employment

The manager's manager sent a 20 year old PA round to my house, with a £5 bonus (this was 1999, so far from a princely sum) and a handwritten note telling me that the manager's manager was 'realy [sic] sory [sic] for the trouble'. Poor, poor girl...

Thistledew I suspect that I may have applied for job in your organisation. Now very relieved I wasn't even shortlisted!

It has always struct me that the worst workplace bullies seem so frequently to be found in the voluntary sector...

Sorry for the rant- needed to unload that

I'm not surprised. Must have been a hell of a shock to the system, given what your expectations would have been when joining the organisation.

The jumped up little twerp who worked as a bank manager where I was a trainee (when I was 17). He used to make me get his sandwiches at lunch and more often than not didn't pay me back. I was as poor as a church mouse too. Then he later had me transferred to another branch. He still owes me loads.

The one who ranted at me for daring to take time off at Christmas and "letting my colleagues down". I was in hospital having a miscarriage. (She knew, because it was the same hospital!!!)

We were both midwives working in the NHS BTW.

3littlefrogs I can believe it. A friend of mine was disciplined for taking too much time off due to sudden-onset type I diabetes presenting with acute kidney disease, and that was working for a team specialising in difficult-to-manage diabetes.

Actually, can I have a second go? See above - that was actually my second favourite. My top one was when I looked up from my work to see him staring at me (nothing sexual, he's openly gay) and I asked him what he was looking at. "I was just thinking how BIG your face is. Colleague, don't you think auburnlizzy has just got....well....a big face. Kind of jowly as well." (Cracks up laughing)

In the right environment, with good mates, that MIGHT at a push be funny. But not at that point in those circumstances. Evil man.

Breastmilk I hope your friend didn't take that lying down. Type 1 diabetes is a disability under the DDA so similar protection to sexual discrimination in pregnancy

I had a fucking bastard of a boss once. He made my life an absolute misery when I returned from maternity leave, turning down my flexi work request and then putting me on the shittiest night/weekend shifts (I was breastfeeding a small baby and I wouldnt have minded, but I had been a bloody loyal and go-getting employee for years previously). he also promoted some silly little girl he was shagging above me and supported a psychotic junior team member who threatened to hit me and swore at me on a daily basis (he was shagging her, too). It was a grim period of my life. To be honest, I could have done him for constructive dismissal if I hadn't have been an exhausted, postnatal wreck with the energy of a slug.

In the end I resigned and lived with the bitterness and regret for a few years.

But heard not long ago that he was sacked from his uber-powerful position and frogmarched out of the building by security for downloading porn at work.

Always knew he was a CREEP.

Schadenfreude is a beautiful thing

Mine were both women, sorry to say.

One of them expected me to go out and get her lunch, bring it back to the office and put it on a plate for her, bring it to her desk with a glass of water, all within the space of my own lunch hour. I left after two months.

I've had a few.....

The one who loved my job share partner but hated me so everything that was good was attributed to her and everything bad to me regardless of logic!

The one who was vilely bad-tempered and hated any signs of friendliness so wanted us to work in total silence and lost many of our regular customers by not allowing us to speak to them either. He also threw things and kicked a hole in a door in the workplace.

The one who had no clue of how to do his job but just managed to spout company jargon at the right times to the right people. Was really rude to people and no-one could understand why the official complaints went nowhere till he bragged the area manager who dealt with them was his best mate!

I'm sure they will all get their come-uppance some day if they haven't already, luckily I now have an ace job which I love so don't even waste time on them.

The one who,after I had repeatedly turned down his advances,had a "kind" and "sympathetic" chat to me about my obvious (to him) lesbianism.
the one who,if brought a cup of tea the wriong shade of beige,would -without tasting it-throw it in the air shouting "that is BOLLOCKS" .We were working outside,but even so......He would also vomit up into a carrier bag any cake that had a suggestion of lemon in it.And then bounce the bag on my colleague (his sister)'s head.
The one who kissed the back of my neck (uuurgghh) as I was working on something.

I was all set to add a couple of horrible bosses I've had, but they pale into complete insignificance after reading about all the hideous bastards on this thread, so I'll just shut up and keep reading in horror!

Ooh I've had lots.

But I think the worst was a nurse who bullied me for not washing the patients in the order she wanted me to. She had an imaginary list in her head but wouldn't divulge it - then would stand by the patients saying things like "why are you washing her first, she's not going to do anything today, is she". Then tut and sigh and say things like "what is she (me) doing now" in my hearing (and everybody elses). All I was doing was actually working, whereas some of the others would be downstairs out the back smoking. She was an evil bully. I do hope she's reading this.

The one who sacked me after I said I wouldn't sleep with him. His wife was visibly pregnant

The female boss who, when I told her I was pregnant, stopped all my training and took away my chair so I had to stand all day. I resigned with severe depression, much to her horror, as it transpired my predecessor had resigned with the same condition.

The male shop manager who watched porn at work, letched openly at schoolgirls and arranged the work Christmas party in a strip club.

I was far too naive back then, these days I'd have them both in court before you could say knife.

I used to work for a very small company and I was the only office worker I did almost everything to do with the clerical side of the company. The only thing I didn't do was some of the more complicated accounts, which were dealt with by the boss's accountant.
I did full reception duties (phone rather than face to face), all invoices, all letters to companies. I did the bookkeeping and the payroll. I taught myself Access and designed several databases to help with the organisation. I wrote a simple maths test for the prospective 16 - 18 year old they wanted to take on as an apprentice. I did the Health and Safety Checks and wrote up the reports. I did the IS0 reports. And when I say I did all letters, reports etc, I mean I worded them, did the research for them, wrote them up.
One day, shortly before I was due to leave, I was busy writing up a document, can't remember exactly what for, but it was important. I was up to my neck trying to get it completed and do all my other work. That's when the manager came in and told me to get out and make the tea, that the other workers were doing important work and that I had to see to them.
I went out. I made the tea. I delivered it happily to the workers. Then I went back to my office. I put the very important document, the one that was due about a couple of weeks after I left, uncompleted in the bottom drawer. And then did nothing more about it.

They weren't the worst though, just had a tendency to belittle my work. The worst ones were the ones who tried to either micromanage me, or give me no direction at all and then grumble when I made a mistake or did work for other people. Then there was the temporary boss who's opening words to me were "how much is that going to cost?"

The delightful man who insisted nobody who worked part time could possibly be committed to the business and that he wanted people on call "24/7". He then proceeded to tell me that he was giving my job to someone else and giving me the job of managing 2 IT staff on a database project - I have no experience in this area at all. Oh, and I would have to take a 33% pay cut and lose my place in the management structure... gave me a project, with absolutely no guidance or direction on what he wanted. No feedback after I submitted the work, and then he proceeds to tell me it was useless in the meeting I was having with him to try to extract some redundancy pay out of him.

Delightful little arsewipe!

I've had a good few bastard bosses in my time but sadly the worst is my boss now. Though not for long!

The one when I was 15 who scheduled my shifts (in delicatessen) to coincide with the closing time when it would be just the two of us and then asking me to pick things up. Ugh...it was awful!

The one who, when I was on mat leave and writing bids for prospective work, slagged me off to clients (outside the organisation!) saying "she's fucked off to have a baby". Luckily one client called me up to tell me so I knew. I was threatened while on leave that if I didn't win work there wouldn't be anything for me when I got back so they would terminate my contract. Needless to say I found a new job before going back and handed in my notice in my first week. Because I had an infinate amount of untaken leave (which HR had allowed me to keep because I was so "key" to the organisation) I worked only a month before heading off. My leaving interview was interesting to say the least... I heard he was made redundant shortly after I left and that I wasn't the only female who were angry at his sexist behaviour.

Sadly I've had the misfortune of experiencing a viler boss...but that's a story for when I've left it all behind me.

Katie Cunt, evil little troll person who hated anyone who was remotely a threat to her by destroying every little bit of confidence they had and stabbing them in the back at every opportunity. She is currently on a six week trip to find herself in South America and I have my fingers crossed she is kidnapped by pirates or someone from the columbian underworld. Cruel but true.