What's the worst boss you've ever had?

[Locut0s]

Been verbally abused, physically abused? Put down? Generally treated like sh!t for no good reason? Let's hear your stories.

 

[msparish]

The worst is always my current one...

My worst boss was a professor I was doing research under about a year and a half ago. Anyway, the project he had me working on did not give the results he wanted. I did the experiment about 50 different times in various ways but would get the same results every time. I could live with that, because research can be tedious at times, but after I'd show him the test results he'd ask me such dumb questions (e.g. Are you sure that the microphone was turned on?).

Anyway, towards the end, the group had a pressure sensor that they had ghetto rigged and I needed to use it (we were doing work in thermoacoustics, it was used to see the what the sound pressure was inside of a resonating cavity). The connections were much too large to fit into what I needed, so one of the Phd students rigged it up for me. I'm using it, the professor comes in and looks at it, and starts ranting and raving about how he had told everyone not to change any of the connections on it (he had never told me this, and I didn't even do it). Apparently the thing was from the 1960s and very fragile, and was broken in the process. The professor was so ticked off because he couldn't get a new one...of course you can't, it was made in the 60s! I don't think he realized he could have easily found something 10 times better. For reference, he is probably about 70.

Anyway, every time he saw me for the next couple months he'd rant about how someone had broken it and we needed to take care of the equiment. I heard the story 10 times. To end this rant, he was making an invalid assumption about what I was testing, which I showed him right before I quit. Looking back, I wish I wouldn't have shown him how to fix it...but then there would be some other undergraduate being reprimanded for not getting the correct test results. It was a wonderful feeling to quit that place.

Cliffs:
Boss sucked.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: msparish
The worst is always my current one...

My worst boss was a professor I was doing research under about a year and a half ago. Anyway, the project he had me working on did not give the results he wanted. I did the experiment about 50 different times in various ways but would get the same results every time. I could live with that, because research can be tedious at times, but after I'd show him the test results he'd ask me such dumb questions (e.g. Are you sure that the microphone was turned on?).

Anyway, towards the end, the group had a pressure sensor that they had ghetto rigged and I needed to use it (we were doing work in thermoacoustics, it was used to see the what the sound pressure was inside of a resonating cavity). The connections were much too large to fit into what I needed, so one of the Phd students rigged it up for me. I'm using it, the professor comes in and looks at it, and starts ranting and raving about how he had told everyone not to change any of the connections on it (he had never told me this, and I didn't even do it). Apparently the thing was from the 1960s and very fragile, and was broken in the process. The professor was so ticked off because he couldn't get a new one...of course you can't, it was made in the 60s! I don't think he realized he could have easily found something 10 times better. For reference, he is probably about 70.

Anyway, every time he saw me for the next couple months he'd rant about how someone had broken it and we needed to take care of the equiment. I heard the story 10 times. To end this rant, he was making an invalid assumption about what I was testing, which I showed him right before I quit. Looking back, I wish I wouldn't have shown him how to fix it...but then there would be some other undergraduate being reprimanded for not getting the correct test results. It was a wonderful feeling to quit that place.

Cliffs:
Boss sucked.

The good old cranky professor.

 

[ggnl]

A manager from one of my teenage fast food jobs was a child molester. I found him in the Texas sex offender website years after I quit.

 

[acemcmac]

"all of the management style of a wet smelly blanket"

 

[Cook1]

Originally posted by: Locut0s
Been verbally abused, physically abused? Put down? Generally treated like sh!t for no good reason? Let's hear your stories.

Does...

A total dumbass with no idea what she's doing count?

 

[wchou]

no boss are nice, most are rude and bark like a dog.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Originally posted by: Cook1

Originally posted by: Locut0s
Been verbally abused, physically abused? Put down? Generally treated like sh!t for no good reason? Let's hear your stories.

Does...

A total dumbass with no idea what he's doing count?

I have one of those!

 

[broon]

My current one. I always thought he disagreed with me because it's me. So one day we were in a discussion on opposite sides. I slowly switched my argument to his side to see what would happen. Evidently I was right. None of my arguments were very compelling but by the time I had switched sides, he did too. It's almost like the Duck Season/Rabbit Season bit.

 

[HannibalX]

I work for a small company where President and Vice President actually are involved in the day to day stuff. Well the Pres. (who's wife ran accounting) and Vice Pres. (who's wife ran operations) got into some shady accounting. The board of directors found out and fired all of them. We thought they were bad; they would fire people for no reason. They put us 700k in the red in about two years time. They all had housing allowances and had their credit cards paid for by the company in addition to their regular salaries, which were inflated.

So the board of directors votes in a new President and hires a new General Manager and Treasurer. None of these guys are real bright, but are ruthless. The President has no business experience; he was a Lt. Colonel in the Army so he is good at shouting orders at people (even though the orders make no sense because like I said he has no experience).

Anyway the new management was going to fire 1/3 of the staff (not a big company, maybe 250 people) at the end of the day last Friday after letting everyone work all week. They found out they couldn't do it without giving a 60 day notice because in our state you have to give a 60 day notice if you fire 1/3 or more of your staff. So they decided to fire 35 people this week and 35 people next week to make it legal.

They also stole money from all the salaried workers. They changed the pay period dates and when we would be paid; this shorted everyone a WEEKS pay AFTER we had worked for that week already. We get paid for what we worked three weeks prior to payday. They told us they would LOAN us the difference of the lost week but we had to pay it back. Sick.

The worst part is this is coming from people claiming to be Christians.

 

[Scarpozzi]

She wasn't worthy of having the job as a manager because she didn't have any training or a degree, or common sense.

I ended up working for her because my boss quit the job and we were restructured under her due to her seniority.

Basically, her boss would give her an assignment. She would sit on it for 3 weeks. He would walk in and ask for the assignment. As soon as he would ask for it, she'd tell me to get to work until it was finished. Then she'd take credit for me busting my ass to get her work done. I wasn't supposed to be doing her job either....I had my own work to do.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: Trinitron
I work for a small company where President and Vice President actually are involved in the day to day stuff. Well the Pres. (who's wife ran accounting) and Vice Pres. (who's wife ran operations) got into some shady accounting. The board of directors found out and fired all of them. We thought they were bad; they would fire people for no reason. They put us 700k in the red in about two years time. They all had housing allowances and had their credit cards paid for by the company in addition to their regular salaries, which were inflated.

So the board of directors votes in a new President and hires a new General Manager and Treasurer. None of these guys are real bright, but are ruthless. The President has no business experience; he was a Lt. Colonel in the Army so he is good at shouting orders at people (even though the orders make no sense because like I said he has no experience).

Anyway the new management was going to fire 1/3 of the staff (not a big company, maybe 250 people) at the end of the day last Friday after letting everyone work all week. They found out they couldn't do it without giving a 60 day notice because in our state you have to give a 60 day notice if you fire 1/3 or more of your staff. So they decided to fire 35 people this week and 35 people next week to make it legal.

They also stole money from all the salaried workers. They changed the pay period dates and when we would be paid; this shorted everyone a WEEKS pay AFTER we had worked for that week already. We get paid for what we worked three weeks prior to payday. They told us they would LOAN us the difference of the lost week but we had to pay it back. Sick.

The worst part is this is coming from people claiming to be Christians.

Wow that's bad! Sounds like they were trying to do as much damage (err "cost cutting") while just barely staying within the bounds of the law.

 

[S Freud]

I worked for my uncle the summer before my freshman year in college, we were stacking rock in 100 degree weather. Sy my cousin and I work together and I have to drive out the their house everyday (which is like 18 miles, we live in a very small town) well my cousin was back for the summer from his first year of school (which he didn't even complete) I always new my uncle was a wanker, but I needed the job. So I am getting paid $8 to stack rock, I thought my cousin was making the same, I learn towards the end of the summer that he is making $12 an hour, (he never showed up for work anyaway, this is why) well about two weeks before I quit my GF starts working out there taking care of my aunt who has alzhiemers becuase my uncle is too cheap to pay for an in home caretaker (my gf is a paramedic in training in her senior year of HS) so we find out that my cousin is making more than both of us for doing nothing so we tell my uncle that we both want a raise to keep working out there, he hangs up on us, calls right back fires us both. then trys to spread rumors everywhere that we are talking ****** about my aunt with alzhiemers (two weeks later, she passes away from the disease becuase he hadn't taken her to the doctor in forever) no one would believe his rumors becuase everyone in town knows he's a wanker and an a$$hole.

cliffs:
uncle treats family like sh!t
lies to family about wage,pays other family member more
tries to spread rumors about family when asked about a raise
uncle is a wanker

 

[shibumi77]

Hows this, a boss you engage in a "confidential" discussion who 4 hours later spills it to others and has you sitting in front of coworker to explain yourself, talk about getting thrown under the bus!

 

[TNM93]

True Bosses I've had.

I had a boss when I was younger who used to punch us out at 10 PM exactly and then expected us to continue working.

I had a boss who was one of those bragging types. He claimed he was going to buy a Toyota Landcruiser and that he had all the money in the world. Well, he eventually got fired because he was selling company items on the side for profit.

 

[Gibsons]

I had a boss who said "that would be great" a lot.