What is the worst work place scandal you have seen in your career?

[Luv Bunnies]

When I was working in HR, my manager came by my desk and said, "I need you to come with me and witness something." So I followed her to another department where a temp worker was sitting in a cubicle. The temp had been there for about two months and my manager had received some disturbing information about her. So we get to the cubicle and my manager said, "We are terminating your employment. I have already informed your agency that your services will no longer be needed. Please gather your personal belongings and follow me to the building exit."

The temp got upset, said she didn't understand what was going on, that the department manager said she was doing a good job, etc. So my manager reached over and flipped up the door on the overhead cabinet in the cubicle. There was a box of wine with a covered coffee cup next to it. This girl had been filling her cup with wine and putting on the lid so no one would see what was inside. Another employee from the department saw the wine in her cabinet and reported it to the manager, who went to HR. Upon seeing that her stash had been discovered, she grabbed her purse and quietly walked out of the building with my manager. Like, seriously? Who keeps a box of wine in their cabinet? At least drink some decent wine if you're going to drink at work!

 

[barkley]

a co-worker was a guest on sally jessy raphael back in the day. the topic? 'i'm having an affair with my boss's spouse' when sally asked 'aren't you afraid you'll be fired now that she knows?' the co-worker replied 'no, i'm union there's no way' (and she was right)

 

[FlightlessDuck]

There was at least one affair.

I heard about one person having a mental breakdown and crying under their desk.

Apparently somebody punched a manager once.

Somebody didn't show up for work on day and we found out he got arrested for child porn over the weekend.

 

[tvguy]

When I was working in HR, my manager came by my desk and said, "I need you to come with me and witness something." So I followed her to another department where a temp worker was sitting in a cubicle. The temp had been there for about two months and my manager had received some disturbing information about her. So we get to the cubicle and my manager said, "We are terminating your employment. I have already informed your agency that your services will no longer be needed. Please gather your personal belongings and follow me to the building exit."

The temp got upset, said she didn't understand what was going on, that the department manager said she was doing a good job, etc. So my manager reached over and flipped up the door on the overhead cabinet in the cubicle. There was a box of wine with a covered coffee cup next to it. This girl had been filling her cup with wine and putting on the lid so no one would see what was inside. Another employee from the department saw the wine in her cabinet and reported it to the manager, who went to HR. Upon seeing that her stash had been discovered, she grabbed her purse and quietly walked out of the building with my manager. Like, seriously? Who keeps a box of wine in their cabinet? At least drink some decent wine if you're going to drink at work!

Wow, times sure have changed. 40+ years ago that wouldn't have been an issue. I had a member of my crew who was an alcoholic and drank vodka while he worked. I think they would call him a functioning alcoholic because he did his job, never made mistakes, and the boss didn't care. And in the summer we kept an ice chest of beer in the company van.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Let me count the times: Embezzlement (multiple jobs) Affairs ( at the job site which was just so stupid) and a Murderer ( he was already gone but still). Actually the best one ( which makes me laugh thinking about it) is Coffee, yes coffee. It wasn't a scandal but the firestorm it caused was sensational. All because FREE COFFEE was no longer going to be available. I worked in a hospital and the email comments were pinging non stop. The amount of Dr's commenting was crazy. The persons emailing were MAD!!!

 

[ronandannette]

Wow, times sure have changed. 40+ years ago that wouldn't have been an issue. I had a member of my crew who was an alcoholic and drank vodka while he worked. I think they would call him a functioning alcoholic because he did his job, never made mistakes, and the boss didn't care. And in the summer we kept an ice chest of beer in the company van.

So true! In our industry, afternoon drinks in the office were absolutely standard; the company supplied the booze. It was probably only about 15 years or so ago that OH&S standards got “real” and day drinking out on the job sites was cracked down on.

Hard to say which incident was the biggest scandal but over the years, they’ve all involved some sort of sexual impropriety between colleagues, often fuelled by booze-soaked corporate parties. Lots of years it takes us until March to live down the Christmas shenanigans. I have no clue why we keep hosting these things.

 

[tvguy]

So true! In our industry, afternoon drinks in the office were absolutely standard; the company supplied the booze. It was probably only about 15 years or so ago that OH&S standards got “real” and day drinking out on the job sites was cracked down on.

California lowered the blood alcohol level you were considered intoxicated at to .08 from .10 in 1990. So the use of alcohol in the workplace kind of ended here over 30 years ago.

 

[mumto3girls]

Lots of years it takes us until March to live down the Christmas shenanigans. I have no clue why we keep hosting these things.

One of the funniest lines I’ve ever read on the Dis.

 

[BK2014]

Not the worst, but the funniest I have had happen at a workplace: While working at McDonald's in high school, a manager decided to come back to the store after hours to try and steal cash out of the ATM inside the restaurant. When he realized he couldn't break into the ATM, he loaded the entire thing into his pickup truck and stole it. He was of course caught in short order.

 

[RUDisney]

There was a money laundering incident when I was in banking. An AVP was laundering and structuring transactions for a drug cartel. Unfortunately, he started loving on a teller and she was fired with him, although she didn't go to jail.

At my current job, a training class started on a Monday for new hires in a specific department. It was 8-weeks of training. Keep in mind, potential employees have to go through criminal background checks and drug testing.

When the trainer let the class go to lunch, she told them that they could leave whatever they wanted in the training lab. Many people left their purses and backpacks (with wallets) behind. One trainee stayed behind and was caught on video, later, taking an armful of purses to her car. When people returned, they reported the missing items to the trainer and she went to HR and Facilities. The "perp" played dumb.

When the police arrived, they went to her car with her. The purses were on her backseat. She didn't even put them into her trunk. We found out what was happening when someone noticed her arguing with the police by her car. It seems that she was yelling at the police that she wanted to answer questions at the station instead of in a place where her coworkers could see her. She really thought she was going to keep her job after this incident.