Work demands discipline, not just in your code lines and deadlines, but also in managing your emotions and staying focused under pressure.

However, there’s only so much nonsense the average employee can take. Unreasonable managers, over-competitive colleagues, and a never-ending stream of meetings can wear down even the most dedicated.

At a certain point, a deep sigh or a coffee break might no longer cut it. To show what disillusioned workers are capable of, we compiled a list of petty, savage, and satisfying acts of revenge from the professional world. Some are subtle, some are bold, but all make a point.

#1

Only once and I honestly am still conflicted about it 15 years later.

I was fired from a small company that used a lot of pirated software (Microsoft products everywhere). The firing wasn’t because of my performance, but because the owner wanted to make room for his stepson to come into the job I held. It was during the holidays and he wouldn’t even let me stay until after Christmas (two weeks away). I was called into the office, told I was being let go, and told to get my things and leave by the end of the day.

I went back to my office and, from there, filed a report with the Business Software Alliance to report all of the pirated software they used. I then packed my stuff, told my friends goodbye, and left the office.

Later, I heard that the BSA came in and hit them hard. They had over $350,000 worth of unlicensed software for which they had to pay and, I believe they might have gotten hit with a fine on top of that. Since this was a very small company (12 employees), it hurt them pretty bad and they had to lay off two people.

In the beginning of this answer, I said I feel conflicted about doing this and here’s why: I worked at the company for a little over 2 years and knew they used pirated software the entire time. I even used pirated software to do my job with the full understanding that it wasn’t licensed. It never bothered me enough to report it until I was fired. I have to accept that, while I told myself it did at the time, this had nothing to do with morals or ethics on my part but was purely revenge.

I’m a little ashamed of that.

Image credits: Anthony Papillion

#2

I was the Maintenance supervisor of a Irrigation District, which manages and delivers water to farmers. I didn’t do toilets and lightbulbs, my department fixed and maintained roads, pipelines, and canals.

We had that one guy. The guy that is a pain in everybody’s arse. And he lived to be a problem. He wanted the supervisor position when it was open, but they hired me from the outside. That really pissed him off. He would find every minute issue and try to blow it up into a major complaint, then try to upset his coworkers about the “injustice of the week”.

One morning he walks up to me and said he wanted to file a complaint. I said about what, now? He said there is no hot water in the mens room. I said so? What do you need hot water for? He said to sanitize his hands, of course. I said thats what the soap is for. It’s antibacterial. He tells me OSHA requires the employer to provide hot water for sanitation. I said BS, were not even required to provide a bathroom, but we do so you don’t spend all day driving into town to pee. He tells me if i dont fix it, he would complain to the GM. (GM didn’t like him either).

I told him i would handle it

The next morning, bright and early I get summoned to the GM’s office. He’s holding a laminated piece of paper, rubbing his eyes. “Is this your handywork?” Yes sir. “You can’t do that. You just can’t! And…I’m taking this home to show my wife, because she won’t believe me. Try to figure out a way to get him hot water, and don’t post anymore signs, PLEASE”.

Yes sir.

The laminated sign said :

“WE DON’T HAVE HOT WATER, DON’T P*SS ON YOUR HANDS.”

Image credits: Jim Brost

#3

I was the editor for a small daily newspaper in texas. I had four reporters and a photographer on my team.

Newspapers are notorious for not paying overtime, even though it is the law in most cases.

They forced the employees to work 50–60 hours a week and to turn in a 40-hour time card, so they got paid no overtime. The bad thing was, I was the one who had to tell them to work. The only option was to work without pay or get fired, and people needed a job so they stayed.

I secretly kept meticulous records. I had each employee fill out their real hours on a time card and give it to me. I took notes of every conversation.

I eventually got fired because a story that I didn’t know about didn’t get in the paper. Should not have been that big of a deal, but I was relieved.

My first order of business was to contact the labor board in the state. I gave them all the actual hours, and copies of the time cards the employees were forced to sign. Along with notes about conversations I had.

A few weeks later the paper was fined several thousand dollars, had to pay every employee, including me, backpay with overtime. The company fired my boss as well. That was a good piece of revenge

Image credits: James Jordan

#4

Not a previous boss but an employee that stuck a knife in my back a couple of years ago. That guy had a burnout and I did everything to cover him up and make sure his job never was at stake. Even when my boss asked if we should keep him, I ensured he could keep this job. I even went several times to his home to make sure he was alright and no stress for coming back too soon.
Later on he maneuvered himself slowly but surely to my position, and had a direct contact with my line manager. In the end he just took my job and I was laid off. (Not that he was better than me, just more political and not trustworthy.)
Now… knowing he was taking over my company car, I did 2 things. Under the carpet of the back seat area I hid a piece of cheese. This would start to smell bad and after a while probably they would find it and think this was the source of the smell.
But… little did he know I also hid a part of a fish, under the spare wheel in the trunk of the car. I can only presume it must have taken loads of time before he figured that one out…

Image credits: Luc De Visscher

#5

The absolute funniest “Revenge” tale I have personally seen occurred back in the early 1980’s when I was working for the headquarters of a major dr*g store chain in Southern California. We were a great company to work for and the president was an amazing leader. Unfortunately after the sale the new board of directors cleaned out our quality leadership and installed a uneducated syncophant as our new president. At our annual meeting this knucklehead had to give a State of the Company address to 500 people and he was terrified of public speaking.

He wrote his speech on to 3 x 5 note cards and handed them to someone who shall remain nameless for safekeeping while he went to have a few drinks to steel his courage. This unamed person “accidently” shuffled the 3 x 5 notecards not once but 3 times insuring that they were now in random order. The knucklehead was not even smart enough to number the cards.

He took the podium slightly inebriated and proceeded to read his entire speech off the cards even though the order now made absolutely no sense. He was mercifully terminated soon after. All I can say is it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Friends don’t let friends work for bossholes. Thanks Frank, you did your fellow employees a great service.

Image credits: Greg L. Alston

#6

I left him dangling in the wind with no recourse.

I was a contractor for a large IT company. After we wrapped our 18-month project, the original manager moved to a different job, and it was a good move on his part.

His replacement was, however, a real piece of work. He was dismissive of the progress we had made before he took the helm. Moreover, he consistently pushed back and then cancelled meetings. And, without ever meeting with anyone, he declined to hire us back for the next phase of the project.

Instead, he just wanted us to fill him in. So I wrote up the math and statistical analyses I had done. It was only 25 pages, and he never even read it. Instead, he had me stop by to explain it. Ten minutes into a one-hour meeting, he said he didn’t like the approach and dismissed me.

That’s when I found a new job and left ahead of schedule.

A month later, his managers were asking him to explain the math and statistics from phase 1. It was all in my document, which he’d received via email and hard copy from me. For whatever reason, he’d lost all his copies and needed my help.

I declined since he’d already gotten four copies from me. Besides, he had said he didn’t like it anyway. Apparently, his managers weren’t too impressed with that answer.

Image credits: James

#7

I signed up my jerk of a boss’s email address to every subscription emails I see. Horoscope, p*rn, magazine, novelties, spams.

That asshole is very lucky that he’s born to be fed with a silver spoon in his mouth but I believe in the saying, “One generation builds an empire (his grandfather), the next generation grows it(his father), the last one blows it up (my current boss)”. Immature, unprofessional, and loves to micromanage.

Image credits: Anonymous

#8

I got revenge by living well, by being successful in my career and personal life. I got revenge by not caring one bit about what he thought or if he even existed. I had peace of mind.

He, on the other hand, created problems in his personal and professional life.

He felt he was (or should be) the center of the universe, and he raged when he discovered the rest of us did not share his belief.

Our successes infuriated him even though they had nothing to do with him at all.

I did not seek revenge; therefore, I will never feel guilt about what happened to him. But I admit that I occasionally have a twinge of satisfaction.

Image credits: Verneita Boonlom

#9

I was never late. Did all the overtime. Did every task asked of me. Emptied the bins and swept up during down time. Never asked for a pay rise. Everyone squabbled over small pay rises, the majority made under £9 an hour.

Then last April they let go of ten workers and I made the cut, I was ecstatic. I didn’t hate the job but it was too good to leave, too bad to stay, and over time it got monotonous. I had savings so I wasn’t worried, and took a few weeks off.

A month later I was on site, working less hours, paid extra hours and my payslip was amazing to me. I made £150 extra for 42 hours worked and paid for 60. I took various contact numbers for future work. All I did was clean up and move boxes.

I bounced a little bit through different labourer jobs, some I left because of cr*p pay, cr*p H&S or it simply fizzled out. and then settled back to site cleaning again. I might have extra work coming up in the next few weeks. And I have looked into courses during that time to improve my CV. I make £11 an hour.

Anyway come December and I randomly turn up at the works do. Nothing has changed, the same b**ching about the job, same gripes about pay. Now almost a year later, letting me go was the best decision they ever did for me.

Image credits: Robert Burton

#10

My boss was a woman. She didn’t like the fact that I had told her I was pregnant the day she told me she was divorcing. From that day on, I was persona non grata.

My job was highly sophisticated. Have you ever called an 800 number for software support and expected the person to know the answer no matter what? That was the kind of job I did. For 16 years. I enjoyed it and my customers. They liked me as well, and trusted me.

Well, things started going south with my boss. It took an hour (without traffic) to get to work. The problem? My son and daughter’s day care didn’t open until 7:00. Which meant that if I got to work by 8:00 it would be a miracle.

There WERE people on special schedules. One person worked 7–4 simply due to traffic issues. One person worked 9–6, simply because he did not like to get up early (I swear to God, that was the reason). So, I thought it was quite logical to ask for an 8:30–5:30 shift.

Guess what? I was told NO. The reason? “We don’t do special schedules anymore.”

Okay, fine. My review comes up. I’m marked down because I’m 15 minutes late every day. This goes on for a year and a half, 2 years. One year she dings me badly for the 15 minutes. I talk to HR. They take my side, knowing I have asked for a special schedule and could have been given one.

Paid lay-offs are offered while I am on vacation, yet I don’t get the paperwork. One of my friends gives me the papers, I fill it out, and submit it. Her first question was, “where did you get these papers? I didn’t leave any for you!” Another trip to HR.

She finally submits the papers for the paid lay-off, after 4 months of waiting, and isn’t happy about it. I told her it was her fault for giving me bad reviews instead of agreeing to a special schedule.

My last day comes. I have a buddy in the mail room. All the big bosses work in the same building. I have been working on a letter about ALL her transgression with a copy of all our memos back and forth as supporting documentation. I wrote to her bosses boss and up the chain all the way to the Regional President. I also wrote HR and asked that a copy of the letter be put in her file.

I took the letters, gave them to my guy, gave him a huge hug and said, “Elvis is leaving the building.” Only at that time did he put it in the inter office mail. Every big boss got a letter about her antics, her favoritism, her lack of professionalism, etc.

I found out that she was demoted 6 months later and ultimately fired a year later. Yeah, I smiled when I heard that.

Image credits: Cathi Richardson

#11

I used a copier. She was the type who enjoyed micromanaging and exercising her power on those beneath her. Life happened and it came down through the grapevine that she was taking mental health leave. Fair enough. Less than a week later I was looking through a paper someone had left on the unit and saw where she was working at a nail salon and offering discounts for new customers. While being paid for leave by the Commonealth of Virginia. Oh hell no. I made copies of that ad and slid them under the doors of every member of management in my building. She made the ‘decision’ to resign within a week.

Image credits: Christopher Southers

#12

Actually I wasn’t fired, but my direct supervisor made working there impossible unless one were in her circle of friends. The day after I left I started getting calls from that office, asking about various things. I told them that I would get back to them, and sent an e-mail to corporate and to the management in our area. I let them know that from that time forward that I would be happy to help but my fee was $150.00 per hour with a minimum four hours charge and that the clock started ticking the minute that I answered a call or opened an e-mail.

So the next day I got a call and helped the caller with their issues. I then sent an electronic invoice to corporate. They called and said it was only a ten-minute call and they were willing to pay me twenty dollars. I reminded them of the e-mail and told them if I didn’t receive payment in full ($600.00) within thirty days I would notify the credit reporting agencies and start legal proceedings. Three days later a check arrived, FedEx next-day delivery, signature required, and strangely enough I have yet to receive another call or e-mail from any of their employees. I can’t imagine why…lol.

#13

This would sound cynical. My bosses daughter was diagnosed with a deteriorating disease. Everyone rallied round, it was heartbreaking.

However, before this happened, what we didn’t know was that he was part and parcel of stealing other people work. I myself ended up with work related stress, trying to triple my efforts because I thought I was doing poorly, but in fact I was the best and doing three times the amount of work I was supposed too.

You can imagine that when this all came out after his daughters diagnosis, no one was happy, especially with all the charity and emotional assistance we had given him. One by one we unfriended him.

He gave me a friend request later, I think he was testing the water to see if I knew he was involved in the theft, because I left with my Ill heath before it came out. I think ignoring his request said everything.

No I’m not punishing his little girl, she is still gaining in other ways.

Image credits: Lesley Paine

#14

I had a boss who was incredibly abusive. He was respectful to rich, white, straight men. Women, people of color, LGBT, working stiffs – were treated very badly. I toughed out the job until I had enough money saved to pay bills for a couple of months while I job hunted. After I got a better job, I thought – he has abused people for years, taking no consequences. He got promotions and raises, never punishment. I waited a couple of years, giving him a chance to hurt more people, make more enemies. Then I sent lots of letters to all kinds of objectionable organizations, giving his name, work address, work phone and fax. He got lots of mail, phone calls and faxes from these awful organizations. Weird people showed up at his workplace, demanding to speak to him. I found out that he was going through misery when I called a former co-worker – a terrible gossip. I said “I am looking to buy a good used computer – am putting out feelers – do you maybe have a computer for me?” She said “No but I got some juicy gossip for you – someone is out to get Fred – he gets lots of nasty mail and phone calls and people coming here to talk to him. He is miserable, has lost about 60 pounds and can’t sleep. He is taking a month long vacation to get away from the harassment.” I said “wow, who would do this?” She said “We don’t know, because he as pissed off so many people. But we think it is funny!” I said “That is really something.” I felt really good that I applied some punishment to him. Sometimes you have to give karma a little boost.

Image credits: Susan Hilde

#15

I was an automotive tech for a few years. The last position I held with that title was at a crappy little locally owned oil and lube shop. Now after a few years in the industry I had accumulated quite the knowledge of OSHA AND EPA standards that the automotive industry has in place.

The owner of this business is not a good man. We’re talking big game hunting trips to Africa, only gave charity for tax-breaks, and somehow ZERO empathy for people as a whole. His holiday bonuses were 25$ gift cards…. to his own store.

Now the manager of this particular location happened to be the nephew of the owner. This guys favorite line was “(if you don’t do xyz) you can take it to the house (fired)”.

I guess he could tell that every employee was turning against him, as we were all one day pulled one by one into the office to have a “talk about morale”. Two of us mechanics were already talking about starting our own small shop, taking our loyal customers with us (they would tell us that whenever we left they would stay with us)

I guess nephew found out and was none-too-happy about it. The talks were really him just trying to weasel out of anyone if we (myself and mechanic #2) were stealing business from the company (not yet!). The next day we both received a call informing us that we were suspended for two weeks due to the smell of “whiskey” on our breath (which there wasn’t). This was their way of not having to pay unemployment.

Immediately I got on the horn with the EPA, informing them that this s.o.b instructed us to dump oil and oil filters, antifreeze, differential fluid, and transmission fluid into the dumpster. Then a call to OSHA to let them know about all the standing oil in the bays, exposed electrical components, and shoddy additions to the building.

I got a text from my friend that still worked there two days ago to let me know OSHA showed up and they had to degrease the entire garage, fix the awnings, and electricians were wrapping up the wires.

A day later found out that the EPA had hit this bastard with a huuuuge fine.

Two months later all locations were sold off.

Image credits: William Lockwood

#16

While working as a temp in a hospital for 2 weeks, I heard that they haven’t been successful in keeping anybody in the administrative assistant (AA) position. I found out the hard way. The lady boss, S., was difficult and had no qualms in telling anyone off. I remained respectful and patient and did my job well. However, I really liked everyone else in that department and I liked the Charge Nurse at the time that I applied for the open posting after my assignment there. The Charge Nurse recommended me for the position even as I was already temping somewhere else at the hospital. I was immediately hired. I was just 1 week into my new job when I asked S—the only question I’ve ever asked her —which doctor could be called for a particular medical question. She barked at me saying, “If you don’t learn the names of these doctors fast (there were 50), I would drop you as fast as how you got hired here!” and left. I was taken aback by her red-hot anger and manner of response for such a simple & valid question. After I collected myself, I dismissed her action as just having a bad day and went about my work after a colleague offered to answer my question. At least 2 hours before closing time, S was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a couple of security guards went into S’s office, took her purse, and locked the door behind them. We all found out that S got fired that day. Talk about karma.

#17

Not a boss exactly, but a teacher.

30 Years ago, at the age of seven, I found myself in a new school, new city and I couldn’t understand the local language. My teacher would teach in English but any other conversation happened in the local language, Marathi. That included scolding. And since I never understood it, she often resorted to violence which involved pulling ears, slapping across the face, whipping with a wooden ruler, pulling of hair and arm twisting.

One day I had enough. I bit her. I bit her so hard my teeth penetrated her flesh and tore her calf muscles such that they were hanging off her leg like a banana peel. She almost died of severe blood loss and I fainted for over 14 hours on seeing the blood and the associated trauma.

Fast forward at the age of 17 (10 years later) I happened to be in the same city and found her standing in front of me in the line at the grocery store.

“Mrs. Fernandez?”

She turned back and was immediately swept with horror. She screamed like a siren in front of everyone and ran away without her stuff.

Needless to say, I had to do some explaining to the shocked bystanders.

Image credits: Annalise Cameron

#18

Quit my job and achieved what he was holding me back from.

Image credits: Annalise Cameron

#19

Not my boss, but teacher , rather a professor.
Those were m engineering 1st year days.
There was this HSS professor who was good-looking and apparently was famous for giving good grades.
What else would one look for ??
I had registered for that HSS course – ‘Cultural studies’

Then comes the shocker. The course was really horrible. I ended up getting 6/10.
I then created a fake profile of this married professor on bharat matrimony .com and gave her office phone number and email id which I had retrieved from the college portal.

Thats it! I was so happy thinking that she would have been flooded with messages from guys.

Image credits: Annalise Cameron

#20

Well, actually he did it for me. I worked at a company that built business machines. A little back story, I was a spray painter making almost $20 per hour and had been hurt and on worker’s comp, When I returned I had to go to lighter work in the assembly department which paid considerably less,but they left me at my previous rate,I did intend to eventually get back to painting so they left it be) Part of my “new” job was to test run and adjust them so they’d be ready to use out of the box. My supervisor(who I actually made more per hour than) was also supposed to double check the settings to verify everything was good to go. We had an issue with one of the adjusting tools and didn’t realize it until a whole order of around 40 machines went out.(Without him checking because as he put it, “I’ve got better things to do {which was usually sitting & watching us work}) Of course,they were out of whack and were returned. When asked, my supervisor told the manager that I sent them without his knowledge and that’s why they were wrong.Long story short, I was terminated for “insubordination & by-passing inspection”, which wasn’t true,but my word against his) So, I left and he looked all proud of himself because of his BS. About a month later, another full shipment was returned for the same problem (since I’d left, they didn’t replace me, they had him doing the adjustment/testing) He at first tried to say it was from a shipment I’d worked on, until they checked the date and saw it was 2 weeks after I was gone!!!! ..He was FIRED, not laid off. They called for me to come back…sorry,already had a new job making $4.00 more than I was there….KARMA strikes again

#21

Before I try to get even, I try to work out the problem. I have found some things that help with anyone who treats me badly, even bosses. I use this techniques in private. Just like you don’t care to be mistreated and embarrassed in public, neither do they. My first question is, “Have I done something to offend you?” If they say yes, ask what it is, apologize and tell them that you will work on that. A true apology, which very few people know how to make, goes a long way. “I’m sorry, but…” isn’t an apology it’s an excuse. More often, I get a negative response. “Then why are you treating me badly?” puts the impetus on the other person to examine their behaviors. I have never not had an apology and an immediate change of behavior from someone who I quietly but firmly confront.

Next, understand that getting even with a boss is a bad idea. You can’t win an argument with a customer and you can’t really get even with a boss. The only way that it works is to change jobs. I hope that your work is so good that your leaving hurts his bottom line and doesn’t give him/her reason to rejoice. Go somewhere else where you are appreciated and succeed there. The best revenge is a successful life.

#22

If you want the job, you don’t “get even” with the boss. Getting even is far different than standing up for yourself. If you try to get even, it will backfire on you one way or another. And if he is bullying you, do you really want to work for them?

You give them one chance, ONLY one. They are old enough to know better than to bully others. Tell them how it makes you feel when the certain things are said – how you feel you don’t have value when treated that one certain way (you have to fill in the details). Use your true feelings; it may make you feel vulnerable for a minute, but you have to open up slightly to get it off your chest. This part is for your health, not theirs; Stuffing it WILL make you ill. Tell them your expectations on how to be treated. Always speak out of respect. A decent boss will admire you for respectfully standing up to them, sharing your feelings and expectations, and doing it gracefully and courageously. They will be cognizant of their behavior and change their ways. A good boss would not even consider treating you that way to begin with. A great boss will build you up and speak highly of your natural gifts and talents. If your boss laughs, sneers, mocks you, or treats you in any way other than respectful, just smile and nod. Then start your resume and get after finding another job. There is absolutely no reason to keep working for a boss who bullies you or treats you disrespectful in any way. There are employers out there looking for workers who treat their workers well; there’s no need for your health to take a hit because of working for a jacka*s. And your health WILL take a hard hit.

#23

I was fired from a radio station. I was told I was let go because I earned too much money. (Lessee….perhaps $275/wk. in 1981? Too much money?) I was not a direct report of the sales manager, but learned later he didn’t like me and wanted me gone.

Fast forward four years. The general manager of the radio station I was working for was leaving to become……general manager of the one from which I was fired! I told him all about the sales manager and how he was. I do not recall if I related to him how sales manager got me fired.

I found out later after my general manager arrived to run my old station that sales manager was gone. While I doubt anything I said affected my GM’s decision to oust the individual I like to think it may have.

It is said taking vengeance or harboring and fulfilling grudges is unhealthy. The day I learned that sales manager was gone from my old station was one of the healthiest days of my life!

#24

I prayed they would be brought to their knees until they changed their evil ways.

It happened.

To the point where they were contemplating asking me to come back.

And if I wasnt happy at my new job, my discontentment may have gotten me the job back.

Im ok. They need the help. Im fine.

#25

Find another job and show them how much you did. I bent over backwards for my last job. I constantly did the same things as far as the good care of our customers, keeping the place clean and stocked. I should have gotten employee of the month more then I did. When a new higher still on their trial period gets one, it makes you wonder. I kept getting stuck with co (non workers) who only cared about getting a check for showing up. Not doing their actual job. They made the same as I did. I trained them and everything. Not one raise. So I quit and I heard it was bad over there. The manager had told me he didn’ t have to worry about things downstairs when I was there. All I can say is if they have a good employee, they need to do something to keep them there. The people to pick from for good employees is a lot lower then the ones who aren’t very good workers.

#26

I was a government employee for 28 years and worked overtime whenever she asked me. I also took no sick leave and cut my vacation time when there was an overload of work. An opening for a promotion came up and I passed the tests with flying colors. However, my supervisor wanted a woman in the position and called in favors to have a female employee from another department transferred to her section. I then went to HR and asked when I could take early retirement with the best employee pension possible given my number of years as an employee. I bided my time and when the time came, I gave exactly 2 weeks notice. How did it hurt her? I had accumulated 2 years and six weeks of vacation, sick leave, and overtime, so for that time, I was paid full salary on early retirement. The best part, she could not have another employee fill my position because I was officially still occupying that position.

Image credits: Thomas Cameron

#27

Yes! I worked for Sherwin Williams years back. Our district manager was wrest. He inspired us to do our best, he was tough when needed, but fair, and he truly understood the business.

The regional managers position opened and it was between our district manager, Louie and an ass kisser from the home office.

They chose the ass kisser, and we all hated the choice. The guy was an ass.

I decided to leave the company and they sent an exit interview. My final comment was,”whoever hired this guy over Louie had his head up his ass .”

A few months later, I was in the Sherwin Williams store and a someone who had been a store manager in our district was the new district manager. He greeted me like a long lost hero. He insisted we go to lunch and asked if I’d said something on my exit interview.

I told him and he nearly fell out of his chair with glee. He said the ass regional manager was called to the CEO’s office. The CEO handed him my exit interview and ask him for comments. Soon after he was fired and Louie became regional manager.

Louie went on to become CEO.

#28

This happened to my husband when we were first married. He was working (salary) 60–70 hrs a week. He worked for a company that was a family business, except my husband and the skilled field employees. The familly office staff didn’t do as much as my husband, so he asked a raise, since he was doing a higher level position than he was working. He also asked for an assistant, because he was doing that much work. My husband knew they would probably not honor his requests, so he went prepared. He had gotten a license to form his own company, and and went in with a resignation letter. When he asked for the raise and an assistant, his boss literally laughed in his face. My husband gave his notice and walked out. He had a couple of jobs lined up from other contractors whom he know from his connections other than his job, so he didn’t skip a beat in getting work.

A week went by, and his boss called him begging him to come back. My husband rightfully declined. They had to hire 3 people to fill his position there, and within 2 years, they went out of business. I’m proud that my husband did all of this with class, dignity and integrity!

#29

After the dotcom crash I got hired by a small software company. They didn’t really have a good product and it was obvious they were on the way down. One day the owner called in with instructions to fire all the sales people as they weren’t making any sales anyway. OK so at the end of the month he calls to ask how sales were going. I said about as good as can be expected with no sales people.

A week later the hammer comes down and we’re all let go and given our severance checks. I immediately go to the bank branch that check was drawn on to cash it and it bounced!

So since I still had the keys to the office, I went back and grabbed a bunch of high-end laptops and took them home. Another week goes by and he calls to ask about these laptops that have gone missing. I said they’re not missing, I’m holding on to them until you make good on the bounced check. I was told that was theft and they would be pressing charges. I said great, I’ll be contacting the Labour Relations Board about your shitty practices and also the Police about knowing passing a bad check for thousands of dollars.

Needless to say I was asked to stop by his office to exchange the laptops for another check. It was like the scene out of Scarface where Tony Montana goes to buy the coke.

Owner: Do you have the laptops?

Me: They’re close by. Do you have my check?

He gave me the check and I went and cashed it and then went back and gave him his laptops.

#30

I went to this place in Texas to have a breakfast. When I first entered, I was treated very coldly and then seated. Obviously, they were upset that they had to seat me on a 4-chair-table while i was alone. After being ignored by my waitress for 20 minutes, I waved at another waitress and placed my order. She was kind enough to attend, my main waitress then brought me orange juice and literally scolded me for asking someone else for my food, as they divide tables between them.

Obviously, me being me I don’t operate on scolding and I value customer service due to what I do. So, after waiting another 20 minutes for my bagel I waved at the first waitress who took my order and asked her for the status of my order – she said she will check. A minute later I saw my waitress literally arguing with the other waitress possibly about why she is attending to my table. Now my main waitress came back later with a cold bagel that she tossed on the table, so later on I asked for the check and my main waitress brought it quickly ‘cause I believe she could not wait to kick me out. The check came for something like 12$, so I put a 100$ bill and asked for change. Now when that happened my main waitress started to become slightly friendly, so when she brought the change back I waved to the attentive waitress and pulled the entire 100$ change and handed it to that girl and said, ”I hope you don’t share tips in this place, because only you deserve this tip, you’re wonderful unlike your friend over here” and I left. My main waitress was standing there in shock.

#31

I worked in a grocery store and I was scheduled to work on my birthday when I had friends coming out so I spoke to my manager in the floral department (where I was working that day) and my store manager to see if I could start a half hour early to be able to meet my friends for dinner and a movie. No big deal to either of them so I started work early. I went on my lunch and 25 minutes in I get a call from the Assistant Manager who accused me of taking a 25 minute coffee break (they are 15 minutes). So she accused me of time theft. In the middle of the lunch room I started yelling that the next time she wanted to accuse me of theft she better have her ducks in a row before speaking to me, that she was right in front of the break schedule that would clearly show I was on lunch that she had now bothered me on which according to our union contract would give me the right to start my break all over again. I told her I would be notifying the union and the store union rep as well since I don’t take kindly to being accused of theft. I went back to work in 5 minutes because I wasn’t restarting my lunch and screwing my floral manager because we had work to do. Went back and told my floral manager who I knew would be pissed off, who then marched over and tore a strip off the Assistant Manager as well for insinuating she didn’t know what was going on in her department. Then for giggles I reported the Assistant Manager to HR. Eventually there were enough staff complaints about her that the next year she went in to work and found she was fired and security escorted her out of the store.

#32

We got a new manager, recently promoted to managerial grade, but by common agreement at least 2 grades higher then they should be. We had a rather lacklustre inital team meeting and after it I asked them where they wanted to start learning what we did. In response they replied” I`m don`t need to know what you do or how you do it I`m here to manage you”

Now if they had kept out of the day to day running of the office it would have been fine BUT they insisited getting on involved with things they didn`t understand and continued to refuse to try and learn. Not only did this make them look like an idiot but if visitors didn`t know us it made us look like idiots too.

So I struck a blow for our sanity and while this might seem petty it was remarkably effective. Although we could wear uniform, in practice it was better to wear casual clothing. However our manager, desperate to show who was in charge wore uniform which showed their badges of rank. They sat in a small alcove and couldn`t be seen by anyone coming into the office. My desk was in eyesight of anyone coming into the office. So I started wearing a suit. Now if a visitor goes into an office and the people working there are wearing casual clothes or uniform but one person is in a suit, or business clothes, the natural assumption is the suit is in charge.

And so it went, and so much so that the fact visitors came to me started getting under our managers skin. They eventually asked my colleagues why no one came to him. As they were unaware of my actions they could only think that as he was sitting out of sight people didn`t know he was there. When they mentioned it to me I asked “why do you think I started wearing suits. Everyone knows the suit is in charge”. Much laughter ensued, and all my colleagues now knew about my little blow for freedom. Manager never got the joke

#33

my mgr at starbucks hated me for no apparent reason. when he saw me squinting at one of the registers once he decided i had to wear glasses, which i did not even own, or need. so i bought some fake glasses, no magnifying power at all, and wore those. i saw a note to him from a sub-mgr saying “everything was fine last shift, and he wore his glasses.” so he had people reporting on me. when i quit he wasnt there so i left a note on his desk, saying i quit, and asking “did any of your spies ever figure out that my glasses are fake?” i left the glasses with the note. im sure he was mad but i didn’t care. it was funny.

#34

Yeah I walked out on him without notice. The background on the guy was that he was a snake, always badmouthing other employees, citing rules that don’t exist, pulling rank for petty things, and write ups for things that were not something you were in control of or never actually happened. I reported it to HR, others did as well, and even went directly to his supervisor. Nothing happened.

After getting a write up for walking off the job when there was a mountain of evidence otherwise, I started looking for a new job after it was apparent that nothing was going to happen to him. After getting a new position lined up, I notified my friends in the area so they could expect it, with no worries since they had gone through the same thing with him. After two weeks, on that last Friday after he told me to come in to watch guys pull up tile in case they broke a wire, I reset my work phone to default, left my badge, laptop, phone, and walked off for real this time since he doesn’t know what that looks like.

Monday he spend his time calling everyone else to find me, good thing I can block numbers. He lasted two days after I left, him and his toady were fired, the company began an investigation into what went wrong since a mass exodus started (apparently I was the glue), and they tried to get me back. I turned them down, if their HR would put people like him and his supervisor in charge, and not do anything when they abused their authority, then I wouldn’t waste my time with them.

#35

Over 3 decades ago, I was working in a small electronics company that made controllers for “white goods” (washing machines, etc). All was going well until the boss decided to hire an Engineering Manager.

This guy was fresh out of his MBA course. He was also not a nice person.

Previously, I’d had no problem working extra time and Saturdays, particularly considering I was being paid by the hour. In my 2.5 years there, I was involved in 32 projects, many of them getting from the design phase (my job) all the way to production and out into the field.

Anyway, this… person … got to the stage where he would literally be standing over my desk yelling at me for something or another. At one stage, he claimed that my “massive” 2 years’ experience meant I was now a Senior Electronics Engineer.

Wow. My pay certainly didn’t reflect that.

For my last month or so there, I was walking around with a resignation letter in my top pocket, just waiting for an opportunity to sign it, date it and present it. Sure enough, I was called into a meeting with the owner and the Engineering Manager. I don’t recall what it was about specifically (generally, it was performance), but after a short while, I pulled the letter out of my pocket, dated it, signed it and handed it over on the spot.

Fast-forward a decade or so. At the time, I was working for a company that’s part of a larger group of companies. The project on which I was working was operating out of the offices of a consultancy that was also part of the same group. All of a sudden, I received an email saying that this specific person was applying for a position in the consultancy and asking for my opinion.

My reply started with “He may have changed, but…” and ended with “I would hesitate to work in the same company as him.”

Needless to say, he didn’t get the job.

#36

We were drinking together one night ( this was during our friends phase) and he described in detail a tax scheme that he had engaged in that was very illegal. I just nodded and laughed as it didn’t bother me at the time and we were (again) friends at that point.

Fast forward to six months later – The guy revealed himself to be a true asshole and I decided to leave the company. I work in a relatively small industry and I heard that he was badmouthing me to other people and trying to get me “blackballed.” While my first inclination was to drive over to his favorite bar and beat the crap out of him in front of his friends, I decided that me getting arrested for battery would probably not be beneficial.

So I waited about six months and tipped a few of the “right” people to my former pal’s scam. This included his ex-wife’s divorce attorney, his probation officer (Full disclosure: He was on probation at the time for another offense; however, he couldn’t be involved in any criminal activity during that time, including conspiracies) and several agencies whose primary job is to investigate tax malfeasance. As it turns out, I really only needed to tip his ex’s attorney and she did all the rest of the legwork for me.

In the end (and yes I did sort of keep track of what happen) he was rearrested, his probation was revoked, his wife got a larger settlement and he spent the remainder of his deferred sentence portion in jail. When he got out, he left the area and I have neither seen nor heard from him since.

NOTE: I answered another question about revenge and this is what I was describing that I did. While it did make me feel pretty good in the beginning, later on I was conflicted about what I had done and I realized that I wasted valuable time on this guy that I could never get back. In the future, I vowed (and still vow) not to do any such thing again as it really was like taking poison and hoping that the other person will die.

#37

I was part of a sales team and a manager was hired to work on our perceived weaknesses to drive us (mature guys) out and replace us with young single women.

His methods became obvious and he would attack without researching fully, and I responded in open correspondence, easily dismissing him and making him look foolish in front of his peers and bosses .

Later on my Wife was receiving graphic indecent anonymous phone calls . Over time various factors can indicate who is the perpetrator, and I gave the details to a good friend unmindful of the fact that my friend was friend with a man in the top circle of management in my company .

My boss had a long weekend break , and an investigation of his phone records revealed he was phoning my home address during the day and when , of course I was not there, I was at work .On his return he was sacked on the spot.

Bye bye arsehole .

So I initiated action that sacked my boss .A later restructure terminated the architects of this immoral policy, the chief manager of my department, and the HR dept guy..real low life’s in high places.

#38

I worked as a contract (temp) employee for many years as an accountant filling in for all kinds of positions. I had the pleasure to work in many different business environments across many industries, ranging from a family owned lumber yard all the way up to Fortune 500 companies.

On this particular assignment I was sent to a company called ScubaPro, part of the Johnson & Johnson Outdoors Family conglomerate. I was contracted to cover a medical leave for their Credit Manager.

Covering for the position required an intensive training period prior to the medical leave. The position was pivotal to the sales of the company.

One day I engaged the purchasing manager, an old hag, in casual conversation about zippers. The outside zipper on one of my favorite skiing jackets had broken off, so I asked her if I could get the name of their supplier in order to determine whether I could purchase a replacement directly from them.

That casual conversation and that simple question promted that deranged woman to go to the Finance Manager to throw me under the bus for engaging in ‘industrial espionage’. The Finance Manager, a deranged woman herself, called me into her office to give me the talk.

She was not only condescending, she was obnoxious and rude. I offered a sincere explanation, stating I would be more than willing to bring the skiing jacket with the broken zipper into the office as proof of the fact that I was not interested in stealing trade secrets nor engaging in any type of industrial espionage.

Rather than accepting my explanation at face value, she simply ranted on about the impropriety on my part to date inquire about their vendors. I let that one pass, things could have been fine after that.

She then went on to state that as a contract employee I was probably in desperate need for a paycheck. She said I should simply shut up and go back to work.

During all the years working as a temp I was making on average more money working eight or nine months out of the year than my colleagues at regular or permanent jobs were for the entire year. This allowed me to go on weeks long and even months long motorcycle trips around the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

I didn’t really need that particular contract position. I certainly did not need the paycheck. I surely did not need the crap from that wench. When she thought she had me pinned down with her argument about the desperate need for a paycheck, I challenged her by asking her whether she was completely sure of her assertion.

She replied: “It’s not like you can just leave” . . .

Oh brother! I simply said; “You just watch me”

I headed over to my office to grab my helmet and motorcycle jacket. On my way out I said: “it’s been great working with you all’ to everybody across cubicle land, and walked past her office on my way out the door.

By then the Credit Manager was already hospitalized for the procedure. I can only imagine what the wench had to explain to her boss when all of a sudden the company found itself without a credit manager.

#39

This was very real question I was faced with nine months ago.
My profoundly incompetent boss was lying to me about my superiority for years, but when the moment came he promoted someone else, a completely unprepared lady. I have suspicions they had some “personal” thing which helped the “promotion decision”.
On the very day, when I was told, I will not be promoted, I stoped working – didn’t quit, I just stoped working. Since then I was looking for new job, went to interviews and seaching for new opportunites – but kept the old job. Incompetent old boss left the company for government job and a young lady replaced him & had no clue how to deal with the department and employees. In that time I found a very attractive new job and started to work there part time. BUT I am still keeping the old job. I just do as little as possible to cover up my inactivity. Otherwise I spent most time for working for the new company. If incompetent lady bosses are around this hiding is not so hard to perform.
My revenge for the years of hard working on my side and lying on the company side is that I will be the one, who will choose the moment when I will leave. And this moment will be the one, which will be the most painfull for the company. Untill then I’ll work for the new company (and got payed for it), while sitting in the old company (and got payed fot it).

#40

My friend worked in a pharmacy department in a hospital where the pharmacy manager would routinely abuse and bully the night pharmacists by dumping extra work on them (when they were already busy and short staffed), telling them that they did nothing but sleep on the job (which isn’t true at all), and would even call them or text them during the daytime (when they were sleeping). This manager would also call night shift people in for mandatory meetings in the middle of the afternoon (so it’s like telling a day shift person to come in for a mandatory meeting at 3 AM).

The night shift pharmacists got fed up with her abusive bullying and decided to all quit at the same time. This manager tried to stop them from leaving, but since they were at-will employees, there was nothing she could do to stop this mass exodus, so now she had to not only do her manager job, but cover the shifts of 4 night pharmacists as well until they could hire and train more pharmacists (which could take several months).

This was a great example of a bully boss who got what they deserved for their abusive and bullying behavior.

#41

I was a highly trained metal worker and was asked by the shop supervisor if I would work the night shift. As my wife worked and we had two small children, I told my boss I could work the night shift but only a short while as my wife needed help with the babies.

3 months later the shop has not provided a person for me to train,as promised. I approach the shop supervisor with the observation that “a short while” has passed and I need to get back on the day shift. His response was “you’ve done such a good job, we’ve decided to keep you on nights.

After a whole 30 seconds of thought, I gave my two weeks notice.

About 5 years later, after becoming a welding inspector, I was in the same shop because poor welding was observed on the job site. The messes they had to fix were tremendous.

Be careful who you mess with!

#42

I was laid off, specifically because of age. They admitted it. However, the two people that took over my job both quit. I had a year’s pay, not for severance, but to agree not to sue based on age discrimination. In five months I was back at work, collecting a pension, retaining the payout, and earning about forty percent more. I stayed for a total of eight years more, which were the best years at the company. At least for me. The boss that could not stand me was livid I was doing so well, and SO HAPPY! The best vengeance is living well.

#43

Sooner or later they ruin things for themselves. What goes around comes around. Personally, depending on how malicious they were, it’s worth waiting. There is a saying: ““Revenge Is a dish best served cold”. Meaning Sometimes it’s worth waiting for revenge if you must do it… Even if it takes a couple years. Personally I am let karma take care of things because people like that usually get what’s coming to them.

#44

On December 27th I went to work after our Christmas break. I worked at a car dealership. I found out that 8 of my colleagues tested positive for covid. I told my Supervisor that I did not feel safe and wanted to go home. He said if I left he would charge me with job abandonment. Sure enough I was fired. I later found out that the count of employees testing positive increased to 10. When I went to file for unemployment I was denied. My employer stated that I had quit. Needless to say I am appealing that decision. I’m 65 years old and it is against the law in Texas to deny me a safe working environment.

#45

And I thought sexual harassment wasn’t tolerated in the workplace

It was a recent promotion for this guy…who thought it was cool to do things like…well the unmentionables

One day we had a surprise visit from the district manager who caught him in the act

That afternoon …the so-called asst manager was nowhere to be found…the district manager fired him on the spot…no written warning…

#46

Not quite revenge, but. I worked for a major, MAJOR tech company out of SF, I was an employee who bent over backwards for them. In any case, after years of service, a crisis came up and I more or less saved the day via a HUGE sacrifice on my part, in exchange, I was promised certain things that I had long been due. Needless to say, once I had over fulfilled my side of the bargain, they reneged on theirs. Now im very slow to anger, but it builds up over time, while I am usually in control, there are times and situations my inner Vikingr comes out. After years of this simmering below the surface, I was at a company offsite in SF and I drank a bit too much one night. Sitting in a bar, my then Manager, a guy I actually liked and had nothing to do with the original slight, but knew of it perfectly well, started bitching at me for something, I dont remember what. In that moment, I started to see red again, and the rage started to surface, I don’t recall EVERYTHING because of the alcohol levels, but when I get like this and the anger arises, I can attack and 95% of the time, I go for the throat and strangle with overpowering force. So my manager is bitching bitching bitching and I have this URGE to grab him by the neck and squeeze, thankfully, I somehow resisted and instead flipped over the entire bar table we were at and sent bottles, glasses, and lit candles flying across the bar. I then got up, kicked through the bar door, and somehow made it back to my hotel. While not really revenge, I know after the fact that the poor guy (Manager) knew that physical harm was close to him, and that made me laugh a bit. Funny thing, instead of getting fired, I was put on some bullshit performance plan and that was the last time anyone mentioned the incident. I think this happened because the first time we talked after the offsite, the first thing I said was, “you know what, how about I just leave”, that somehow changed the tone of the conversation and I worked there for another number of years before the rage ate at me until I sabotaged the whole thing, got severance, and left. Corporate world = filled with cowards, dishonorable men, and psychopaths.

#47

I was an assistant in Orthopedic and Physical Therapy. We had a great boss. There were two other therapists. One was a young guy. The other was a perv. Would not look at me anywhere but in the boobs. I was in a lab coat and you could not see them but I swear he must have thought he had X-ray vision. He did this to all the women there. I asked him several times to quit staring at my chest but he didn’t stop. Our old boss retired. This tool became the boss. Second day in, he fired me for insubordination for telling him to stop staring at my chest. Made me sign a paper about it too. Next thing I know, I get a call from corporate that I have my job back with back pay and a raise. I come into work, he was fired for being a perv! Idiot had told HR what I had said and when they called him in, he did the same thing to the HR manager! Made my decade!!!

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