Workplace Drama and Intrigue

I

imp

Senior Member
Do you recall any incident(s) from the workplace which was so notable, you will never forget it?

Mine came a few months after returning to Dana Corp. in Indiana as Facilities Engineer, most responsible job I had had up to that time. The Union was preparing to vote on going out on strike. They had made up a large number of slogan stickers, to be applied to one's shirtfront, stating "VOTE NO!". A pile of them sat in the break room coffee machine area, by the employee entrance door. Upon arriving, I picked one up, stuck it on my shirt, waiting for my coffee cup to fill, heard my name called from behind, at the doorway opening into the office area. I turned to see the "Office Chatterbox", Marcie, whom I knew was a carrier pigeon for the Plant Manager, my boss.

As I turned to face her, she started to speak, her jaw dropping when she saw the "VOTE NO!" glaring back off my shirt! Immediately, she turned around, scurrying back into the office. I immediately tore the thing off, and throwing it back on the pile, sat down quickly to await results.

Minute or two later, the Plant Manager stormed into the coffee area, seeking to severely reprimand me! I knew he could not be sure if Marcie had told him the truth, nor could he in his own mind believe I was that big a rebel. He stared a few seconds, then bellowed he does not want Management Employees hob-nobbin' with "them monkees"!

Small wonder rank and file hated the man, as did most Management folks, also! :mad:

imp
 

Oh yes, I'm a big corporate drone. Silly stuff like one young fellow brown nosing himself to management. In the back rooms are photos from office parties. Someone used a pen and blanked out his eyes in every picture. Is this jr. high school kids??? One the other paw there is one woman hated by many. But I come to find out she went on leave for a few years and returned. She couldn't stand the pressure and I come to find out she does have a human side. I was reprimanded for lateness yet again. She knows I have it rough at home, she looked at a screen of lateness that could have gotten me terminated on the spot. Quietly she deleted a bunch of records and saved my tail. There are human souls sometimes.
 
As I approach the end of my career, many stories come to mind, but here's one that stands out. I was visiting our DC office one time and after a full day, a few of us who were visiting from other offices went out for a bite to eat. One member of our party was an HR manager and we got to talking about hiring practices and how they've changed over time. She told us a great story. Someone applied for a job at her previous place of employment. The top candidate had to undergo a background check (something we routinely do at my firm) and it was discovered that the candidate had lied on his application about never having been arrested. So, my colleague had to call him to say that they were rescinding their offer, to which he replied "Why, because I killed that guy? It's not like I wanted to kill him! I had to kill him!" The guy had served time for manslaughter. The story that had us howling with laughter when she recalled his reaction to not getting the job.
 

As a manager for many years, I've had to fire a few folks along the way. Thankfully, those have been few and far between, but they are traumatic moments none the less. There was one young guy who was a rising star at my old firm. Now, law firms used to bill clients for long distance phone calls and there was a way you had to dial out to record the client ID so that the charges could be recorded. This young lad, one of our billers and only a year out of college, discovered a way make long distance phone calls on the firm's "trunk" line. We discovered it and ended his ability to make such calls. So, instead he started to charge his personal, long distance calls to one of the top clients of the firm, and he would then write off the charges before the partner could see them. We caught him very quickly, so I had to fire him. To this day I can recall his reaction when I told him he was fired. He was incredulous that we were letting him go for something he thought was so trivial. This kid worked for the managing partner of the firm. Of course it was a huge breach of trust and he had to go. As if to underscore his inability to comprehend how serious this was, weeks later he had the gall to call me and question why I wouldn't give him a reference.
 
I worked in a big department at a university. The secretary to the director was particularly inept but had been there for many years. She was out of the office so often either "sick" or on vacation, that it was an occasion to be noted when she was actually at work. She'd get things done as the spirit moved her, and woe unto anyone who really needed something from the director because there was just no way past her.

One day we all got a memo that the director would be resigning at the end of the fiscal year. Shortly after his retirement, we got another memo telling us that the secretary had resigned, effective immediately. It turned out that they'd had an affair many years before, and she had not just pictures but the negatives as well, explaining her longevity in the job.

In the two years I worked there, no one ever suggested that there was any rhyme or reason to her "untouchability". They both had worked there for at least 10 years longer than anyone else so their affair wouldn't have been known to any of the current employees. Apparently, people who might have known of it at the time were intimidated into silence, then either resigned or retired.
 
I supervised a group of Analysts when I was with General Dynamics. I had one guy who worked for me who was a notorious cheapskate but always the first in attendance when someone brought in goodies. He would help himself several times if it was something he liked. When one of the group had a special event in their life the guys and gals would pass around a envelope to get donations to pay for the gift, cake, whatever....After you put your money in the envelope (large 8X11'/2) you would sign your name and pass it on. Everyone suspected he didn't contribute but always signed envelope and acted like he had. The gang set a trap for him. They counted the money just before passing the envelope to him and watched. As usual he opened the envelope and with his finger he tapped the inside so it sounded like he dropped in coins. They immediately took the envelope and once again counted. Not only had he not put in any change, one dollar was missing. The guys came to me and wanted him fired. I explained that for legal reasons due to the collections and counts not being authorized by the company we could not take action to terminate him. They took another course and publicly shamed him. Of course I knew it but distanced myself from it. But, in my office I smiled as I watched from a distance as this went on. This was all back in the 80's and these analysts made good money so it wasn't poverty that made this guy cheap.
 
When projects ended, the staff were redeployed to other projects. We were expecting a new member to the Atomic and Molecular physics team, but he never arrived. The story goes.......

Once upon a time, a man who was a keen photographer was walking down a street in Bristol (England) and spotted a camera lens in a shop window. He enquired about the lens and the shopkeeper offered to reserve it while the customer made enquiries about it. He wrote to the makers and received the replied that it was a special order for Professor X at the university. He then wrote to the professor and was surprized to get the reply, "Where the bl**dy H*ll did you get that?".

The story emerged that the employee had worked for the astrophysics department and had been responsible for specialised camera equipment. One day while visiting family, he found himself short of cash and sold some of the equipment, later claiming it had been stolen. It also transpired that other equipment from an oscilloscope to a 4 jaw chuck for a lathe had 'disappeared' and although they couldn't prove anything, it was suggested that he might resign quietly.

We never saw him again.
 
9/11--- I lost a good friend and pilot at United on that day. I will never forget the news that he had the flight that went into the ground in Pennsylvania, which is my state of residency. I will always remember Jason Dahl as a very loving and giving person. He provided me with follow up training in the simulator in Denver on the Boeing 757 and 767. He was flying the 757 on that particular day. He was always offering me advice and tips with my flying. I credit him with making me the successful pilot and Captain that I was. I still miss my friend and think of him often.

To make things worse, his wife died in her sleep from natural causes, but as far as I knew, she was not ill. She died some 10 or 11 years after Jason's demise. I always told my friend that Sandy would mourn herself to death and I believe that Jason's death did have a hand in her death.
 
I once worked with someone who I wanted so badly to like and get along with. I’d been offered her position before she came, but I’d turned it down because it was a little more money and a lot more travel. Boss resented me for doing that, (but that would be another story).

Anyway, M was hired and she came in like gangbusters, full of energy, fresh ideas, and a lot of spunk . She was attractive, ivy league educated, well-read, interesting to talk to, and her office was next to my cubicle. Right away I noticed she had the boss’s ear. Hmmm.

Red flags her first week: M told me that she had worked at various places with nasty people and that women were threatened by her. M also said she had been sexually harassed (although this was before the term was so common.) But she said men would not leave her alone even though they knew she was married. :rolleyes: However, I noticed that she was very flirty with the men in the office, and they reveled in it.

I began to notice that she ‘cooled’ towards me, for no reason that I could think of. Soon there was a rumor that she was coming in after/before hours going thru people’s desks. I set a trap for her and she fell into it, but cleverly lied her way out of it. Then, via a complex set of circumstances, I discovered she was sleeping with the Director of HR, hoping to get promoted (after being hired only a few months ago). M didn’t get the promotion and threw a hissy – claiming again she’d been sexually harassed. I didn't like M because she was bigtime t-r-o-u-b-l-e, but our jobs required us to interact and work together. We even had to travel together sometimes. Ugh. I moved on about a year later, but what a mess that entire situation was.
 


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