What is the worst thing that has happened to you at Work?

[Domo]

I overheard my boss saying some REALLY nasty things about me... she thought I couldn't hear. So I quit. I don't need to be insulted like that. Luckily I got headhunted by another company and am now actively tutoring about psychiatry and psychology in the workplace as well as my more traditional roles as an English and Maths tutor. Thankfully I fell on my feet!

 

[MamaLema]

Mine are so minor compared to most of these stories. All I can say is real life is scarier and more unpredictable than any movie.

 

[adelaster]

The shooting was.... well, a shooting. Disgruntled customer with a gun. Seven injured, one killed. 'Merica.

A shooting. 12 people killed.

This thread isn't even three full pages and in a niche Disney group on the least read forum there's already two mass shootings.

So sorry both of you had to experience that. Many of these stories are simply horrific.

 

[DumboDash2006]

Goodness, there are some truly horrid stories here.

Two that I saw. One was when the police called my boss at work to tell her that her parents had been killed in a car accident. I will never forget the screams and sobs that came from her office. The other was when a coworker tripped over a rug and fell head first into a steelcase type book case. She hit it on the corner and got a big cut needing stitches just below her eye.

For myself it was getting a call saying that the lab work done on my dd a few days ago due to her feeling ill showed that she had type 1 diabetes.

 

[mom2febgirls]

I had a co-worker who emailed the president of the company and accused me of having an affair with the manager. Fortunately, no one believed him but it was very upsetting.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

As a nurse, I'll just say that I've seen and dealt with things that I never imagined I would be exposed to. Life is fragile and precious and the small stuff isn't worth stressing.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

At a work related social function. Awards ceremony, while dinner was being served the husband of a co-worker seated at my table had a heart attack and dropped to the floor. An ambulance arrived soon but we got word that he died on the way to the hospital. The rest of the event was cancelled.

If that's not bad enough, about two months later this same co-worker's son was killed while serving in the army in Iraq.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I'm only liking these to give you all lots of *internet hugs*!

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Let me lighten things up a bit. At the time of this, I was completely freaked out, now, it's hilarious.

Background information, I'm an Air Force brat. My father at the time of this story was the base commander for where he was stationed. I had moved out of the house and was living in an apartment, however, 2 years previously, my purse had been stolen when I was home from college for winter break and went to an 18 and over dance bar. (This is important)

So, I'm working as a receptionist/mail clerk at the time, and get a call from my mother as I'm doing the afternoon postage. She starts off the conversation with "What did you do?!" I was honestly confused, because I hadn't actually done anything that I could think of this time around. She then tells me that a video rental place had called my father, at work, to tell him that I had rented a video and not returned it. He brushed them off and told them to call his wife about it as he was at work. So, they called my mother at home. She got the full story from them, and it seemed that i had rented a video titled "Nikki's S*x Kitchen" and never returned it. She was pretty pissed. I'm completely panicked because I've never even been to this video store, and my mother is telling me that she and my father are going to really angry, but right now I'm lucky that they didn't tell HIM what video I rented.

So, she gives me the number for the video rental place and I call them. The man tells me that they have a photocopy of my military ID, and the membership is under my name. I'm trying to tell him that this isn't possible, because I have never even heard of their store, much less been in there and gotten a membership to rent porn and never return it! This goes around for about 5 minutes, while he's telling me I have to pay for the video or they're going to send the police and me insisting that it's not me at all, until I finally thought to ask him what the issue date on the military ID he had was.

Turns out, it was the ID that had been stolen 2 years earlier! I had reported it to the police, and had been issued a new military ID, so had documentation that it was stolen that I could give him, but once I got this out, he said that he didn't need it. I ended up going to dinner at my parents' house that weekend and my mother and I filled in my father as to the whole debacle, we laughed at it then.

 

[MamaBelle4]

When a man grabbed my rear end when he was placing his drink order, with his small children and I guess wife there.

DH's is far worse. A 5 ton steel beam (he's a structural steel welder) was knocked off of the stack by a kid who shouldn't have even been in a crane. It pinned my DH to the ground. I got a text from him "In ambulance, going to hospital" and that was it. I freaked.

He ended up needing reconstructive cadaver surgery on his ACL. He only has 76% functionality. This happened when he was 28.

 

[kimblebee]

At work, but not related to work.

I was at work when my dad called to say my Uncle had died. He was my only uncle and had literally been on his death bed for a few days. We all knew it was only a matter of time, but it was still a shock when it actually happened. I burst into tears and my boss and coworker turned off the phones and consoled me. I was told to take a leave for as long as I needed.

He died at home with hospice care so I went to my Uncles house and we all sat around his body until it was picked up by the funeral home. It was my first time seeing death and it was not as weird as I thought it would be. I’ll never forget the smell in the air though.

Sorry, that took a weird turn.

 

[Marchand63]

Worst - Tsarnaev.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Worst - Tsarnaev.

Wait. You were there?

 

[Marchand63]

Wait. You were there?

Yes, along with hundreds of others

 

[prprincess]

I worked for a very well known government contractor that has locations all over the world. They have a reputation for being a great place to work, but it was horrible--lots of competition, all out yelling and screaming matches, etc. Just a very dysfunctional and horrible place to work!! I used to keep a low profile because of this and because the pay was great. But one day I overheard my managers manager talking to her about me telling her to yell at me for not doing something. He then came over and asked me about something, and I told him straight up that I didn't appreciate him telling my manager to yell at me. That set him off and he started yelling! I walked out and right into my manager's office and then my director's. No one did anything to defend me due to political reasons, even though I felt threatened by this person. Right away I started looking for a new job and was gone a month later. It's nothing compared to some of what you guys have posted, but I have NEVER been witness to such a horrible/abusive workplace. It amazes me that, again, this place has such a great reputation and people actually want to work there!!

 

[smiths02]

I worked in a bagel shop. I was taking the coffee to refill it, I slipped and got coffee all over my legs. I got pretty bad burns on my legs. I probably should have made someone take me to urgent care, but I was 16 or 17 and the manager was like 22, so she probably didn't know exactly what to do either. Anyhow, I just went home, never got medical care (aside from basic first aid I did myself) or any lost wages or anything from that job. Luckily I didn't have permanent scars.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I've had a few, but this one was the worst/scariest of all, and 14 years later I still shake and cry when retell the story:

I had to rescue a choking 4 year old. I was a preschool teacher for DS17's class when they were 3/4 years old. They ate lunch at school, and then some stayed and laid down for a PM nap during the daycare portion of the school day. I was puttering around the 3 tables, helping the kids with opening up fruit cups, drink boxes, etc and chit-chatting to the little ones. I didn't realize it for a minute, but all the sudden I was aware of a shadow behind me. I turned around and saw one of my little boys following me. He was a quiet, sweet kid normally, so I wasn't alarmed that he wasn't making a sound, at first. I said "hey L, if you are done with your lunch, go potty and then lay down on your mat, ok?" He didn't answer, so I looked again, and saw tears in his eyes. I asked if he was OK, and then all the sudden it dawned on me (to this day, I have no idea why or how my thought went to that and not something else) that he could be choking. I asked him "are you choking? Is there something in your mouth?" He just stared at me with huge tears. I went into emergency mode - I yelled to DS and a little girl to run upstairs and tell Ms. K that L was choking and that I needed her, then took the little boy back to the kitchen area where there was an utility sink. I popped him up on my knee, put my hands under his ribcage, leaned him over the sink and pushed up. Thank god - out popped a whole grape and vomit. He took a huge breath and just started to cry. I hugged him for dear life and cried with him lol It only took a matter of about 10 seconds from start to finish, so by the time the other teacher had run down the stairs, it was over and all she saw was the two of us surrounded by the rest of my class, crying our eyes out. I was completely calm during the incident and did what I was trained to do, but as soon as it was over, and for the past 14 years since when I think about it, I was shaky and scared of all the different scenarios that could have happened to make the outcome much, much different.

And I made sure to doublecheck the kids' lunches everyday after that before they ate to make sure there were no choking hazards. We were always telling the parents to be mindful about this, and for the most part everyone packed safe foods, but that day, the mom said the big sister helped and must have put the grapes into his lunchbox!

But the good news is, he was totally fine - and will be graduating high school this June I still keep in touch with his family.

I had tears coming out just reading that.

 

[neverlandsky]

DH: Deceased newborn being carried out of the bathroom and blood everywhere. He called 911 because they wouldn't stop.
Me: Customer had a seizure and hit their head on a rack. Bled out and were purple. I called 911.

 

[sjrec]

Some of these stories are just horrific!
I never had anything close to some of these, but I worked in education for over 20 years and the days we would come in to find out a current or former student had died (car accidents, illness or overdose) would just break your heart.

 

[nancygirl1]

Worst - Tsarnaev.

Horrifying time!
My son went to the same college as Dzhokhar. The days that the brothers were on the run law enforcement went to the college where Dzhokhar went to search for them. The Feds evacuated the college and had black hawk helicopters landing on the campus quad. It was terrifying watching the news knowing that my son was there. For a time I had no idea where he was or what was happening. As it turns out, Dzhokhar had returned to the college after the bombing to get some things he had left behind.