How Bad Are Awful Co-Workers?

You’ve heard about bad bosses. They can stunt your career and make work miserable. But bad co-workers can do their damage in the workplace, too, by spreading gossip, causing drama, and piling work up on teammates.


So now we want to know, just how bad are bad co-workers?



Do you have a story of a bad employee that’s truly unbelievable?
We’re helping best-selling author Jim Stovall, who wrote 100 Worst Bosses, collect stories for his latest book, 100 Worst Employees. You can submit your story now – all names will be changed to protect the identity of those involved. If your story is selected for the book, you’ll receive a signed copy of the book when it’s released!

Comments

  1. Jennifer

    I work with a lying, arrogant, idiotic, controlling, deceiving, conniving, manipulative, rude, narcissistic boss. Every minute of every day when I’m in the office with her, I want desperately to quit.

  2. Scott

    I had a situation where I was demoted from chief accountant to an accounts payable/accounts receivable clerk after 10 years of service. The main reason for the demotion was that the new employee had a Bachelor of Science Degree and I did not.
    Over the next eight months, this individual did everything to cut corners. Bank recs were never balanced, financial statements were not accurate, but she had a lot of time to waste talking to her friends on the phone each day.
    When she left the company, I was faced with having to redo 8 months of financial statements for six corporations. This took time and dedication that management was not very appreciative of.
    I ended up leaving the company after being threatened by the owner.

  3. dfoxx

    There is another side to this question of co-workers. If you work in an environment where you do not have control over the actions of your co-worker(s), that makes it worse and will make you want to quit. In some work environments, changes can be made prior to reaching a point of wanting to quit.

  4. Jo-Anne

    I was working in “what seemed to be” the job of my dreams but then I started to experience the CEO’s bizarre behavior towards me. I documented all of my incidents, had people who tried to be supportive, but ended leaving it all behind with much remorse and some serious rethinking about the kind of industry and place I wanted to work.
    I have experienced this workplace and one other in the last year and a half which have made me wonder about the possible decline of business and personal ethics of people in general.
    Google bullying in the workplace! It’s on the rise.
    What’s going on?!

  5. Phil

    I got promoted to a higher position, and the guy who replaced me refused to do the job. I was asked to go back for a day or two to train him, and get caught up. While I was getting caught up, he disappeared and took over my NEW position. I made the bosses aware of it, and they never did anything about it. So HE got my new position, and I had to stay and do my old job.
    I confronted him about it, and it got ugly.
    We both got fired for violating company policy for arguing.
    Nice, huh?

  6. Diane

    I have to say NO, with a big N. I try not to allow others to infringe on my feelings at work. I may dislike anothers work ethnic’s, however I do not allow them to get into my head. Much unlike a family member, I know I can dismiss their crappy attitude by the end of the day, lol, and I start with a new outlook the next day. Who knows? It may be another co-worker that pushes your buttons then? My motto is “what doesn’t kill ya, makes you stronger”, and I consider it a learning experience. People are who they are, work around it.

  7. Susan

    I worked for a company, where I had problems not only with a co-worker, but also my supervisor.
    The very first day I started working for this co. I was at my work area, and my supervisor comes walking right by me, ignores me like I wasn’t even there and then I say “Good Morning” to her and she snapped back, “I NEVER say good morning because I never know what kind of day lies ahead.
    Well, that just floored me. Then to top that off ,I would work OT for a few days, and then if a machine broke down or work slowed, then I would be the one to go home, so working OT didn’t even pay. Then the last thing that really made me realize, this wasn’t the place for me, was I was being trained on a machine, and the gal that was training me says” I don’t even know why I’m doing this, I’m not being compensated for it. So, I piped back and said ” you did it because your a nice person”. I was being sarcastic.
    This all occured within a weeks time, unbelievable!!!

  8. Ian

    A bad co-worker you can deal with but a boss thats a total jerk is something no one should have to deal with.

  9. Frank

    I have a boss who is irate almost each and every day about some random nothing, treats employees (including me, but excluding his favorite) like nothing, yells, has cussed me out in front of a customer and recently told me that I HAD to write up two employees by the end of the night for “throwing tantrums.” The next day, one of them asked him about the write up, and he said it was me and only me that was involved in the write up. I expect to get yelled at tomorrow for mentioning him while talking to them about the write up.

  10. Melodye

    WE’VE all had bad days at work and some brought on by others and maybe just our own mood of the day. It may be more sensitive one day than another. BUT, I do know that owners/bosses sometimes treat employees rudely or badly because they want them to quit so they don’t have to pay unemployment. I believe that has happened to me.

Leave a Reply to Melodye Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *