Wildest times employees deservedly got fired: 'The meeting was the consultant stealing a laptop from a client cubicle'

Ally Perry • Writer and Editor

Jun 24, 2026 6:00 AM EDT

Some employees make you wonder how they ever got hired in the first place.

We have all worked with that coworker who baffles us in their ability to keep their job, yet somehow be incompetent at everything to do with it at the same time. We may have also experienced working with someone who seemed fine on the surface, but left the company abruptly for shocking reasons. Firings are an unfortunate but routine part of professional life that sometimes do not get used when they should, and other times are totally and inarguably deserved.

It is rarely a pleasant experience to be made to leave a job without your consent, but there are certain things which no employer is ever going to get past. They are going to expect a certain level of professional conduct, and you will be penalized for not adhering to this, even if you have your reasons for doing so. All work comes to an end eventually, and some exits are more dramatic than others. This can prove to be a blessing in disguise for someone to figure out that they are not on the right path, and it can even turn out to be a celebration for those who they used to work with.

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While it isn't always a pleasant experience to watch somebody leave the workplace for good, there are occasions where it feels more than justified. Perhaps they mistreated people, were incompetent, or even guilty of something that has legal repercussions. Whatever their failings, there is every chance that under the right circumstances, they might have been able to get away with it. This makes it all the more satisfying when somebody who should not be doing their job is faced with the ultimate consequence for their actions. Every so often, justice can get served—even somewhere as unequal as the workplace.
What was a time when someone absolutely deserved to be fired?

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