Rude/Mean Bosses (employee, secretary, owner, paycheck)

[Magnum Mike]

A good friend of mine works for a small company, and she mentioned that her boss, who is also the owner of the company, is very offensive in his behavior and the way he treats his employees. She works in the office with him and she has to deal with his foul language all the time, plus other things she mentioned that I'd rather not post here, and whenever she mentioned something to him about his offensive behavior, he would respond with "Don't forget who signs your paycheck", and that's only one example. As the owner of the company, it seems like this guy is abusing his power and acting in a very rude and unprofessional manner.

I'm curious, has anyone here ever had to work with such a boss or another employee who used a lot of offensive language to get his or her message across?

[andywire]

I've worked for a whole host of bosses like that. They were not mean to me, but the people who did get it... I've seen some real one sided shouting matches... Generally, the better paying the job, the meaner the boss... And no one should forget who is signing the checks. That's a legitimate comment. Is this her first job? Some people don't deal with being on the bottom of the totem pole very well and are offended easily, even if comments have merit. If she does something wrong, and gets spoken to about it, she may just be taking it the wrong way. Some people get very worked up over constructive criticism these days.

Now, when I had some authority... I was often called a mean boss. When overseeing a production floor, I pulled some real shenanigans... I used to cut the legs off the stools if I saw workers sitting too much on the job. If someone got too cocky with me, I would send them out to empty the trash cans or any work they may deem below them... I would never work for someone like me

[Magnum Mike]

I am a senior computer software engineer, and I worked with somebody about 8 years ago who used offensive language a lot, as an example if he were to tell another person that they made a mistake with a program, he'd say it like "........ but you f...ed it up!". Now with things like that, I probably would not say anything, unless there is a child present.

I am also a devout Christian, and that same person mentioned God's name in vain one time in a meeting, and that was when I stood up and I told him that using God's name in that manner is offensive to many, including myself because I am a Christian, and I also mentioned the 3rd Commandment, which says: "Do not take the name of the Lord in vain". He apologized and continued with what he was saying, and if I remember correctly, he never used God's name in an offensive way again whenever I was around.

[highlife2]

I have never stayed at jobs where bosses were like this. I had an HR person come in and grill me for checking yahoo email at one company and I left after a few weeks for somewhere else. I worked at a mine where my boss did that and I was on the helicopter out of there a few days later once they found a replacement. I also dealt with this in the army guard, I had to tolerate it longer for legal reasons but I got out pretty quick with an RE-3.

I simply can not tolerate that sort of behavior, life is too short. Maybe thoes bosses should go get some slaves out of africa because that is how they behave, sorry but im not a slave.

[Honut Sinti]

I worked with a demanding but fair boss for 28 years as I moved up the career ladder from my early days as a young man taking shorthand at board meetings as a recording secretary to senior director. I learned a lot from her. I have been in senior management positions for a number of years now and have often called on the lessons I learned. I am also a fair and demanding boss. Funny thing though, my staff feel very comfortable with me and don't hesitate to come to me with a question or concern. They also work their butts off.

I am glad that I have been able to tell my prior boss how much she has helped prepare me for the various stages of my career.

[Chatteress]

The award for meanest/rudest boss goes to this jerk who was co-owner of this small company I worked for 10 years ago after graduating from college. This dude had a heavy European accent that I had difficulties understanding due to my hearing impairment. One day, he told me something and after having him repeat himself twice, he yelled at me to "fix my f'ing hearing!" three times in a row.

Another scenario was when I entered the conference room to see if my assistance was needed for a project, he said something to me. Since I did not hear him the first time, I moved closer and he yelled GET OUT OF HERE! He then hid my paycheck on payday that week. The next Monday, he handed me my paycheck and gave me a formal letter warning me about my insubordinate behavior in the conference room! This jerk was trying to set me up as he wanted to fire me and make it seem as it was for cause. Fortunately, the other guys who owned the company must have held him back as I wound up quitting a year later after locating a new job. The other two were jerks but not as bad as this idiot.

[DrRockso]

I worked for a small business run by a guy and his mother and she was an absolute beast. These were the type of people who would literally tell people to GTFO if they spent more than five minutes browsing without buying anything.

People would ask questions and they would literally shrug at the person and walk away.

One memorable conversation between her & I went like this:

Her: Why do you have to talk to customers?
Me: Excuse me?
Her: They don't care about what you have to recommend to them. Just give them what they want and get them out of here!
Me: <Blank Stare>

-Two weeks later-

Customer: Hey remember that thing you were telling me about last week? Do you still have them? I wanna check one out.
Me: Sure right this way. *looks over at bosses mom*
Her: *Major stinkeye*

Sadly, I stayed there for two years because being a gullible idiot, I believed him when he said he wanted me to eventually run the day-to-day operations of the store, which was really codeword for "I'm going to keep promising you that every few months while I have you do as much pointless crap for me that I can squeeze out of you".

[country pride]

Ive never really had mean bosses but in my lines of work over the years, as they would call 'mens jobs', have much heard a lot of stuff. Guess Ive gotten pretty immune to it. Meanness though, Ive actually laid into one of my bosses who thought he had the upper hand (about 15 years ago) and when it was all over, he as the one shaking in his boots because he knew I was right. Heck if they fired people at the last place I worked, for their behaviour, it would be an empty store...but then we were all pretty tight and everyone knew who would 'play' and who not to 'play' with.

[Mrs. Skeffington]

One of the upstairs VP's (not MY direct boss) often obliviously passed gas in my presence (without excusing himself). The flatulence was noisy, not to mention smelly. THAT is the ultimate rudeness. Talk about being made to feel lnsignificant!

[statisticsnerd]

There are bosses that value their employees, are pleasant and supportive, and lead by example. Then there are bosses who lead by intimidation, threaten their employees and micromanage their staff to hell.

I have worked for both types of bosses, and in my experience they are either one way or the other. There is no in between.

If you have the misfortune of working for an *******, LEAVE. There really are good bosses out there, you aren't stuck at a bad job unless you allow yourself to be stuck there.