NPR: AFL-CIO Names America's Worst Boss

AFL-CIO Names America's Worst Boss

Ever had a bad boss? I mean, a real stinker? I once had a boss who walked into the room where I was working, threw $5 down on the table and told me to go get him a pack of smokes. I stood up and walked out, never to return to that job.

But there are worse bosses ... such as the winner (or, perhaps, the loser) of this year's AFL-CIO My Bad Boss contest. The employee involved -- a young father with three children under the age of 8 -- filed paperwork to take some time off to help deal with the bills from his cancer treatment. John Dimsdale of Marketplace explained on Day to Day that the boss threw away the paperwork and then lied about receiving it, knowing it would take months, perhaps years, for the issue to be resolved.

Then there was the guy who hired the "creep" who had been stalking one of his waitresses -- and put him on the same shift as her. And the boss who made his employees continue to answer phones when there was a fire in the building -- until a security officer forced them to leave.

Abusive bosses are apparently a common problem. In a recent national survey, 44 percent of those polled said they had worked for an abusive boss, while 33 percent said their supervisors failed to keep promises. The Los Angeles Times reports that experts believe one reason for this trend may be that "short-staffed companies tap managers with lousy people skills." And the Internet has made it easier to share complaints about bad bosses -- just take a trip over to ebosswatch.com.

How about you? ... Got a terrible boss story to share? (Like the AFL-CIO contest, let's keep the boss's name anonymous.)

5:14 PM ET | 08-21-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I had a boss who, when he could not obtain a chiropractor appointment, would lie down on the rug in his office and demand that I take off my shoes and walk on his back. And yes, I am a female and was wearing a skirt.

Sent by Victoria Ferreira | 11:16 PM ET | 08-21-2007

My worst boss was the owner of a drive-in restaurant where I was a "curb-hop." He wouldn't let me off to go to the prom and when I went anyway, he fired me. Later, I got even when my future husband and I used to "neck" in our car parked where he could see us. He was exasperated and would then knock on the window and motion to us to sit apart.

Sent by julia ann evans | 7:35 AM ET | 08-22-2007

In high school, our student resource officer(on-site policeman) got fired after he was caught having an affair with his 16 year old baby sitter.
He became my manager at a retail job that next summer, and guess who became the assistant manager? The girl.
Boy, that was awkward.

Sent by David Caudill | 9:13 AM ET | 08-22-2007

When I first began my career in county government as a receptionist, I had to answer a 3 line phone, plus greet and register the patients coming in. The supervisor would stand behind me, and if I was assisting a patient and the phone happened to ring, she would poke my back and tell me the phone was ringing, and when I picked it up, she would poke me again and tell me why did I leave the patient just waiting there. In the meantime, the other lines would ring and she would loudly tell me to pick the lines up. By the end of the third day, I was ready to quit. Then, we were all summoned for a staff meeting where it was announced that this particular supervisor was being transferred out of the office. I stayed on and eventually promoted to better positions. Along the way, I've encountered bad supervisors but not as bad as that first one!

Sent by Elva Medrano | 11:27 AM ET | 08-22-2007

So, The lady whose boss asked her to walk on his back...and she was wearing a skirt! I think I missed the sexual innuendo. The unfairness in that he had eyed in the back of his head...all bosses do. God help us.

Sent by Frank Miata | 12:06 PM ET | 08-24-2007

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