Employees Floored By New Hire's Behavior That Quickly Leads To Termination

Newsweek

11 hours ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
An employee whose new coworker's behavior ended with a serious allegation and a quick termination from the job is asking if anyone else has had a colleague who "basically just crashes out?"
More than 1,100 comments within four days piled on the Reddit story by the employee, aka trampstar9, who described how a new coworker in their office became a source of constant disruption almost from the moment she arrived.
'Massive drama'
The original poster (OP) claimed that the new arrival, "Made every single thing a massive drama, despite just walking in the door."
According to the post, the new hire would burst into tears, accuse colleagues of victimizing her without providing specifics and even went so far as to steal a coworker's work on a project, only to reformat it slightly and demand partial credit.
The situation escalated further when the new employee began raising formal grievances against multiple team members. She accused others of making her feel bad for errors that required correction.
Stock image: Chairs and desks in an office.
Stock image: Chairs and desks in an office.The OP emphasized that they are strongly against any kind of workplace bullying, but insisted this was a very different situation.
"The final straw seems to have come when she invited herself to an office on the other side of the country and made sexual advances to the senior director (who is married)," the OP alleged.
"She's now been fired for misconduct."
In a message to Newsweek via Reddit, the OP said, "I've kept it quite vague so not to cause any privacy issues. The post is a true account as best to my knowledge of exactly what happened."
The post has scored more than 11,000 upvotes and sparked a lively discussion among users who shared similar experiences.
'Never come back'
A fellow Redditor recalled a scenario where a new hire—brought in to lead the Project Management Office (PMO)—was exposed on his very first day.
"In the first morning break, he was caught googling, 'What is PMO?'" the Redditor shared.
"He lied massively on his CV. Took three days for his boss to figure out and get rid. So long, Jaz."
Another contributor recounted a particularly abrupt firing on the first day of work.
"I had a roommate who got fired the same day he started a new job because he went in there and told them everything he thought they were doing wrong and acted like a superior [expletive]," the contributor explained.
"They sent him home early and told him never to come back."
Overconfidence Meets Reality
In another example, an individual wrote about a man whose résumé appeared suspicious, but who provided convincing answers during the interview process.
"We hired a guy who had some questionable gaps in his resume, but had ready answers," the individual wrote.
"Turned out he was an alcoholic who couldn't do the job, then tried to say he was owed $50,000 in compensation being fired after less than six months of work."
The individual added that the human resources department nearly paid out the compensation before a board chair stepped in and intervened.
Setting a Trap
According to Newsweek, some employees have resorted to creative measures to expose lazy or incompetent colleagues.
Newsweek reported how a worker set a trap for an underperforming colleague who habitually slacked off while others carried the load. The scheme worked and the worker was let go after being caught red-handed in their attempts to shirk responsibilities.
In another case covered by Newsweek, a long-time employee was fired after arriving late for the first time in seven years. The decision provoked outrage online with many questioning the fairness of such a swift punishment for a loyal worker.
Newsweek's "What Should I Do?" offers expert advice to readers. If you have a personal dilemma, let us know via [e-mail]. We can ask experts for advice on relationships, family, friends, money and work, and your story could be featured on WSID at Newsweek.
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, click here.