Heard any juicy scandals lately? Well, these online users do. They spill on the craziest scandal to ever happen at their jobs and I’m speechless. Content has been edited for clarity purposes.
Not Something Anyone Wants To Find In Here
“I worked at a fancy tech company that had its own building with 2,000 people (give or take), on six floors. There were male and female bathrooms on every floor.
One day, a guy went to the bathrooms as usual and somehow, noticed some weird cable that looked fishy to him. Mind you, the guy is an engineer, so he knows cables.
He followed the cable and on one end was a camera looking at the stall, on the other end was a device hooked up to the internal wifi that broadcast the images recorded by the camera to an internal server. The said device was actually receiving images, not from one stall but all the stalls in that floor’s bathroom. They swept all the floors and more than half of the male bathrooms were equipped with similar cameras.
Turns out, an employee had been recording and broadcasting images of his colleagues in the stalls using the company’s equipment.
The cherry on the cake to me was how the company slack went crazy over this story and so many male coworkers admitted to ‘pleasuring’ themselves while at work.
The matter was handed over to the police and if they ever reached out to any of the hundreds of potential victims, I would not know.”
Familiar Face
“I was a 75D (Personnel Records Specialist) in the Army from 1995–1999 and was stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) for my entire enlistment. I worked in the Student Strength Management office—where all the records were kept and maintained for all the soldiers who were fresh out of basic training and at APG for their AIT-Advanced Individual Training.
My friends and I often went out to Mo’s on Thursday nights for drinks and dancing. It was 18 and over that night, if you were 21 and could drink, they gave you a specific colored bracelet, and the drinks were supposed to be in a specific type of cup so staff could ensure, at least have plausible deniability that only 21 plus patrons were drinking. Thursday nights were almost always crazy busy and the idea that there was control over who was drinking illegally was laughable at best.
One night my buddy tapped my shoulder and said, ‘Hey, look. Drill Sergeant Simpson is here tonight.’ I looked over. He was dancing with a young woman who seemed vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place where I had seen her. Probably just another staff admin soldier from one of the training units, probably Drill Sergeant Simpson’s company, even. We’d see them around sometimes at the weekly briefings where we in-processed the new incoming trainees.
Then it hit me.
‘Waaaaaaait a minute…didn’t we just in-process her a few weeks ago?’ My friend looked more closely. He was much better at remembering faces from the crowd of 55–130 soldiers we in-processed each week.
‘Yeah, I think so,’ he said.
With stuff like this in the Army, when they find out you knew but didn’t say anything, you can end up in just as much trouble as the person who did it in the first place. We weren’t sure who to report it to where it wouldn’t get covered back up or come down on us to protect the Drill Sergeant. Over the weekend, we’d decided to contact the JAG office on Monday and find out what to do.
It didn’t matter. Monday morning officers from the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) came into the office, spoke with our branch chief behind closed doors, then came out and gave us a list of current and recently graduated soldiers—all-female—for whom they needed their records. CID was crawling all over our records for the new few weeks as new names came up. We helped them track down where soldiers from over a year earlier had been stationed after graduation, some even on their second post-grad assignment. They were going so far back. We were interviewed several times about who and what we saw on the post and around town, and it seemed like it would never end as the investigation kept growing beyond a handful of female soldiers who had been under DS Simpson’s charge into all-female soldiers who had been there and all the drill sergeants and male staff who had been part of the women’s daily lives.
It was a dragnet that captured not just Drill Sergeant Simpson, but 12 men in total, including Captain Robertson, the commander of one of the training companies. Because of the Aberdeen Scandal, the Army extended the length of Basic Training to incorporate additional training about harassment, and changed the face of co-ed basic training and AIT for the Army, although all the changes didn’t produce the lasting effect they hoped for.”
She Grew Tired Of The Unfair Treatment
“One day, an employee asked to take long lunches of about two hours on company time to take a yoga class. It was granted because she was a good employee. She didn’t make up her time and her work got shifted to other people. This went on for a couple of months and a lingering hatred of yoga started to boil under the surface.
Then someone had an idea. This, someone, happened to also be a good employee. He asked to take off mid-day to go to the gym. It was granted. He took a couple of employees under him with him to the gym every day. His work was shifted to other people. He didn’t makeup time. Hostility for all things workout-related started to grow.
One person asked to leave work early to take care of her child on company time. It was granted and her work was shifted to other people.
The other people in each instance were from the customer service department. Sales, admin, and everything else slowly got transferred to customer service. Customer service didn’t get the same exceptions.
Eventually, 30 employees were taking off work for yoga, the gym, childcare, or any other reason under the sun. Except for customer service. Customer service consisted of less than seven employees including the manager.
I was in customer service. We held a meeting about how this was unfair. We got a treadmill to use on our tightly controlled 15-minute breaks. The treadmill was quickly taken by the other 30. Hostility in the office was in the open.
Randomly one day during the great workout and childcare exodus, the owner stopped by customer service to try to raise morale. I mentioned to him that if he looked at the hours he paid out to these 30 employees it amounted to 60 hours of work every day and he received no return. Clearly, the company could save money by terminating some employees taking off, restructuring, and investing in growth.
The owner ended all granted exceptions the next day. Five of 30 quit within two weeks. Everyone in customer service got pizza and cupcakes. We even got our treadmill back and television with a cable to watch during our breaks.
The moral of the story is never grant exceptions to employees unless you can grant it for everyone. Also, if you do grant an exception do not pay them for it.”
He Constantly Bought Expensive Gifts
“At a place where I worked for many years, there was a peer manager who was going through a very rough patch in his marriage. This led to heavy drinking (or perhaps it was the other way around) making him often late to or absent from work. It was not uncommon for him to arrive at the office and disappear shortly after. He could usually be found sleeping off his hangover in his car.
We had eight regional offices in the United Kingdom, and he would often say he was working in one or other of them but in fact, he’d not be in work at all. His work was obviously suffering greatly as a result of all this. He also ran up thousands of pounds of personal debt on his company credit card on expensive foreign holidays and gifts for his wife, trying to patch up his marriage.
There’s only so long you can get away with all this, and he was eventually pulled up by his manager and HR. There’s only so much support one can be offered and there’s always a point where you have to come to terms with the fact that you are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. He crossed the Rubicon when he sold his company car and unsurprisingly he got fired.”
The Amazon Beauty
“Back about 27 years ago, I worked in an office in the city. It was a mix of men and ladies and we all got along with each other. There were lots of banter nickname calling etc; some harsher than others but it all worked. We used to socialize together at least once or twice a month; we would end up going out in groups of five or six. The camaraderie between us was really good and rarely was anyone off work for sickness or ‘hangovers.’
Our receptionist to the manager ended up pregnant and left for her maternity period, so our firm recruited a temp receptionist. She was an amazon beauty; she looked like she was from Mexico or Brazil and had lovely dark curled shoulder-length hair. She always wore an open-cut top under her skirt suit which showed plenty of cleavage. She certainly got the attention of every red hot-blooded male in the office. I always remember her for two things, she always wore black patent stiletto heels that had a red sole underneath and scarlet red lipstick.
As you can imagine, every man in the office who was single or even in a relationship tried hitting on her. They would invite her to our monthly get-together but she always rebuffed them. We soon found out, she didn’t have a boyfriend but still, she kept denying the men the opportunity to ‘come for that drink’.
Then there was this one guy who never came out on a social evening with us. He wouldn’t even come out for lunch, he would always bring his food in and sit in the kitchen alone. He was very quiet and reserved.
About a month or so later, our boss said we were all having a long lunch, our food and drink paid for as we had blasted past our targets. He even said if people got too wasted, he would close the office for the day. So everyone in the office went to the bar and grill just down the road except this quiet guy and the receptionist. The boss even said to her if we hadn’t returned in an hour to lock up and go home because that meant most of us had too many drinks. He also declared business was closed until Tuesday since it was a bank holiday weekend.
One of the guys and a couple of the ladies asked if they could get some personal things from the office, so the boss gave them a set of keys as he thought the receptionist and the lonely boy as he called him had gone home. So the trio returned to the office, it was in fact locked but the receptionist Sports Coupe was still in her spot. They thought maybe she had gone for a drink as they climbed the stairs and pushed open the fire doors (which were soundproof) but then they heard noises coming from the kitchen area.
As they entered they got the shock of their lives as they saw the quiet guy and the receptionist being intimate. Both were bottom-less. The receptionist tried pulling her black knickers up, but it was too late. Everyone saw what sen was hiding or in other words, what he was hiding. The Amazon Beauty wasn’t who we all thought she was.
It was back in the day when there were no smartphones or cameras on phones so we literally had to take the word of these three co-workers. The scandal did in fact rock the office by the time Tuesday came round. Everyone knew. However, we didn’t see the receptionist after that day since she was replaced later that week by a much more reserved lady in her 50’s, much to many disappointed faces.
But you can imagine the atmosphere for days and weeks afterward.”
“I Missed Those Lunches And Extra Bonus Money”
“Years ago, I worked for a collections company collecting on loans for the US Department of Education. The big guy (head of our office) all of a sudden approved unlimited overtime for all employees. We were working our booties off, and at 18, I had never made so much money. Everything was going really well; we had lunches provided to the office, and cash bonuses were given (without taxes taken out) if we worked both Saturday and Sunday.
It was looking great until one day, the feds busted in, and the ‘big guy’ was arrested for embezzlement. Eighteen-year-old me was blown away, and really missed those lunches and extra bonus money. Older me realizes that ‘big guy’ must have been manipulating us, to begin with, and really wonders how much he got away with considering how much he was giving out.”
He Blamed His Disappearance On His Diabetes
“This happened 35 to 40 years ago, so it was more outrageous than probably would be considered today. I was working for a temp service at a bank. The unit was small, maybe 10 people. After I was hired, they hired this 20-something-year-old, very nice-looking single mother. Our manager was around 30, short but muscular (weight lifter). He was a new manager to the unit so no one really knew much about him, only thing I was told was that he had diabetes. Seemed a strange thing to tell me.
Meanwhile, the first-week single mom started, she was hit by a car crossing the street. The manager just happened to be there and went to ER with her. She had lots of scrapes but didn’t stay at the hospital and was back to work in two days. After the accident, the manager and woman started to miss work. Not just a couple of hours, but ALL day. The manager was out way more days than the single mom. So the permanent workers told me he probably was out because of his diabetes. Ok, why do I care? But thanks.
When they were in the office, they were closed up in his office. It got to the point that we only saw the manager in the office once or twice per week. One day, he came in, gathered us all up in the conference room (except the young mother), and royally chewed us out because the young mom said everyone was talking about her having an affair with him. After a 10 minute verbal ranting, he made it clear that they were NOT having an affair and while we exited the room, the manager and woman ‘disappeared’ again.
Because it was a temporary assignment, I left before the story finished, but another woman there kept me informed. When upper management finally figured out the manager was only in once or twice per week, they fired him. It took about six months, I don’t know what it took so long. I suppose they had to be careful if he was telling them it was for medical (but this was well before FMLA).
The single mother was also fired and it was confirmed they were having an affair since she had started in the department, well after the car accident. The sad part was he was married with children.
I admired single mothers and have the utmost respect for them taking care of their children, so please don’t take the ‘single mom’ name as disrespect. I don’t necessarily think she made the right decision to have an affair with her boss, but otherwise was a very nice person.”
He Was A Different Man When No One Else Was Around
“I quit grad school and needed a job quickly. I found one at a small frame shop specializing in custom picture frames. It was a small, well-equipped shop a few blocks from the main store. There was one other employee in the shop, Barbara.
Barbara was a somewhat attractive top-heavy, older woman, and mother of three girls. And when I say an older woman, I mean maybe mid to late 30s. I was 21 at the time. We got to know each other well in the first few days. She had started there a couple of weeks before.
Our boss was a no-nonsense man in his 50s and a deacon in his very conservative church. I played to his conservative spirituality in my interview, which I feel is how I got the job.
The shop consisted of four square workbenches with tools along the wall and a warehouse in the back where the framing material was stored. The boss would come in each morning and select the material for us each day according to the work schedule. Then he would leave to manage the main store. I was diligent in my duties and soon promoted to shop foreman, meaning I could gather the material in the warehouse.
One day Barbara and I were chatting as we often did while working, and she confessed to me that she had left her husband and daughters as she discovered she was no longer in love with her husband. Matter of factly, she was no longer interested in any men; she realized she liked women.
She asked, ‘You’re not shocked?’
I said, ‘I don’t judge. I’m sure you still love your daughters and do not hate your husband, right?’
She said, ‘That’s right.’
We talked just a little bit about it, but I never dove deeper into it.
It must have been a few weeks later when I came back from lunch. We staggered our lunch breaks so there would always be someone at the shop.
She told me, ‘I hate when you go to lunch.’
I asked, ‘Why?’
It seemed that whenever I left, the boss would arrive a few minutes later and literally chase her around the benches trying to hug her and basically get a chance to touch her.
OK, now I was officially shocked. I asked, ‘Him? Deacon?’
She said, ‘Oh yeah, he is a perv. He only hired me because of my bust size.’
She said before I came he was constantly there chatting her up about mostly inappropriate matters. She was very happy that I was hired because it cut down on his visits, but the lunch hour visits were recent and always the same. He made it no secret that he expected more than picture framing from her.
I asked, ‘So wait, he literally chases you around?’
She said, ‘Yes! Literally! I’m faster than him, and he tires out quickly, thank God.’
‘Well, does he know he’s barking up the wrong tree?’ I asked.
‘Oh heavens no! I can’t tell him I’m into women or he would fire me on the spot!’ She exclaimed.
And she was right. There’s no question that no moral deviance would be tolerated except his own.
She laughed when I said barking up the wrong tree.
So, a plan was hatched. I would park behind the shop and take lunch later. So, when the time came that I would usually be out to lunch, I instead ducked into the warehouse to gather material for the afternoon projects. I was in there maybe three minutes when I heard the gravel crunch, a car door slam, and the front door to the shop open. I heard the boss laugh and say something to which Barbara responded. He laughed even louder, and then I heard rustling. His laugh sounded both humorous and ominous if that makes any sense. That’s when I made my appearance coming out of the warehouse with an armload of material, and this is what I saw.
Barbara was on the other side of the far workbench near the front entrance, and she was holding on to the table with both hands as if prepared to run to either side. The boss was on the other side of that workbench and stopped suddenly when he heard the door. He was almost completely out of breath and heaving. He never said a word, he just walked out of the front door.
The next day when I arrived, he was there, and he chewed me out for parking in the back. He said he passes by the building during the day and likes to see if everyone is there.
I told him I didn’t think it was a problem as there was a lot of space in the back, and I wasn’t used to parking in front of the place where I work. And besides, my output should prove that I was there.
He yelled and said, ‘I’m paying you for eight hours, and I demand eight hours!’
So, I started parking in front of the building, but I also began bringing my own lunch, which I’d eat in the warehouse. That didn’t stop his lunchtime visits, but every time he arrived I’d go ‘Woof!’
She’d laugh at the barking up the wrong tree reference. He never got an opportunity to chase her after that. She left soon after. I up and left without notice not long after. I realized that working for a pig was not in my best interests, although I did enjoy the job.
Oh, one funny episode happened during all of this. We got a special visitor one day. The boss brought his pastor by to visit. He introduced each of us, and he spent most of the visit talking to Barbara, mostly about her home life and interests. And when he came to me he asked me what I did here.
I replied, ‘Mostly running around here and there.'”
“What Happens In The Basement, Stays In The Basement”
“Many years ago, I worked at a public institution, where there was a notable distinction between the workers and administration; the administration looked down on the workers and didn’t associate with them except for one very big exception. Once a year, there would be two Christmas parties, one official staff party and another in the sub-basement/boiler room. There was only one rule ‘what happens in the basement, stays in the basement and it was wild; heavy drinking, pot-smoking, and the assorted tunnels, and little corridors lent themselves to sneaking away and having some hanky panky action.
But there are some things you can’t leave in the basement.
Nine months later, the VP of Human Resources, a very strict, 49-year-old woman gave birth to a baby. The father?
The head of the union; they were arch-rivals.
He later said, ‘I don’t regret it.’
But rather than keeping it hushed up and subject to rumors, they both told everyone they knew. They owned it. That was surprising because normally they would keep it all a very hush-hush secret. There were all kinds of rumors flying around that she was going to get canned.
In the end, the admins’ hands were tied. They had a few morality clauses which did not include a single unmarried woman having a baby. There was a clause about not having an affair, etc at work. The admin tried to find witnesses from the party but no one would even admit there was a party or that they were there. Undoubtedly some of the admin investigating were there themselves, so the investigation was somewhat forgotten.
The VP just told them to ‘Take a hike. Yeah, we are dating and it’s his. I never expected a gift like this at 49.’
They both kept their jobs, although he left the union leadership. They had a second kid immediately, even though they were not strictly ‘together’ but they both raised the kids in a good partnership.”
The Secret Life Of The Receptionist
“I worked at a small research company in the ’70s with a staff of perhaps 20, including a receptionist. The receptionist always took her lunch break out of the office, but since we were in a major metro area, not unusual. She always made it back in time.
One day the FBI showed up and arrested her. Turns out over a month-long period she had robbed several banks on her lunch breaks and then come back to the office and did her receptionist job. We had absolutely no clue until the FBI showed up.”