People Are Revealing The Horrific Reasons They Quit Their Toxic Jobs, And Wow, I Want To Give Them All A Hug
Let's be real — workplaces can be toxic environments. From corrupt bosses to unjust policies, it's no wonder some people reach their breaking point and walk away from a job.
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We recently covered a Reddit thread where people shared their "Fuck this, I quit!" moments, and the comments filled with even more infuriating stories. Buckle up, y'all, because it's about to get wild.
1."The FASTEST job I ever quit was a meter-reading position I took three years ago. They were severely understaffed and we had over a thousand meters to read with just a team of 12 people. The meters we had to check were under street lids that weighed 40–50 pounds. It was a back-crusher to repeatedly stoop and lift them, especially in extreme weather. The day I started, it was close to 90 degrees outside. They told us to come in at 6:00 a.m., but they didn't actually START until about 8:00 a.m. The meters are underground, so they are often filled with water, caked with dirt, or covered in insects (PILES of ROACHES) or snakes. The WORST moment I experienced on this job was when the girl who trained me told me to clear the dirt off the meters by licking my finger and wiping it off. I watched as she slobbered on her bare finger, reached into the dirty ground, and wiped it off. She said she had been severely sick several times before, too. I quit after ONE day."
2."I worked at a movie theater, and one day, I was told that an elderly woman had an accident in the bathroom. Because I was one of only three employees over 18, it was apparently my job to clean any biohazardous messes. I wasn’t even a manager — just regular floor staff who served popcorn at registers and cleaned theaters. I had to get on my knees and literally SCRUB feces off of the floor. The lady had tried to cover it up with toilet paper and stomped it into the ground, which made it completely stick to the floor. I was gagging and nearly puking for at least half an hour when I realized the job wasn’t worth the $8.25 an hour anymore, so I submitted my two weeks' [notice] the next day."
—Darian Gillespie, Facebook
3."My last supervisor followed me to the bathroom and said, ‘I’ll wait' while I went inside. He also gave my coworker the silent treatment for almost two weeks because she asked for a copy of her time sheet. It was beyond toxic."
—Daneen L Emele, Facebook
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4."I was working as a server at a retirement center and my boss noted that I wasn’t my usual 'cheerful' self. I informed her I had just received a message that my dog had unexpectedly broken his back and had to be put down earlier during my shift. She proceeded to write me up for not smiling enough for our guests. Yup. Quit that crap real quick."
—Teresa Guerrero Vargas, Facebook
5."I was a receptionist for a urologist at one of his two offices. There was another receptionist for the other office. The doctor and his nurse saw patients in both locations on varying days. The nurse went on maternity leave, and rather than shell out money for a temp, the doctor asked the other receptionist and me to help him out in the exam rooms. I figured he wouldn’t ask us to do anything that we weren’t properly trained for, as that would put his practice at risk. I performed lab tests, gave injections, and assisted with biopsies, ultrasounds, and stent retrievals. One day, the doctor pulled the other receptionist and me aside and told us that we were not allowed to tell patients that we weren’t really trained nurses. That set off my warning light and I quit."
6."The two worst jobs I have ever had were at a call center and a bridal store. I walked out of the call center when the supervisor wrote me up for taking too many bathroom breaks. The constant customer verbal abuse was degrading and demoralizing. The bridal store was a nightmare from start to finish. The store manager acted like a spoiled child, the customers were horrid, and the pay was beyond laughable. Also, the dresses are DISGUSTING. We would lie and tell the brides, 'Oh, we'll steam-clean your dress and make it just like new!' False. Lots of women walked down the aisle in dirty, used gowns."
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7."I worked for a jewelry company in a boring position where I filled in spreadsheets. I have a degree in design, and the company owner got me to stay by baiting me with the promise of one day promoting me to a designer role, which was never going to happen. The office was disgusting and had this old, musty carpet everywhere. The factory portion was straight-up dangerous. They made employees do hazardous work with no respirators, goggles, or other protection. Someone called the health unit on them. It wasn’t me, but people started a rumor that it was. I had middle-aged men throwing insults at me and acting super bitchy, defending the shitty owner. I quit, and the owner was so pissed off he started asking employees where my partner worked and threatened to come by my house. I was 23."
8."I worked with my mom at a car dealership, and they fired her after she had been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. I quit the next day. Fuck that place. She had worked there for 20+ years."
—Ashley Valentine, Facebook
9."I worked at a restaurant in a management position during the pandemic. All of us worked pretty closely together because there were so few of us. One day, the guy I usually had my shifts with started sniffling and coughing. I had my two days off, and the rest of the staff said he hadn't come back because he was still sick. Turns out he tested positive for COVID-19 and had all the symptoms. They decided to bring him back less than five days later, still with symptoms, and wanted me to work side-by-side with him. I asked if he had gotten a negative test. They said they couldn't tell me private medical information about another employee. I told them I couldn't expose myself, and wouldn't be back."
"They actually asked if I was going to give my two weeks' notice and I told them they were preventing me from doing that. Afterward, I found out that other restaurants in the chain were having their employees who tested positive for COVID-19 work side-by-side with uninfected employees across the country. I'm so glad I stuck to my guns."
—Jessica Lauricella Mills, Facebook
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10."I was told that I had to clock out and continue working, because two new workers weren't pulling their weight. I quit the next day."
—Heather Cobb, Facebook
11."About 10 years ago, I started work at a call center where I'd call people to renew their subscription to different trade magazines. I called a woman about a renewal and she got emotional as she told me that her husband, the actual subscriber, had died. She hung up. I was told I could not take her off the call list because she hadn't specifically asked me to, and they told me I'd have to call her back. They wanted me to get this lady to renew a subscription for her deceased spouse. I walked out right that second."
—Christine Stearns, Facebook
12."In my early 20s, I worked at a large car dealership for four months. I started as the receptionist, fielding upward of 300 calls per hour, mostly from pissed-off customers. I was later transferred to the service/warranty department, where I'd work 10-hour shifts and usually have to skip my lunch break because there'd be no one to cover me and I was left covering the receptionist's lunch hour. While in the service department, I'd often commiserate with two people on my team about various things. We came to find out that the general manager was using our security system to listen to us. One day, he pulled the three of us into his office and humiliated me in front of them by 'using me as example.' I stormed out in tears and never went back. Most stressful four months of my life."
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13."I worked part-time for a lawyer while studying for the bar exam. On non-work days, I asked her to not text/call because I needed to concentrate. She did not respect that in the least, and would text me about non-work related things. One day, she left me a nasty voicemail because I didn’t answer her call when she needed a ride to her office a few blocks away. I told her I wanted to take a month off to study, which she had originally suggested. She was so mean about it that I went in a couple days later to get my stuff and saw she’d already starting taking my degrees off the walls. So, I got the rest of my stuff, deleted all my personal information from the computer, and emailed her my resignation. She’s one of the reasons I’m no longer a licensed attorney."
14."I worked at a spa for a while. I ended up getting really sick to the point that I was in the ICU with lung failure. I told my boss and they replied with, 'You have appointments this weekend, it’s my birthday, and the other lady who could cover is getting married.' Sorry that almost dying and being in the INTENSIVE CARE UNIT was so inconvenient for you."
15."My coworker’s young child was in an accident, and she had to rush out to meet them at the hospital. She had permission to leave from the assistant manager, but when the manager arrived, he was pissed. The next day, he told my coworker that someone else needed to be responsible for her child while she was at work. She quit."
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16."I once taught at a private school that prided itself on being extremely strict. One kid came to me during snack time and told me he hadn't eaten breakfast and forgot to pack a snack. I tried to give him food from the cafeteria (which was free for students, but only during breakfast and lunch), and the principal angrily told me that the student should've know better than to be late for breakfast. He was 11. I quit the next week. My only regret is not doing it on the spot."
17."I worked as a case manager for a disabilities services company where we had on-call rotation. I completed my on-call week and went home to my 2-year-old. My husband was away at a work conference. I got a call later that evening that someone had a medical emergency. Since I wasn't the on-call person, I directed them to contact the person who was on-call. No answer. I directed them to the on-call employee's supervisor who, in turn, called me and directed me to go to the hospital and relieve the staff, even though it was her responsibility. I explained that I had no child care and did not want to take my 2-year-old out at 10:00 p.m. I was given no choice and had to take my daughter with me. I was at the hospital until 2:00 a.m., then had to go back to my office to complete mandated paperwork. At 4:00 a.m., once I had finished the paperwork, I cleaned out my office, left my keys and pager, and wrote an email saying I quit."
"Any company that cannot respect your personal time is not a company worth working for."
18."I used to work at a language school in the pedagogical department and I would organize the teachers' supplies for them, which they always appreciated. The owner of the school showed up out of nowhere, noticed a teacher’s room was not displayed how she wanted it to be, and proceeded to throw everything on the floor, saying it was all wrong. I'd never seen an adult throw such a tantrum. That day, I told my family I was going to hand in my notice."
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19."I worked at a SUPER-toxic doctor's office. The manager couldn’t manage, patients were verbally abusive, and the doctor didn’t care about us at all. The final straw was during the pandemic when he gave us absolutely no time off (we were a dermatology office, so not exactly essential) and offered no financial assistance for those of us who had to voluntarily take time off because we lived with immunocompromised individuals (me). Then, we found out he got a small business loan and purchased a plane for himself instead of taking care of us. I quit as soon as I found another job and told him EXACTLY why I was quitting."
20."I very briefly worked at a call center. People would see products on commercials and call in to order them. One product was geared toward the elderly and cost over $600, so it wasn't something that many elderly people in the US could necessarily pay for all at once, which was what was required. Therefore, I didn't push it if the caller said they couldn't afford it. It was completely understandable and I was not going to try to convince an old person to buy a product they couldn't afford. That's just scummy. I got reprimanded for not pushing the sale on those calls, so I quit."
21."A senior position was opening up, and my direct manager told me about it. I had pulled up my resume when an HR person stepped into my office. I thought nothing of it, but the next day she had my manager write me up for updating my resume on company time, which made the promotion unattainable. He refused to have my back and admit to HR he had tipped me off about the opening. That was my last day. Ridiculously petty."
—Brian Baj, Facebook
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22."I was with the same company for almost five years, and before COVID-19 shut everything down, I asked to be moved to a different department. I met with HR and a supervisor, and they tried coaxing me out of my decision. They said, 'No matter where you go, you'll never be happy.' I listened to 15 minutes of their bullshit, got up, and told them my last day would be March 26. The next morning at 6:00 a.m., I was met in the parking lot by the supervisor who had a letter saying I was finished. Then, a few months ago, guess who called? The same company asking if I wanted to come back because they needed help. They received a hard NO. Then, they called back a couple of weeks ago asking if I'd changed my mind and would maybe come in so we could sit down and work something out. They, again, received a hard no."
23."I had two different managers at restaurants tell me, while I was working 50+ hours a week for them, that they couldn't give me a promotion because I was 'too good at my job.' When I told them I no longer wanted to work for them, they told me I didn't have a choice. Quitting is ALWAYS a choice."
24."My manager laughed as she told me our bridal shop had an earwig infestation, then my coworkers laughed at the panic attack I had over finding dead bugs in the lace of a dress."
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25."I was being underpaid, and management kept putting more and more work on me. About half the team had previously quit, too. They asked me to take a leadership role in the team with no title change or pay increase. It was an incredibly toxic place. Then, my parent passed away and I needed a few days. My manager brushed it off and asked how I was going to finish a project that wasn’t even my job. I tried to hand it off, then he asked me if I'd come in for just two more days, then I could 'get to my family stuff.' They called me twice the next day (a Sunday, at that). My boss forgot why I was even out and kept asking me to smile my first day back. No condolences, no card, nothing. And it was a COVID-19 death and they kept telling me I was overreacting by asking people to wear masks and maintain distance."
"I started applying for jobs two days after I got back and now I make a lot more and my new place is super chill. I didn’t give any notice either. That’s what disrespect will get ya."
26."I worked at a charter school and had students who kept hitting me with no repercussions at all from the school. At the end of one day, I broke down crying outside the HR and directors’ offices. While our HR lady comforted me, the director walked right past me without a second look. I started applying for a new job the next day."
27."I worked as a receptionist for a very unethical therapist. It was common practice for us to do reminder calls to patients less than 24 hours prior to their appointment so that we could bill for missed appointments AND schedule another client in their place. One day, they made me drive to work in a flood so that they could charge clients if they missed their appointments. I wasn’t able to get there because of said flood, and when I called the therapist to let them know, they informed me that they hadn’t even gotten dressed for the day yet. I put in my two weeks' [notice] the next day. It took me years to trust therapists again after that bullshit."
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28.Finally: "During a one-on-one meeting with my new boss, he said, 'You know that position you wanted? Well, you ain’t gonna get it because I don’t like you!' I quit on the spot."
—Michelle DiGaetano, Facebook
Have you ever had to quit a toxic job? What happened that made you decide it was officially time to leave? We want to hear from you! Tell us your story in the comments below!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
