There’s a reason why I don’t name names on this site and why all submissions are posted anonymously. Few people like getting fired. And even fewer like getting fired as publicly as the ones below. But with the advent of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, people find themselves being pink-slipped because they got a little too “lippy” with their updates. Here a few tweets and Facebook updates that got some poor (and arguably dumb) souls fired.

• When @theconnor tweeted that he’d just been offered a job at Cisco Systems and that he’d hate the job, but love the “fatty” paycheck, someone at Cisco was paying attention. Needless to say, @theconnor never got to see a “fatty” paycheck.

• Who knows what radio host and Mavericks fan Mike Bacsik was thinking when following a Mavericks-Spurs game in which the Mavs lost he tweeted “Congrats to all the dirty mexicans in San Antonio.” Apparently he wasn’t thinking at all.

• When Virgin Airlines employees created a Facebook page criticizing the company and questioning the cleanliness and safety of Virgin’s planes, they were canned. Status updates included things like planes were full of cockroaches and claimed the airline’s jet engines were replaced four times in one year.

• “OMG – I hate my boss!” – Don’t post that on Facebook when your boss is a Facebook friend. I’m not a fan of friending bosses on Facebook or Twitter in the first place, but if you do, do not give them a front row seat into how much you hate them. Read this unfortunate status update and her boss’ reply here.

Read more tweets that got them fired here.

If legislators have their way it might soon become illegal to be a bully boss – well at least in New York anyway. The legislation in question defines a bully boss as “someone who is motivated by malice and who is destructive and injurious.”  And, if approved by the NY state assembly next year the bill would allow bullied employees to sue for damages.

The possible passage of this new law raises several questions. How clearly defined is the line between a bad boss who’s just mean and one who’s a bully? At times I’ve felt that my bad bosses behaved maliciously with the specific intent of causing mental distress.  And while I’d definitely classify one of my former bosses as a bully, the worse thing I could say about most of them is that they were absolute idiots. Mean, rude and incompetent idiots. A few of my colleagues who’d been driven to tears by these same incompetent idiots might beg to differ. In those cases, who decides whether the behavior was bullying or simply just mean?

It’ll be interesting to see what happens if the legislation actually passes. Will it have an impact on bully behavior in the workplace or will it be just one more thing employees, fearful of the repercussions, feel they need to keep quiet about?

Click here to read more about the pending legislation.

What the blogosphere’s saying about bad bosses this week…

• The only good thing I can say about a bad boss is that you can learn an awful lot from them if you’re paying attention. Bad bosses provide a roadmap of exactly what not to do as you’re progressing in your career. And over at TLNT.com, John Hollon tells you why it’s good to learn from a bad boss.

• Janlogie’s Blog shares a few opinions about bad bosses, bad employees and the rights of both.

• Over at the bnet blogs, Suzanne Lucas shares 5 Things to Do When the Boss is Wrong.

• On Work in Progress – Bad Boss Misery, Johni Siegel shares tips on improving and maybe eliminating a bad boss situation.

• Sonja Crider shares her boss from hell story and tells us how she learned to work for a control freak.

According to UCLA business professor Samuel Culbert, annual reviews are “dishonest, fraudulent…and just plain bad management.” In an interview with NPR, Culbert says the entire process is falsehood since the boss has most likely already been told by higher ups what, if any, promotion or advancement is going to take place. The entire review process becomes, in essence, a charade. Instead of outdated performance reviews, Culbert suggests bosses just tell employees what they need to do to become more effective.

In every performance review I’ve ever received the boss had already, in fact, come to conclusions about my performance and any related increase in salary long before I’d ever sat down with them. My opinions and suggestions were rarely taken into place. It now seems that performance reviews in large part, exist to cover the employer from a liability standpoint. With written reviews, they’ve got documentation on file, accurate or not, on issues they’ve discussed with the employee.

What’s your feeling about performance reviews – worthwhile, or a waste of time? Share your thoughts in the comment section. You can read the full interview with Culbert on npr.or.

The website PolitiFact.com is a project from the St. Petersburg Times created to help us common folk find the truth in politics. Impossible you say? Maybe not with PolitiFact’s help. Each day reporters and fact checkers from the Times review statements made by politicians, TV commentators and the like, review their statements and rate their accuracy. If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time you know that we think bad politicians are the worse kind of bosses. They’re pushy, power hungry, manipulative liars. PolitiFact’s goal is to shake out the truth tellers and encourage more transparency. Here’s a list of a few of the politicians reviewed on PolitiFact with the worst rating – Pants on Fire!

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y

Ed Schultz – “Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu received almost $1.8 million from BP over the last decade.” Truth: $1.8 million? More like $25,200. Ed Schultz is the host of the Ed Show on MSNBC.

Bill O’Reilly – “We researched to find out if anybody on Fox News had ever said you’re going to jail if you don’t buy health insurance. Nobody’s ever said it.” Truth: Apparently, the research wasn’t thorough enough. Bill O’Reilly hosts “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News.

John McCain – “I never considered myself a maverick.” Truth: Except for all those times he called himself a maverick.

Charles Rangel – “I’m glad for the wording of it (an ethics report on corporate-sponsored Congressional trips) because clearly the wording exonerates me. Truth: Not according to our dictionary. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y, is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Scott Brown – “The stimulus bill “didn’t create one new job.” Truth: Despite grim employment numbers, the stimulus has created jobs. Scott Brown is a Republican U.S. senator from Massachusetts.

See more PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter ratings here.

What the blogosphere’s saying about bosses this week…

Intern horror stories – Monica Lewinksy, Anita Hill, David Letterman’s former intern – what’s her name – all victims of sexual harassment as interns. This week’s installment of Deadspin.com’s intern horror stories is the sexual harassment edition. Check out the anonymous true stories here, and be grateful you’re no longer an intern.

“And the Meek Shall Inherit the Earth. The Incompetent Shall Run it. And ThatsMyBoss.com shall record it.”  That’s how the guys at That’smyboss.com describe their site. Visit, leave your own anonymous comment, read some of the other crap that others have had to deal with and then be grateful we live in America and can boldly (yet fearfully) litter the blogosphere with anonymous bad boss hate mail. Love it!

12 things good bosses believe, and a few things bad bosses know – Robert Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, has written Good Boss, Bad Boss and this 12 things post is a great look at the dynamics of both good and bad bosses.

If you can’t say anything nice… Inc. Magazine talks discusses rudeness in the workplace and how that affects productivity.

Email your blog or post for consideration in the Really Bad Boss Blog Roundup to denised@reallybadboss.com.

University of Aberdeen professor Rhonda Flin writes in the British Medical Journal that work environments that include arguments and rude comments cause people to lose concentration and increase  their likelihood of making mistakes.

The most recent and widely publicized example of a hostile work environment impacting employee concentration is the incident where two Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot their airport by 150 miles while in the midst of a “heated discussion.” The pilots, on their way from San Diego to Minneapolis with 147 passengers on board, were so involved in their argument over airline policy that they lost focus (and their way) until a cabin crew member alerted the flightdeck.

Flin’s study, conducted among college students, repeatedly showed decreased performance levels among those who had been subjected to rude comments or simply overheard rude comments. Reportedly one in ten U.S. workers witness rudeness in the workplace every day and researchers say that 48% of employees who are the targets of rudeness, reduce their work effort. It’s no wonder, rampant rudeness in the workplace, especially at the hands of a bad boss, demoralizes workers. And an unmotivated, unappreciated employee means decreased productivity for both employee and employer.

Read more about Flin’s study here at Inc.com.