One of my faves from August and one of the best ways to quit I’ve seen in a while – This one isn’t quite as dramatic as the flight attendant who flew the coop, or Arnetta the Moodsetta‘s on air meltdown, but if it’s real, it’s pretty clever.

Jenny works, correction worked, for a jerk. Apparently she’s had enough, and decided to quit with the assistance of  messages on a dry erase board.  Here’s how Jenny quit her jerk of a bad boss. P.S. She emailed it to the entire office! (Images via thechive.com)

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See the rest of Jenny’s dry erase board resignation here…

For the next couple of weeks I’ll be reposting some of my favorite bad boss stories. Here’s video proof why the assistant principle responsible for allowing this cheer at a high school game was given the boot.

Back in February, Jonesboro High School Assistant Principal, Sandra Nicholson faced possible suspension for allowing cheerleaders to give this sexually suggestive cheer at one of the Georgia high school’s basketball games. Well on Tuesday, the board recommended a 3 day suspension for Nicholson. The routine included boys seated in chairs while girls wearing thigh high stockings danced around them. The dance team has been disbanded and the male coach relieved of his duties. Is a 3 day suspension enough for the Assistant Principal or are these just teenagers being teenagers? Comment after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

What the blogosphere’s saying about bosses this week…

• Career sucking? On her 45 Things site, Anita Bruzzese gives you 4 ways to feel better when you career sucks.

• Toxic Bosses: When Supervisors Inflict the 7 Deadly Sins of business on Their Employees.

• That’s Badass shares the story of the IRS employee who used outlook to intercept his bosses emails.

• Not sure if you suck as a boss? Here’s a checklist so you’ll know for sure.

Sexual harassment in the workplace has always been a touchy subject – no pun intended. Based on the comments I see here and on other sites, it seems as though when it comes to sexual harassment many readers feel like women should just “man-up.”

Apparently they’re not alone. On Forbes.com, Meghan Casserly references several authors, professors and experts on the subject who believe that some women need to rethink what’s considered sexual harassment. Some seem to suggest that if women want to be treated as equals in the workplace then there’s a certain level of hostility that’s to be expected.

Wayne State University law professor and author of Biology At Work: Rethinking Sexual Equality Kingsley R. Browne, notes that for years men have been subjected to the same verbally abusive and hostile work environments as many of their female counterparts. According to Browne, “This behavior is a part of the male tool kit for competitive situations–a means of weeding out the strong from the weak that dates back to the era of hunter-gatherers.”

Browne, whose work is controversial, believes that women are primed by society to look for sexual harassment and that sexual harassment training in and of itself is partly to blame, priming people to take offense at things.

Casserly speaks to a few experts and you can read her entire post here. But what are your thoughts on Browne’s thinking? Have women become hypersensitive to hostile work environments, labeling everything as harassment?

What the blogosphere’s saying about bosses this week…

• Forbes covers bully bosses, providing tips for both employees and HR personnel. Check out part two here.

• Are some of the worst bosses in the hospitality industry? Ironic, isn’t it?

• When a bad boss becomes a creature feature.

• Get past the automated voices and you’ll find the dialogue in this clever cartoon about a bad boss and the waste of time annual review process, pretty witty and spot on. I think I’ve actually had this conversation.

This was a comment I received in response to one of last week’s posts:

My boss is in his early 30′s and born with a silver spoon in his mouth .. He inherited the company I work for. He has no respect for his employees and is forever thinking he is being taken advantage of. Out of a one of his many fits he throws he decided to take away paid holidays. Said it was not worth giving us money and not getting something for it. I over heard him tell his brother just have her do it she’s my new slave now. Had I not needed this minimum wage no insurance no benefits job I would of told him where to stick it. To say the least I am scouring the ads daily.

I’ve had the misfortune (surprise, surprise) of working for two very different family-owned companies. In the first case – a much smaller operation –  two sons, who were Vice President of Research and Development and Vice President of Sales respectively, hated each other, their father, their mother and every single employee who worked for the company. There were days when I expected doors to start slamming shut and bodies to be hurling through the air in response to the evil permeating the offices. The sons respected no one, least of all the employees, and were both dumber than dirt. Despite that fact, they both walked around with an air of intellectual superiority, simply because they had been born into money and power. The curse of the silver spoon.

In the second family-owned company, the offspring that I worked with was respectful, humble and genuinely tried to make a difference. She was however, given way too much responsibility for her level of experience, something that would never had happened had she not been the daughter of the owner.

Do silver spoon kids always make bad bosses? Of course not. The Chik-fil-A family and their strong set of core values and mission are an example of family-run operations done right. Unfortunately it’s the bad apples and the Paris Hilton’s of the world that make the most mess and draw the most attention.

Have you ever worked for silver-spoon kids? Share your silver-spoon bad boss stories in the comment section, or email me at denised(@)reallybadboss.com (remove parenthesis from @ symbol to send.)

On Monday I introduced you to a reader who’s being bullied into turning a blind eye to on-the-job violations. Furthermore, the boss is telling everyone in the office that this employee reports every mistake they make, turning him into the office pariah. Today I share part two of his story, including his ability to find a bright spot and his appeal to others to help them find theirs.

She gives me assignments that require the use of certain programs that are installed on only a few computers in the company, and then does not allow me to work on those computers. She also gives me busy work, and work that involves materials that she knows I am allergic to. She advised me that my job title is dead and told me to start looking for a job elsewhere.

A bright spot in all of this the fact that I won a company people’s choice award for an outstanding job. Normally anonymous nominations are not allowed, but the officials in the contest knew enough about the tensions that they saw our service area would have had no award if they did not allow employees to speak anonymously. The award was signed by the manager two steps above my boss, but I was not present to receive it, because I thought I was not welcome at the banquet.

I am writing this to try to make another bright spot. I know I have untapped creativity and talent that is going to waste 40 hours a week. I have tried taking classes in the evening but I am too distracted by anger from work to concentrate. I am looking for collaborators to learn more about computer programming, web development, making PowerPoint presentations, or comedy writing. We could start out our sessions commiserating about our bad boss and then be able to focus on the project we have chosen. If we make money, we can split it, but my main goal is to improve skills and restore sanity.

If you’re interested in sharing your thoughts, ideas and skills with Andee, please email him at andeeharris44(@)hotmail.com (remove parenthesis.)*

Please note, my inclusion of Andee’s contact information is not an endorsement. Andee is independent of Reallybadboss.com and operates as such. Any affiliation or association developed via this post is independent of Reallybadboss.com.