So I’ve worked for the same chain grocery store for a little over four years now. My boss is notorious for being an asshole and having explosive anger issues. I have heard the rumors about him, but never experienced his wrath first hand… until now.
The event that unfolded was truly no big deal. A customer was struggling find an open register, and to be fair, my coworkers and I were doing our own things; but not intentionally ignoring the customer. There was at least one register open. The boss comes out and begins to yell- loudly. “EVERYBODY GET ON A REGISTER AND DO NOT IGNORE MY CUSTOMER!” He proceeded to slam a clipboard down on a register and continue to yell at my other coworker, telling her she is wasting his time and should have never come in on her day off. I decided to leave the scene and go on my break.
Upon returning from my break, I was pulled into the office and screamed at: “YOU DO NOT LEAVE CUSTOMERS UNATTENDED, YOU DO NOT GO ON BREAK WITHOUT ASKING MY PERMISSION, YOU DO NOT GO TO BATHROOM WITHOUT MY PERMISSION, YOU DO NOT LEAVE YOUR REGISTER FOR ANY REASON WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!!!”
Never in my entire life have I ever been treated this way or yelled at like this by a boss ever! His behavior resulted in 3 of my coworkers crying and quitting on the spot and walking out. We reported him to HR and ethics, and the customer told us she would be reporting him to corporate for “throwing a tantrum” and “acting so unprofessionally.”
A week later my boss was terminated. Prior to this incident, he has received over 25 complaints from employees over the years, but a single customer complaint is what gave him the boot.
I was told later by other managers that they are sad and stressed to see him gone and “don’t know what they’ll do without him” and he was never that bad. They definitely know that I was one of the employees involved with this scandal, but I can’t believe they are defending him? Am I just a part of the new weak generation who can’t handle being told what to do, or am I part of the generation who refuses to be brainwashed and abused by a toxic boss?