A single power-tripping supervisor can cause a team that functions well together to fall apart faster than anything else in the workplace. The only thing that can make it worse is when the store manager is just as bad.

That was the case at the retail store in this story, where the third shift stock team worked hard and got things done, but they liked to chat with each other while they did it.

The supervisor told the team that if they were going to talk during their shift, they shouldn’t clock in, so they didn’t. When the store manager arrived, he fired them all on the spot rather than trying to figure out why they were just sitting at the front of the store.

It didn’t take long for the supervisor to show his true quality and get demoted, so he got what he deserved in the end.

Crew did as they were told and were fired by shortsighted manager.

This goes back at least 25 years. So, late 90s?

Sounds like a fun job.

I worked for a now defunct deep discount chain in Florida. I got a position on 3rd shift doing night stock.

The crew was small, only about 5-6 of us. We had a good time. We’d talk to each other across aisles, crack jokes to a video that played constantly in a corner, and make the best of it.

Of course, there has to be someone to ruin a good thing.

Our supervisor was a complete power tripper.

I hadn’t worked there very long, but even in the short time I was there I could see the crew leader wasn’t a reasonable dude.

He may be a jerk, but they all know that this isn’t what he meant.

During one shift, we were all clocking out for out lunch break. As we went in to punch the clock, we were told, “Don’t punch back in if you’re going to continue talking”.

OK. We didn’t. We did just sit around the front of the store talking until the manager came in for the day.

Wow, the manager is just as bad as the supervisor.

Store manager got there (I can’t remember if an assistant arrived first). We gave him the quick lowdown. We were told not to punch in if we were going to talk so we didn’t.

He simply fired everybody on the spot. Being new, I asked for my job back and got it.

At least the supervisor finally had to go. It was a long time coming.

The crew leader stayed, and maybe one other. I think new people were brought in.

It wasn’t until some time later that the lead was demoted and replaced by me. He quit soon after that. It was clear that as a crew we all worked better when he wasn’t there.

While those workers should have just sat around chatting, it was the supervisor who caused the problem. If he had just let them work, they would have gotten the job done just fine. Even while talking.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who was facing serious accusations before retirement, but luckily had security footage that proved his innocence.

Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say.

Why do so many managers have this stupid idea in their heads?

I agree with this commenter. They were in the wrong too.

Some kids will always take a teacher up on this.

You want him gone, he is gone.

Now this would be funny.

These guys deserved to be fired, but so did the supervisor. They can’t just sit around all day, essentially skipping their shift, and expect not to be fired.

That being said, the root cause of the problem was the power-tripping supervisor who just couldn’t stand to see employees enjoying their job. Some people in management have this weird idea that if you’re having fun, you aren’t working.