# So, your overboss just fired a hero. What do you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121 "2016-04-13T20:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/41 "2016-04-14T19:10:48Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > That’s why I need to frame Mr. Hero in the OP for arson. Also, I would like my red stapler back. Nope. It’s mine. Along with the desk in the basement. It’s quiet and I can get work done. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/42 "2016-04-14T19:24:13Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I go to the fridge to see if the fired guy left a lunch I might like; then I ask my boss if he’s thought about who is going to get the fired guy’s old office; and then I go on the local news website and start the anonymous rumor that the “hero” actually set the fire himself and in fact had been fired earlier that day for being unstable. Then I go comfort his wife. When someone’s down, you keep kicking them until they stop moving. And the “reward” for your plan is you get to work at a company which encourages its employees to act this way. I’d rather work for a company that gets rid of the assholes rather than promotes them. Even if I was an asshole enough to succeed in the latter company, I’d still be working with assholes on a daily basis. And why would I want that? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/43 "2016-04-14T19:29:05Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Yeah, if I’m at work and someone who isn’t known for it stumbles in late and disheveled, my reaction is to ask “what happened?” The Big Boss doesn’t know the guy from Adam and his reaction is “you’re fired!”? No questions, no worrying about what happened, no CYA, no nothing. Big Boss better be the reincarnation of Steve Jobs… 😛 Even Steve Jobs got fired. Once I’d tell CNN about it, watch while the real big bosses fire this guy’s ass (or demote him) when the story hits. Ot have him retire to spend more time with his family. Assuming of course that the boss isn’t a relative or his video of the latest Board orgy. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/44 "2016-04-14T19:35:48Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Special praise goes to the gutless manager who didn’t step in to defend his staff member. If the overboss didn’t know the guy his direct manager did, and he should have spoken to the overboss to clarify things. If he was scared to do that then he was a useless manager. In OP’s hypothetical, the guy’s immediate superior isn’t present. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/45 "2016-04-14T19:37:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And the “reward” for your plan is you get to work at a company which encourages its employees to act this way. > > I’d rather work for a company that gets rid of the assholes rather than promotes them. Even if I was an asshole enough to succeed in the latter company, I’d still be working with assholes on a daily basis. And why would I want that? Why, it’s almost as if I responded to an absurd hypothetical with an absurd answer. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/46 "2016-04-14T19:41:34Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Well, if my co-worker wouldn’t even say “Well, yes, I’m late, but in my defense it was because I was saving a busload of small children from certain death”, then they probably really don’t want to work there anyway. Sometimes you’re not given the chance. \“I …” \“You’re ten minutes late and now you’re fired. Get the fuck out of my building before I have you arrested for tresspassing.” \“But I …” \“I’m calling the cops.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/47 "2016-04-14T19:56:35Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Well, if my co-worker wouldn’t even say “Well, yes, I’m late, but in my defense it was because I was saving a busload of small children from certain death”, then they probably really don’t want to work there anyway. I can easily see it just being a matter of not, in that particular moment, being able to drum up enough of a shit to defend oneself against bureaucratic pettiness. Plus, you know, impending job impending job offers once the story gets out. There is literally zero reason to defend yourself at that point. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/48 "2016-04-14T20:05:14Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > In OP’s hypothetical, the guy’s immediate superior isn’t present. A minor detail. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/49 "2016-04-14T20:24:15Z")
It would be nice if we could rely on poetic justice. There’s something wrong with a company that works that way. If no one stands up for him and the media gets wind of the story he’s going to get a better job and the pointy haired guy that fired him is going to pay some kind of price. Of course you don’t know all that stuff at the time of the incident, you just know that the bigwig is a jerk, so the natural reaction should be to stand up for him and tell the jerk that he ought to find out if there’s an explanation first. And then the poor guy is stuck at the same lousy job. Let’s re-work the hypothetical and re-examine: Mr. I-Can-Fire-Anyone-I-Want-Anytime-I-Want is stuck in a burning building. That’s it. See how much better things can be! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/50 "2016-04-14T20:46:40Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Sometimes you’re not given the chance. > \“I …” > \“You’re ten minutes late and now you’re fired. Get the fuck out of my building before I have you arrested for tresspassing.” > \“But I …” > \“I’m calling the cops.” Again, if this is how the company runs, you don’t want to work there. Because the Big Boss didn’t fire you because you were late, he fired you because he’s a dick who gets satisfaction from abusing people. Yeah, yeah, you needed the job to pay the rent. Which is why you didn’t quit. But why were you working there in the first place? Is the pay so good that the Big Boss will have no trouble replacing you tomorrow? Places that abuse their employees have to pay the asshole tax. You have to compensate your employees a lot more generously to keep them, you have to keep hiring new people to replace those you fired arbitrarily, and the new employees aren’t likely to be any better than the guys you fired, because you didn’t fire them for not doing their job, you fired them because you enjoyed it. Now you have to go through the process of getting another employee. It’s one thing to fire an employee who can’t do the job and replacing them with someone who might be able to do the job. It’s another to fire someone who can do the job and replacing them with someone who might be able to do the job. In other words, if every time your boss gets angry he takes a pile of company money and sets it on fire to make himself feel better, that company is going to have a lot more problems than one where the boss deals with his emotions like an adult. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/51 "2016-04-14T21:31:34Z")
I have a hard time accepting the hypothetical. I would have called into work and explained a problem had came up and my clothes were a mess. Explain that I needed to go home, clean up and change. Be about a two hours late for work. Given the hypothetical. There not much to be done except speak to the boss afterward. Explain what was reported on CNN. Then they can act accordingly. If the guy still got fired he’d certainly have a great story to tell CNN’s reporters. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/52 "2016-04-14T21:52:51Z")
It’s not always possible to always call in to work if there’s an unforeseen event that makes it impossible to get to work on time. It’s just as unreasonable to fire someone because they didn’t call in that they’d be late as it is to fire them because they were late. If I was saving orphans from a fire I might just stagger in to work if I was almost there rather than call in that I was five minutes away. Or maybe I’d be a bit woozy from saving orphans or hit by a falling piano or whatever. Point is, firing someone on the spot for showing up late one time is horrible management. Firing someone for chronic lateness is completely different. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/53 "2016-04-15T09:37:58Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Even Steve Jobs got fired. And later rehired. And he was an asshole I wouldn’t have wanted to work for unless I had the right to call him an asshole to his face. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/54 "2016-04-15T14:37:50Z")
Um…nothing? Why is this my problem? Honestly, I’ve never worked at a place where you get summarily fired for being late to work. Heck, it’s 10:30 here and people are still drifting into the office. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/55 "2016-04-15T15:16:49Z")
I have sex with the female overboss to make sure I get to keep my job and a raise and a new big office and a company car and a giant Christmas bonus. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121/56 "2016-04-15T15:37:53Z")
For all I know, the rescue happened AFTER the guy was fired. The OP doesn’t specify. Perhaps the boss should be congratulated for putting the guy out on the street where he could save a busload of kids. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-overboss-just-fired-a-hero-what-do-you-do/752121.md?page=2)