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REAL LIFE NEWS: HELL-BOSS FIRING CONTESTS RULED UNFAIR

by Hazed

You might think your boss is bad, but imagine working for this guy! Dubbed the Boss from Hell by his employees, he held "firing contests" in which he offered cash prizes to those who correctly predicted who he would fire next.

William Ernst owned a small chain of convenience stores in the Midwest. "This guy was the boss from hell," said one of his victims. "He treated pretty much all of us like dirt." Maybe he'd been influenced by the recent Hollywood movie "Horrible Bosses".

His firing contest was laid out in a memo he sent to employees with the title "New Contest - Guess The Next Cashier Who Will Be Fired!!!". It said that he'd be sending "secret shoppers" to spy on the employees at his stores and report back on those that broke his rules, for example by wearing hats - which he banned.

Employees were urged to write the name of the person they thought would be next for the chop and seal it in an envelope. After the next firing, Ernst would unseal them and reveal the winner, who would get the prize… just $10.

After receiving this memo, several employees at one of his stores decided they'd had enough, and quit. When they applied for unemployment benefits, Ernst contested the claim, saying that because they resigned voluntarily, unemployment was not justified.

But the Judge disagreed, calling the firing contest "egregious and deplorable". Her ruling stated, "The employer's actions have clearly created a hostile work environment by suggesting its employees turn on each other for a minimal monetary prize. This was an intolerable and detrimental work environment."

Wow. He certainly is a candidate for worse boss of the year - or the century. Let's hope the next person to be fired is... Ernst himself!

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/03/firing_contests/

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