The first half of 2017 hasn’t exactly been kind to Uber and its CEO Travis Kalanick, from a video showing the executive arguing with a driver, the #deleteuber social media campaign tied to a proposed government travel ban, and a top-secret algorithm to avoid the law. Uber’s awful year kicked into overdrive this week amid multiple reports of bad behavior and renewed calls for Kalanick’s ouster. [More]
firings
FAA Has Trouble Successfully Firing Air Traffic Controllers
By 7.26.11
When you’re an Air Traffic Controller who gets fired, there’s a 40 percent chance you’ll manage to keep your job or retire on your own terms. The Federal Aviation Administration has trouble ridding itself of workers it accuses of screwing up, including two-thirds of those it tries to fire for using drugs or alcohol on the job. [More]
Website Fires Film Critic Following Fabrication Accusation
By 4.25.11
A former New York Times film critic was canned by a website following an investigation into his review of Source Code, which contained language that made it appear as though the review could have been based upon an early draft of the script rather than the movie itself. [More]
Sprint Employees Fired For Capturing Apple Store Shoplifter
By 4.28.10
Two employees at the Sprint outlet at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, where that iPad customer had his pinkie ripped off by a criminal earlier this month, were fired for chasing down and holding a different shoplifter one day later. [More]
62 DFAS Employees To Be Terminated For Bad Credit
By 3.22.10
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), a military payroll facility in Ohio, has told at least 62 of its employees that they will be terminated for having bad credit, reports WKYC. Troy Marshall, a 17-year veteran at the DFAS and one of the people being fired (incidentally, he’s also the president of a union that expanded jobs at the DFAS five years ago), told WKYC that he handles Social Security numbers and maiden names, but nothing else. “We are people. We are not just numbers. We are not just credit reports… Look at the whole person.” [More]
Court to McD's: It's Wrong To Fire Someone Over A Slice Of Cheese
By 1.26.10
A McDonald’s worker from the Netherlands was fired after she gave a cheeseburger to a colleague who only paid for a hamburger. A court has found that this is not a good enough reason to fire someone. [More]
Not All Fired Target Employees Who Went Zhu Zhu Crazy Got Their Jobs Back
By 12.29.09
Target fired employees for prematurely buying Zhu Zhu Pets, then hired them back. Ellen says her son, a former New Jersey Target employee, got the former treatment, but not the latter. [More]
'I Stopped Denying People': Ex-Bank Of America CSR Tells All
By 11.27.09
Here’s a testimonial from a former Bank of America customer assistance employee. She was fired on Monday for offering repayment plans to too many customers, even those who “deserved” the 29.99% APR for making late payments. After hearing her story, you might conclude that this job was never a good fit for her skills. The next time you run up against a dead-sounding CSR, though, remember that people like Jackie don’t make for profitable collections department employees, which is why they don’t stick around for long. [More]
Sleepy's Exec Says Bedbugs Come From People
By 8.17.09
Buried in the controversy surrounding the exit of consumer reporter George Gombossy from the Hartford Courant was his article that looks at complaints against mattress company Sleepy’s. We though this bit of wisdom from Sleepy’s COO was worth repeating:
Report: Best Buy Demoting 8,000 Senior Sales Associates
By 4.17.09
A report from New York investment firm Sanford Bernstein says that Best Buy will be eliminating 1,000 assistant manager positions and demoting 8,000 senior sales associates to regular sales positions that would pay 25 percent to 50 percent less than their current salary — causing some to compare them to Circuit City.
Macy's Fires 7,000 People
By 2.2.09
Macy’s is slaying 7,000 positions from its payrolls. No news about any store closing so far. Things are not looking good for retail stores with large stores in the physical universe these days. Economy = asteroid, creating large dust cloud over planet so the sources of food for the dinosaurs dries up, which is very sad for the massive reptiles, but then it creates space on the food chain for small furry mammals to thrive. Cockroaches, too, though. [Marketwatch] (Photo: u2acro)
By 1.27.09
../..//2009/01/27/over-71400-jobs-were-cut/
Over 71,400 jobs were cut today, bringing the total jobs cut this year to over 200,000. CNN Money has a list of what’s been lost in 2009 so far. [CNN Money] (Thanks to Olevia!)
(Photo: bbaunach)
By 1.5.09
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Borders’ has fired their CEO and replaced him with an Amazon Kindle. Ok, not really. They’ve replaced him with “Ron Marshall, a private equity executive with experience turning around ailing companies.” Good luck, Ron. Remember, reading is FUNdamental! [NYT]
By 7.10.08
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Northwest Airlines is cutting 2,500 jobs. Passengers may be asked to get out and push to help the plane taxi. [NYT]
17 Signs You May Be Out Of A Job Soon
By 4.29.08
If you’re still on the fence about whether to spend your stimulus check, pay off debt with it, or stock up on ramen noodles, this checklist may help you decide. Some of the tips are pretty unnecessary—”your job duties are marginalized” and “your company plans to move to a smaller building” shouldn’t be hard to decipher. It never hurts to remind yourself about some of the signs of an impending downsize, however.
Target Fires Security Guard For Stopping Shoplifter
By 4.4.08
Usually our shoplifter stories focus on being detained illegally or held at knifepoint by a rabid senior greeter who demands receipts*, but Target in Milwaukee toes the line when it comes to dealing with suspected theft. That’s why they fired a retired cop (warning: video) who stopped a teenager he saw stealing liquor for the second time in a month. He told her he’d seen her take rum a few weeks before and asked her what was in her bag this time. She showed him. He called her father. Target fired him because the store policy is that only certain managers can intercept shoplifters. We admire his attention to detail and desire to help, but we’re glad to see a Big Box retailer following its own policy.
By 1.16.08
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Bank of America will “scale back its structured products unit, stop offering collateralized debt obligations and sell the prime brokerage that caters to hedge funds, eliminating 650 jobs.”
