Boss calls a ‘mandatory meeting’ with 25 employees to fire a coworker, instantly regrets it

When their boss called for an urgent meeting, everybody thought he would discuss something important. But instead of talking business, he spent 20 minutes humiliating an employee before firing them in front of everybody. Surprisingly, the incident put everyone on high alert, prompting a desire to quit and look for other jobs almost immediately. A coworker (u/rswick86) shared the story on Reddit on October 24, 2025.

The boss scheduled an emergency meeting for all employees. He didn't specify the agenda, but everyone assumed it was something important. "Nope. [He] spent 20 minutes publicly calling out my coworker for 'performance issues' before firing them in front of everyone," the author wrote. While the boss was busy belittling the employee, others remained silent. The person who was fired was in tears, and everybody except the boss was uncomfortable. "Afterward, the boss acted like it was totally normal and went back to their office. I've never seen anything like this. Is this even legal?" they asked. Moving on, the coworker said it felt like a "power trip" more than anything else, and the incident left everyone wondering if they were next to be fired. "Looking for a new job starting today," the individual wrote.

The individual believed the boss pulled such a stunt to scare the rest of the employees. "The person he fired wasn't even doing badly... just didn't kiss his a** enough apparently. A few of us are already talking about reporting this to corporate. Someone recorded part of it, too," they added. If the boss was genuinely unhappy with the employee, he could have fired him in private and not humiliated them like that. Sadly, a lot of working professionals report being humiliated and bullied in the office. In fact, a study conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute found that 37% of workers have been bullied, with 57% of the targets being women. More often than not, many employees don't take a stand against bullies because they fear job loss, just like the coworkers in the Reddit story. 

Meanwhile, reacting to the Reddit post, u/best_samaritan commented, "These types of employers are complete psychopaths. I know because I used to have a boss like that.  My coworker and I were the only employees. He’d have us come into the office on a weekend just to scold us for not doing things the right way and threaten us with 'I could run this company an entirely different way.' Run as far as you can and don’t look back. You deserve better." u/mraot07 wrote, "Your boss probably saw this on a TV show and thinks it’s a power move. You should have the whole office quit when they find a new job at the same time. No two weeks' notice. Even better if you could schedule a meeting and return the favor."

u/rustys_shackled_ford suggested, "You should call the labor board and tell them what happened and how it made you feel 'unsafe,' and encourage a couple others to do the same. Three calls like that and your boss will be calling another meeting soon." Similarly, u/candytemporary7074 wrote, "That’s honestly messed up. No one should be fired like that, especially not in front of everyone. It’s not just unprofessional; it’s cruel. You’re doing the right thing, looking for a new job; once a boss shows they’re willing to humiliate someone publicly, it’s only a matter of time before they do it again."

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