Is it possible for a single SC to get someone fired?

[CrazedClerk]

I've read a lot of stories on here of SCs who complain about some asinine/unreasonable/just plain stupid thing and when the employee refuses to cave/give in to them they demand that said employee be fired for their conduct.

I'm sure most of us have been on the recieving end of said threat. It doesn't really faze me. My superiors know that people can be jerks sometimes and understand that the nature of business dictates we're going to get bad seeds from time to time so it's nearly impossible for a single SC to cost me my job if I have not done anything wrong (and they think I have or accuse me of doing so).

I'm curious though if anyone has ever lost their job for some ridiculous reason specifically because an SC demanded they be fired and a boss/manager actually sided with them on it.

I've seen it happen once, apparently the SC was our best customer and spent a ton of money with us. So basically the owner/manager kissed his ass and would basically do whatever might be necessary to keep this persons's business with us. This was at an awning/tent shop I worked at.

One day the SC came in and was dealing with a co-worker of mine there, a relatively new hire. So of course this poor girl wasn't yet very competent with the job and it took her awhile to complete the order.

Anyway she apparently screwed up one minor thing on the order (typed in a price wrong, added an extra 0 I think)This would've taken all of TWO minutes to go in the computer and make the correction. The next time the customer came in he flew completely off the handle and accused the manager/owner of hiring incompetent and useless people and was very upset that the price on his order had been screwed up. He said something to effect of "if you don't do something to fix this right away, I'm taking my business elsewhere, effective tomorrow."

Later that day, the new hire mentioned above was terminated by my manager. She was still on probation so he didn't need a reason to let her go, but I could pretty easily figure out why he did it. I felt so bad for this girl because her mistake was not major and she got everything else right, which is pretty good seeing as how it was one of her first few tries.

Needless to say I didn't stay in that job much longer after realizing that this particular SC had my manager wrapped around his finger.

[Dips]

It hasn't happened to me, but someone I worked with told me she was fired from a previous job because one SC didn't like the fact that she was wearing a pentacle pendant.

[Millahtyme1983]

In college (the short time I was there) I knew this girl that worked for a friend who owned a convience store. There was this one woman who would always go there and be very demanding and snotty. My friend never really had any trouble with her though but apparently something she said rubbed this woman the wrong way (she honestly doesn't know what it was) but her friend later let her go after talking with said woman.

[skeptic53]

The story that probably has brought more folks to this site than any other, in which an SC gets the teller of the tale fired:

Vinegar Boy

[ShortTemperHatesStupidity]

The story that probably has brought more folks to this site than any other, in which an SC gets the teller of the tale fired:

Vinegar Boy

That story was incredible. I remember reading it and thinking *Did that really happen?*

[NightAngel]

It hasn't happened to me, but someone I worked with told me she was fired from a previous job because one SC didn't like the fact that she was wearing a pentacle pendant.

That is discriminating against a religion and it's illegal.

[Chanlin]

Threats like these from SC's are one of many reasons call centers have a QA department so the call in question can be reviewed. In one call center I worked at stepping out of line too many times would cause somone from QA to go get your supervisor and you would be escorted off the premises.

Other than that though I don't know anyone who has been fired just because an SC complained.

[Auto]

I've never heard of someone getting fired because a SC made some idiotic complaint.

But I know of employees getting sacked for overreacting to some SC's idiotic complaint. It was the overreacting that management didn't like.

[chainedbarista]

It hasn't happened to me, but someone I worked with told me she was fired from a previous job because one SC didn't like the fact that she was wearing a pentacle pendant.

nightangel is correct on this; discrimination based on a dislike of another's religion is grounds for a lawsuit, unless the practice was against ALL religious symbols (equal treatment) because the wearing of such items was either dangerous or inappropriate (a setting where religious belief wasn't acceptable, maybe some power company, it's hard to think of a good example).

for them to fire her, they'd have to have a concrete reason, such as inappropriate behavior (such as recruitment, although this doesn't stop most christian factions, not that all will do this), constant issues with responsibility (consistently late/no shows without notice, failure to complete tasks or perform them adequately), disrespectbul behavior towards customers, and so on.

it sounds like this person who fired her was ASKING for some sort of trouble, or just has no idea what can and cannot be done (i'm not an expert by any means, but that is a constitutional right, not breachable due to conflict of religious/personal beliefs).

[BookstoreEscapee]

That is discriminating against a religion and it's illegal.

I was going to say the same thing.

He said something to effect of "if you don't do something to fix this right away, I'm taking my business elsewhere, effective tomorrow."

Seems to me the only "fix"necessary was to change the order to the correct price and make sure the girl was aware of the mistake so she'll be more careful in the future. I wouldn't want to work for any manager who would fire someone over something so small, either.

[Dips]

That is discriminating against a religion and it's illegal.

I agree. I asked her if she had considered filing a discrimination complaint. I can't remember if she didn't bother because she thought it wouldn't go anywhere or if she did bother and it didn't go anywhere (the firing happened in the 80s and Wicca wasn't widely recognized as a religion back then). She did get unemployment, which was good.

She did tell me that her ex-employer was almost as scared she'd "lay a hex" on him (his words, not mine) as he was of the stupid SC. She wasn't feeling charitable enough to re-assure the dope, so she kept quiet and left him to worry about it for a while.

[imakemistakestoo]

I was fired because of a sucky customer. There was only two of us working and for some reason the flood gates opened up on a normally slow day. A guy came in wanting some fish so I went over to help him. He pointed out what he wanted, asked a few questions of which I answered with pride because I knew the answers to the questions. He then asked about what kind of food to feed the fish, so I took him over to the food and pointed out the differant brands we had and even pointed out which would be the best for the fish. He even said ok. I looked over to the register and saw about 6 people waiting to be cashed out. THis guy gave me every indication he was through with me so I told him that if he had any more questions to just ask. I told him I would take his fish up to the restister so he didnt have to carry them around and he said ok. I went to cash out customers. My husband was standing there the whole time and saw things getting pretty busy and was willing to help anyone that needed help. He even thought the guy was done needing help. After about the fourth customer cashing out---this guy walks past and was heading for the door. I perked up and asked if he wanted his fish. He blurts out that he would come back when I had more time to help him. I didnt blink twice at the comment and went on to cashing out.
The next morning I get a phone call saying Iwas fired because I was rude to customers. The guy had the balls to call the manager and tell her I wouldnt help him and that I was rude. Even though I explained how things went the so called manager sided with the customer. Where was the other worker you ask? She was commendeared (sp) by who we called the dogfood lady (another rude customer) and couldnt see the register from where she was standing. It didnt matter to the manager that there were paying customers at the register that were ready to walk out. She was more concerned about the customer that lied.

[Arcade Man D]

Happened to a coworker of mine, I gave the short version in another thread. He'd never had a long fuse on his temper.

The customer had peeled back the sticker he had covering the coin slots on a game that was off, then put in her tokens. When she requested them back, he pointed out nicely what I sometimes call our "idiot tax". IOW, if you're dumb enough to peel tape off a coin slot, or a sticker that says "We're sorry, but this game is taking a time-out.", why the bloody 'ell should we have to refund you?

She didn't like it, and called corporate, got the Veep. Chances of him getting his job back? Next to nil.

[Gurndigarn]

The customer had peeled back the sticker he had covering the coin slots on a game that was off, then put in her tokens. When she requested them back, he pointed out nicely what I sometimes call our "idiot tax". IOW, if you're dumb enough to peel tape off a coin slot, or a sticker that says "We're sorry, but this game is taking a time-out.", why the bloody 'ell should we have to refund you?

Ever hear of an old game called, IIRC, Hard Drivin'? It's a driver that you sat in the seat, and then the seat swung inside a cowl, so all you can see is the monitor in front of you. This game had a dead monitor, so the entire thing was pitch black, and yeah, I watched some kid (old enough to know better, though) sit in the seat, peel the black electrical tape off of a black coin door, stick money in, then come up for a refund.

We didn't do the idiot tax (at least not for the first infraction), so I just mentally shook my head in disbelief as I said "Well, yeah, it's broken. That's why the tape was on it. I can't get your tokens back, but I'll ring up a game for you on another machine."

I still want a sign saying "This game out of order. Really. Removing this sign will not make the game work." It won't stop people; I already know that-- but it will add to the personal sense of superiority I have when people ignore it.

[tollbaby]

I'm curious though if anyone has ever lost their job for some ridiculous reason specifically because an SC demanded they be fired and a boss/manager actually sided with them on it.

Yes, and it's happened to me more than once.