‘Useless lol’: Boss ‘brags’ to employee about firing another worker in wild text

A boss has been called out online after sending a text to a worker where they appear to “brag” about firing another employee.

A boss has been blasted online after sending a “bragging” text to a worker revealing they had just fired another employee.

The text exchange between the unnamed boss and employee was sent into popular creator, Ben Askins.

Mr Askins is an entrepreneur and managing director of a digital agency in the UK and is often sent details of bizarre workplace interactions that he then shares with his followers.

The text exchange started with the boss asking one of their employees if they had “heard” about what happened to their co-worker Matt.

The employee said they hadn’t, the manager then revealed they had fired him that morning.

“He was f***ing useless lol,” the boss said, to which the worker asked if they were joking.

The manager assured them they were being serious, revealing they had been “thinking about it for a while” and noting Matt had been late to work twice that week.

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“I am too busy to be worried about whether or not people can be bothered to turn up on time,” the message read.

When the employee revealed one of the reasons the man was late was because his car had broken down, the boss brushed it off as “excuses” and “nonsense”.

When questioned about how they were going to cover the work Matt would normally do, the boss said they would just have to “power through” while they try to find a replacement.

The employee, clearly taken aback by the messages, said they were still in shock at the news and weren’t sure how the rest of the team would react.

Mr Askins was stunned by the message exchange, slamming the boss for their “weird bragging”.

This message exchange between a boss and employee has gone viral. Picture: Ben Askins/TikTok

The employee was clearly stunned by the brash explanation. Picture: Ben Askins/TikTok

“Like, what are you doing? Why are you messaging another teammate bragging and loling

That is obviously not OK,” he said.

“One, it’s going to backfire incredibly on you, as it already slightly is. And two, it’s just obviously not OK.

“If you have to fire someone, fine, it doesn’t sound like a particularly good reason, but don’t then go bragging about it. This is so bad.”

Mr Askins added that it was “ridiculous” to dismiss an employee if they have a legitimate reason for being late to work, such as their car breaking down.

The video sparked a big reaction after being shared to TikTok, with people gobsmacked by the actions of the boss.

Multiple commenters believed the boss was bragging to the other employee in an attempt to make them fearful for their own job.

“This is clearly a passive aggressive threat to scare his team,” one said.

Others said it was “unprofessional” to be bragging about firing someone, with one person questioning how the other employees will be able to trust the manager going forward.

“I hate that the boss went bragging to another co-worker as well. I feel like this breaks all sorts of confidentiality things and how is anyone going to trust them now,” they said.

Another said it was clear the boss was on a “power trip”.

However, there were a surprising number of commenters who took the boss’ side, agreeing that being late multiple times in one week was unacceptable.

“He was late 2 times in a 5 day work week? To me sounds like he may have deserved at least being demoted or talked to. If this wasn't a first, then yeah, he's not a good employee,” one person said.

One person added: “If he was late twice every week and he had gotten warnings, then fair enough, but if it was a one off because the car broke down, then it’s not on to fire him.”

Originally published as ‘Useless lol’: Boss ‘brags’ to employee about firing another worker in wild text