My Bad Boss Quiz: Name that Bad Boss!

When you're being victimized by a bad boss, it's easy to take the abuse to heart. Maybe you really are incompetent, or perhaps you shouldn't expect to be paid a decent wage for all the work you do. Wrong. Below are some stories from workers who were mistreated, mislead or mismanaged by someone you've probably heard of. As you will see, a lot of the time the boss really is to blame.

1. My boss told me I was doing "a heckuva job." Then, a few days later, he fired me.

2. My boss asked me to commit perjury and I almost had to go to jail.

3. My boss asked my co-worker to fabricate civil rights violations and ordered other employees fired for their political leanings.

4. My boss liked to send explicit instant messages to 16-year-old boys.

5. More than 1.5 million women are suing my boss in a class action lawsuit for denying women fair promotions.

6. My boss got his girlfriend transferred to a great job with big raises. Luckily, he quit when everyone found out.

7. My boss mocked me in public and undercut me on the job when I told him we needed more troops to get the job done.

8. Everyone thinks my boss is a model employer but this morning she hit me on the head with a phone so hard I filed assault charges.

9. My boss asks us to do ridiculous things that make us look really stupid. Then, at the end of every week he calls everyone to the conference room and fires someone in front of the whole world.

10. My boss told us to manipulate the California energy market.

11. My boss wrote anonymous attacks against a rival company on Internet sites and blogs and questioned why anyone would buy its stock. Then he tried to buy the other company.

12. After cooking for him and his wife for eight years, my boss fired me because I got pregnant. It really stung.

Answer Key

1. George W. Bush; 2. Dick Cheney; 3. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; 4. Ex-congressman Mark Foley; 5. Walmart CEO Lee Scott; 6. Former World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz; 7. Donald Rumsfeld; 8. supermodel Naomi Campbell; 9. The Donald; 10. Former Enron executive Jeff Skilling; 11. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey; 12. Sting