Worst thing I've seen a co-worker do?

Its all relative, I've seen a lot of "worst's". Here's one of many I'll try to post.

A (married) DBA would often come to work drunk, starting fooling around with a couple of devs (which we suspect she had sought adventures outside the IT dept based on rumors), and ultimately got fired because she was caught sleeping at her desk (and she was drunk). One of her conquests told us she came from a very poor childhood and this was her first real high paying job. Abusive husband, being attractive herself, and being surrounded by other attractive, highly intelligent, single bucks (aka horny) that had no morals, equaled bad decisions.

She wasn't the worst, it was the assholes who took advantage of the situation that makes it in my top 10 worst things I've seen.

That also sounds like a toxic environment when colleagues take advantage of someone like that.

@Wolle > "sounds like a toxic environment"

Sometimes, hindsight and all that. A lot of the shenanigans happened during off hours, so I didn't hear about any of it until almost a year later (I knew why she was fired, but none of the rest).

They were all adults (low~mid 20's), all capable of making grown-up decisions. I know *I* wouldn't have made those decisions, even at that age. Dinky-donkin' around with a married woman? Eww, no thank you.

Their only defense was they didn't about each other. Not 100% I buy that story, but there was enough "You too?" going around to make it somewhat believable. She'd hook up with one on Friday, another on Saturday, random other people during the week (telling her husband she had to work nights, weekends,etc).

A lot of the 'old guys' around here wouldn't (and don't) put up that nonsense. Do what you kids do off hours, but in this house, it's "Yes ma'am", "No ma'am".

Looks like the actual problem was her abusive husband. But that is nothing, HR department could fix...

Aww man, poor girl. A lot of unfortunate circumstances.

@Oktokolo > "HR department could fix..."

We didn't then, but we do now, have mental health services and substance abuse treatment available (thru our health plan).

Hindsight, even when we didn't have those services, they should have realized she had a problem and worked with her on getting help.

I blame the department manager and VP for their lack of leadership and compassion.

I came in, and it was ...

J: "Did you hear, they fired Jenna. John caught her sleeping at her desk again and he could smell beer."

Me: "Again?"

J: "You didn't know? Apparently this isn't the first time."

Me: "That's sucks. Was she on probation? Did we try to help?"

J: "Ha!...no...you know how hot-headed John is. He fired her on the spot."

Me: "Jeez..what an ass. Coming to work drunk in the morning signals to me a bigger problem. Should have sent her home and schedule a time with HR to find out what is really going on."

J: "Huh? Yea, that would have been the least we could have done."

The dudes who took advantage sound like the ones working at Activision-Blizzard.

@PonySlaystation: Well, normal people are like that. They don't actively harm you, but they also don't warn you about hurting yourself when they can get a personal benefit from you doing so.

most cheating wives try to justify it by claiming their husbands are abusive.

wives with actually abusive husbands rarely cheat.