vote for the worst boss of 2024

by Alison Green on December 9, 2024

It’s time to vote on the worst boss of the year!

  • Today we’ll vote for the worst boss in each of four match-ups.
  • On Wednesday, the winners will go head-to-head with each other.
  • On Friday, we’ll vote on the finalists.
  • The winner will be crowned next Monday.
  • Voting in this round closes at 11:59 pm ET on Tuesday.

Voting is now closed. The results in this round were:

1. A Dreadful Duo – The Nominees:

my mother-in-law manages my sister-in-law and covers up her drunk driving – 67.07% (8,100 votes)

my boss says my work is bad, but it’s actually good – 32.93% (3,977 votes)

2. A Perfidious Pair – The Nominees:

our boss is a jerk about bereavement leave for miscarriages – 68.12% (7,916 votes)

my boss is having an affair with a coworker who’s engaged to another coworker – 31.88% (3,705 votes)

3. A Terrible Twosome – The Nominees:

my boss lets my coworker stab office furniture with a knife – 56.65% (6,381 votes)

my boss jokes about our bodies, our sex lives, and our pregnancies – 43.35% (4,882 votes)

4. A Detestable Dyad – The Nominees:

employer made us take fake lie detector tests to trap a stealing receptionist – 59.8% (6,684 votes)

my boss said I looked “unprofessional” when I wore a binder to work – 40.2% (4,493 votes)

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{ 110 comments }

{ 110 comments… read them below }

    2. Kes*

      The first one was the hardest pair to me. I eventually picked the drunk driving one because that could literally kill someone.
      The second one I easily pick the bereavement one because the affair is awful but in a fairly normal way – it doesn’t stand out to me as worst
      The third one was tough. I eventually voted for the boss who makes comments because that’s more active on the part of the boss whereas bosses avoiding dealing with missing stairs is more normal, but I was torn because stabbing things might be a worse work environment
      The last one I voted for fake lie detectors because how do you even come up with that, like that is creatively awful

      And maybe I’m getting jaded because my reaction was also, “they’re awful but I feel like we’ve seen worse in other years”.
      I actually don’t remember reading most of this years in the first place, so it was a good (bad) round of stories to be introduced to

      1. Strive to Excel*

        For the last one I voted fake lie detectors too because option 2 is, sadly, kinda garden variety awful. Judging someone on their appearance is unkind (basing their work performance on it even more so!) but sadly not uncommon. But the fake lie detector was so utterly unnecessary that I can only see it as groupthink gone very very wrong. You can just. Fire the receptionist. That’s fine. If the receptionist is union the lie detector *won’t actually help*.

        1. dackquiri*

          I had to vote for Rufus just because OP did so much A/B testing to determine the comments were solely bosom-related. The fact that he comments on their appearance so reliably that they could collect such data.

          I was so tempted to give it to the wholly unnecessary polygraphs just because it’s so out there and so unnecessary, but I feel like most office perverts have some shred of a reasonable doubt they can hide behind, but not Rufus. Rufus is certifiably no thoughts, head empty, just boobs.

          1. goddessoftransitory*

            I went with that one too, because it was more of an ongoing and clearly deliberate campaign of harassment. The polygraph thing was just so bizarre that hopefully it was a one off.

          2. Where’s the Orchestra?*

            To me deliberate harassment (even though Mr Harasser didn’t really seem to realize it consciously) is more evil than a bad case of temporary group think. Far more insidious too long term because it’s harder to see so harder to stop.

      2. Learn ALL the things*

        I went the other way on the bereavement/affair poll, based on the updates. The bereavement company did eventually provide bereavement leave for miscarriages, but the affair boss got worse in the update, so he got my vote.

        I did go for the lie detectors in the last question, because usually if I’m given a choice between one rogue boss being bad all by himself and systemic badness agreed upon by the company’s entire leadership, I usually think the systemic badness is worse.

        1. dackquiri*

          See, I had the opposite impulse. The cheated-on employee levied such a banger of a mic/relationship drop, I feel less karmically imbalanced after reading it. The miscarriage one might have gotten reversed but that’s one of those chilling reminders of how down you could theoretically be where your employer is still comfortable kicking you.

          1. Nebula*

            In an org which is “a nonprofit specifically focusing on the well-being of families with a big emphasis on mothers and children” no less.

      3. Lenora Rose*

        The first was easy; the undermining boss is bad, but drunk driving is actively dangerous to many more people, inside and outside the building, and a drunk coworker who is not fired is a symptom of systemic issues. The first was ugly, and awful, but very targeted, and not a part of the larger system.

        The hardest was the third, because both make a workplace uncomfortable AND outline a systemic issue due to not being handled at all. I tipped towards the knife guy because he left harmful physical damage behind (desks that have sharp edges etc).

        1. goddessoftransitory*

          You and I think alike– the third was the hardest for me. I went with knife guy because that seems more intensely and immediately physically dangerous!

      4. Ms. K*

        I had the toughest time with the last one. I eventually went with the number of people the crappy behavior affected. For the first one, as seeing as the drink driving is, I felt it was not like crappy family over crappy boss as OP’s job want really affected but it was a tough call

    3. Anon for this*

      I finally went with knife stabby coworker over pregnancy joking because the pregnancy joking is at least not creating an environment where someone could get stabbed with a knife if the anger management stabby stab behavior escalates, but wow, that was close.

      1. Elizabeth West*

        Or fire! The stabby guy was also setting little pieces of paper on fire. He could have burned down the entire workplace and the boss didn’t do anything!

      1. Prexit*

        Agreed! This year nobody was fired for trying to do the right thing, although some people left of their own accord.

    5. Czhorat*

      they aren’t just bad bosses, they’re bad people.

      I usually lean towards sexism and other bigotries over just bad management, but even that doesn’t make this year easy.

    7. Phony Genius*

      I don’t know how the nominees were paired up, but I wish the pairing in #2 weren’t meeting in the first round. I could vote both of them over some of the other pairings.

      Also, I wish more of these had updates.

      1. JJLib*

        I was just about to comment that I would love updates for the ones that didn’t already provide them.

    8. The Other Katie*

      I used my usual approach of voting for bosses that cause systemic damage over those that cause personal aggravation and pain, but pair 3 was a hard choice this year!

    9. juliebulie*

      It’s hard. Some of them are difficult to decide because they are bad in different ways. Like, letting someone stab the furniture is objectively bad, but I don’t think I would hate that as much as a boss that was constantly joking about my sex life. (I still voted for the knife enabler because, knife.)

    10. Heffalump*

      Yes, like “Do you want me to put out your left eye, or your right eye?” FWIW I voted with the majority across the board.

    11. goddessoftransitory*

      It was soooo hard! I basically went with physical danger over just being revolting, but it was nose to nose!

  2. OneAngryAvacado*

    They’re all appalling, but I’m delighted this poll reminded me of the existence of Joe*, Coolest Dude Of All Time. That letter cheered me up on a very dreary Monday afternoon!

    (* update to ‘my boss is having an affair with a coworker who’s engaged to another coworker’)

    1. ScruffyInternHerder*

      That update was absolutely amazing…and honestly, does the cheating boss qualify any longer as she got her karma, or at least partial karma?

      1. BethRA*

        Of course! I think unless someone both genuinely sees the error of their ways AND makes amends, I think they absolutely still qualify.

      2. Hlao-roo*

        The boss in that letter was Peter and he wasn’t part of the (no longer together) couple. And… Peter continued to be a terrible boss in the update:

        Peter was blindsided by my resignation, and asked me why I was leaving and if there was anything they could do to keep me but I refused. I was willing to serve my notice period, but Peter said it wasn’t necessary and I could leave immediately since I clearly thought I was better than them.

          1. Hlao-roo*

            Forgot to add to my comment that I thought it was important to clarify because I do think it matters if the bad bosses have gotten (full or partial) karma in updates! As far as we know, Peter hasn’t gotten his so I don’t want anyone to let him off the voting hook :)

            (Also, I think it’s hilarious that he responded to an employee resigning with “you clearly think you’re better than us!” because that’s such a 13-year-old thing to say.)

            1. Grizabella the Glaimour Cat*

              “(Also, I think it’s hilarious that he responded to an employee resigning with “you clearly think you’re better than us!” because that’s such a 13-year-old thing to say.)”

              Yeah, they really shouldn’t let middle school kids be bosses! X-D

        2. Curious*

          While Peter’s reaction to OP’s resignation was very much bad-boss behavior, I don’t see how the affair made him a bad boss (as opposed to a bad person). He wasn’t Karen’s boss (or worse, Joe’s — the latter would have been King David territory). And, while having a n affair with someone you know is in a monogamous relationship with someone else is morally squicky, he isn’t the “homewrecker” — Karen is.

    2. Blarg*

      That and the WILD comments section, justifying the at-work cheating and making Joe the bad guy for “theft” and “ghosting.” What a ride.

    3. SpaceySteph*

      I somehow missed all but one of these posts when they first went up but I’m so glad I got another crack at this one because it is EPIC.

  3. Crystal Claire*

    Really hard to pick this year from these jerks. In a way, they are all the worst boss of the year.

  4. CL*

    Was lamenting over the weekend how awful people are. Can we do a “best bosses/Letter Writers” vote to cheer us up? I know that people generally don’t write to an advice blog when things are good but there have been a few examples.

    3. Observer*

      Agreed!

      Also, even with some of the really bad letters, there is often someone (even the LW) who deserves a ton of credit.

      1. Irish Teacher.*

        And there are updates where a boss steps in (or the LW reports whatever the issue is) and the boss is awesome.

        I’d love this too.

    6. D C F*

      I know Alison has said in the past that she doesn’t feel like voting for Best Boss would be fair, simply because we don’t have enough information to judge. We have no way of knowing how some of these bosses act when the LWs aren’t around; as we’ve seen, it can take only a single horrible act to make someone a bad boss.
      But maybe we could have a Best Boss Moment of the Year? Or Best Act by a Boss or Co-worker?

      1. Mercurially*

        I wondered about “most improved Boss of the year” – for those ones where they actually take something on board, fix the behaviour, make amends or otherwise turn it around.

    7. My Brain is Exploding*

      Yes, best of something: action by coorworkers, action by boss, action by company, action by LW.

      1. Margaret Scratcher*

        Best example of pushing back as a group
        Most shocked and appalled boss/grandboss once made aware of the situation
        Best attempt to make it right by a boss/employer
        Best example of karma in an update
        Biggest improvement in LW’s situation from original letter to update

  5. Buffy will save us*

    These were hard to choose between but ultimately I went with the boss that was affecting the lives of many over the few. The mother covering up the drunk driving affected countless others with the drunk driving, etc.

    2. I GOTS TO KNOW!*

      I ultimately chose the other way because while I think she’s a bad human being who is actively endangering lives, that’s mostly not work related. She’d be doing that outside of work too.

      So I voted for the one that had a direct, terrible impact on their direct report.

      But they are both awful and I sincerely hope the LW of the drunk driving one reported her MIL and SIL

      1. Lab Boss*

        That’s where I voted too. Every year these polls are a struggle to remember to vote for the worst BOSS and not the worst PERSON.

      2. AthenaC*

        I don’t think we had enough evidence from that one that the boss was actually bad enough to be in this circle of hell, though. I know that OP felt that way but from those of us familiar with OP’s industry it could just as easily have been incompetence.

        So I would vote for the malicious, egregious character flaw.

    3. fhqwhgads*

      Yeah, my personal criteria are weighted in this order:
      Could someone have died?
      Could someone have been seriously injured?
      Affects many people?
      Affects not many people but with high severity?

  6. HonorBox*

    Yeah I felt like the “opponent” in that matchup was probably a worse boss from the standpoint of management of that LW. But when someone knowingly allows a person to drive drunk, there are so many more who can be negatively impacted.

    1. Zelda*

      Even odder to have it show up here, as the boss is not mentioned AT ALL in the letter. Not a word. “Teammates” in general are, but not the boss. We don’t know whether the boss is even aware, to be called out as “letting” Charlie behave this way. Certainly the LW didn’t address it with their boss and get told it was fine, which makes it really hard for me to say this is a “worst boss” issue.

      1. Observer*

        If the boss is truly unaware, then that’s a huge indictment all on its own because this behavior is affecting SO many things and is showing up all over the place.

        So either they are a boss who thinks this is ok (or that they “can’t” do anything because there is no official policy) or they are a boss who literally knows nothing about what is going on in their department to the point of it being potentially dangerous. I’m not sure which is worse.

      2. arctic tern*

        Came here looking for pretty much exactly this. Yeah it’s kinda hard to believe the boss wouldn’t be aware of what’s going on, but there’s no mention of that in the letter so I don’t really feel like it should be in the running.

      3. Vertigo*

        Yeah, this makes zero sense to be included here. We know nothing about the boss in this scenario. There have been so many letters with actual bad behaviour from the boss, having this included here feels very weird and out of place. The situation is extreme and bad, but not because of the boss!

        Alison, can you explain what made you pick this letter as a contender for worst boss of the year?

      4. Nebula*

        That’s why I went for the other one, I feel like Charlie is a worse situation, and whoever is the boss there should certainly be intervening, but it’s an entire workplace culture, apparently, rather than just the boss causing the problems.

  8. Rex Libris*

    Congratulations to the nominees. I think we can all agree that each of them is horrible in their own special way.

  9. Your genderqueer dad*

    Woof, the detestable dyad is an impossible decision.

    I also want an update on the furniture stabber. The boss doesn’t come up a whole lot in that letter?

    1. Seashell*

      The one with furniture stabber was a tough decision too. The stabbing is creepy and scary, but the stabber’s boss was just ignoring it, whereas the other boss was being deliberately awful.

      1. Zelda*

        The LW hadn’t even mentioned it to the boss at the time of writing the letter. Not clear the boss was *ignoring* it, as distinct from not even knowing it was happening.

        1. Strive to Excel*

          If you are managing a team and have somehow missed the fact that one of your employees is *regularly stabbing the furniture*, you are either managing waaaaay too many people or you’re really unusually clueless.

          1. Seashell*

            And he was sharpening his knife and cutting pieces of paper with it during team meetings. And stabbing walls. I would think the boss would be aware of at least some of this or say, “Why are there holes in the wall?”

            And I would think that “no random weapons” would be a common rule at most workplaces. The letter said this was a lab, so I doubt a knife from home would be necessary.

            1. Observer*

              And he was sharpening his knife and cutting pieces of paper with it during team meetings. And stabbing walls.

              And also damaging office furniture in ways that were actually hurting other people.

              So, yeah, how could they NOT know?

    2. Czhorat*

      I went with the binder for the larger issue of sexism and transphobia, but the other one is also so very terrible in multiple ways

    3. Aerin*

      Yeah, with that one and with the lie detector it seemed like the issue wasn’t necessarily a bad boss but a completely bananas workplace in general. So since it says “boss” and not “employer” I went with individual terribleness.

    4. Our Business Is Rejoicing*

      Yep, this was the hardest one for me. A creep of a boss who apparently thinks “professional” has to mean “visibly gendered” vs. a passive-agressive employer who probably broke laws and in the end didn’t even get the result that they wanted out of the illegal polygraph.

    6. Marion Ravenwood*

      I do and don’t want an update on that one, because I’m really worried it won’t be good (not necessarily in a malicious way, but more in an “accidentally set the building on fire” way…)

  10. Nathan*

    I always appreciate the worst boss competition, because reading about these absolute jackholes makes me appreciate my boss and my job. Not because it’s perfect, but because my problems are much more mundane and manageable than these. Perspective is always helpful.

  11. double spicy*

    The worst boss of the year voting is frequently a tough call, but these bosses are especially awful. I would love to read updates on some of these (particularly “my boss says my work is bad, but it’s actually good”; “my boss lets my coworker stab office furniture with a knife”; and “my mother-in-law manages my sister-in-law and covers up her drunk driving”).

    1. soontoberetired*

      Yes, the drunk driving thing is so disturbing, as is the stabbing. I want to know people are safe.

    2. Festively Dressed Earl*

      Same here. I forgot to make an update wishlist this time, but Stabby Charlie would have made it.

  12. Literally a Cat*

    Tbh, the only way to be worse than the frequently driving a car drunk thing, is if another contender is like frequently driving a bus drunk or something.

  14. Strive to Excel*

    Can I petition that we request an update from “Boss thinks my work is bad”? Because I’m deeply curious as to what his problem was.

    1. Good Enough For Government Work*

      Same! I had forgotten that one so re-read and… oof. I’m desperate to know what happened next.

    2. Little Miss Helpful*

      My hunch is that he’s a man who likes negging women, like the guy who sought out a job candidate on LinkedIn with a list of everything he didn’t like, then asked her out.

  15. Jojo*

    I know that based off the definition of “worst”, there can be only one. But, yikes, we have worst, worster, and worstiest going on here. What a year for bad bosses.

  16. ZSD*

    The first poll was the only one where it was easy to choose. For the other three, both were so terrible that I nearly had to flip a coin to choose. In the end, I tend to vote for the one whose horribleness affects more people.

  17. Bronze Betty*

    Some of my choices were the opposite of what the majority voted (at least at this point in time), but, honestly, they’re all bad and I had trouble deciding, so I’m fine with that.

  19. Mark This Confidential And Leave It Laying Around*

    I can honestly say that whoever wins richly deserves the prize. Everyone is a winner here.

  20. Yes And*

    The MIL of the drunk driver is the only one of these bosses I have any sympathy for. I can’t imagine what it’s like to watch your grown child struggle with addiction, and then to have control over their livelihood on top of it.

    To be clear, I think that MIL made an egregiously wrong choice, and should probably lose her job over it. But if I were in her shoes, would I choose better? I think so. I hope so. But I can’t say for certain, and I hope I never have to find out.

    1. Observer*

      I get it. But it’s really not relevant. It’s still an egregiously bad choice. Both should be fired – with all the sympathy in the world, you can’t have people who are endangering people on your payroll.

      Also, this MIL is not just not reporting to the company / firing her DIL. She’s actively covering up and *putting other family members in danger*. If you look at the letter they mention at least two occasions where MIL was ok with Karen driving the LW somewhere, knowing that Karen is drunk. When you get to that stage, all sympathy goes out the window.

  22. NotBatman*

    Gah, rereading “my boss says my work is bad, but all evidence says the opposite” brought back all the rage I felt at that letter. My brother’s manager used to pull exactly the same brand of bullshit, and my brother ended up in a mental health crisis as a result. Whoever is teaching managers this “trick” to inspire productivity deserves to spend the rest of their life stepping on legos while barefoot.

    1. varied*

      “…stepping on legos while barefoot” is from Elizabeth West. Just giving due credit (and no, I’m not EW).

  23. varied*

    @2: “The ED still felt the need to make comments about our PTO and how providing additional bereavement costs money for the organization…”
    ———–

    So tf what? You pay it. If you’re at least a decent person and ED, and value your employees as human beings, you absorb the cost and you. pay. it. without a second thought. I promise you’ll be okay with “only” four houses and three yachts.

    By the way, what’s your name again, ED? Oh yeah: Richard.

  24. Tom Servo*

    Don’t get me wrong, they’re all really bad, but that last one is impossible to pick. What a match-up in the first round, lol.

    As an aside, I voted against the current leader every time, lol.

  25. Palmer*

    Justifying my votes:
    1: Enabling a drunk driver is worse than being an undermining boss imo. Speaks to family business nepotism. Like one will harm careers, the other will get people killed or maimed.
    2. Having an affair is such a high level betrayal of trust and creating an environment where others feel obliged to cover for it. Denying miscarriage bereavement is awful, but would hopefully rarely occur and be something that a decent org fix. Like that one is a ‘multiple people suck, rather than just the boss’
    3. This felt the hardest one. I picked the boss’ terrible overstepping jokes because that feels like actual harassment the boss directly perpetrates, rather than just turning a blind eye to someone who is messed up. I can see an argument for ‘someone being stabby’ is a bigger harassment threat. The power dynamic of your boss harassing multiple people is harder to deal with than a lone coworker. Like I’m definite concerned about knife-guy, but it’d be hopefully easier for multiple coworkers to get that resolved.
    4. Fake lie detector is absolutely against the law. Transphobia and body stuff is awful, but wielding law enforcement against your employees is unfortunately worse.

  26. BadBut*

    I have to be honest. While these are all awful, they don’t seem quite as bad as the choices from previous years. So hurray for 2024, I guess.

  27. DJ Abbott*

    I don’t usually have time to read the articles and vote, but it was quiet today. This was fun!

  28. Disappointed Australien*

    1: drunk driving kills people. That’s top category bad behaviour (especially at work).
    2: the affair for me. Late miscarriages are bad but (hopefully) rare, but the affair is all day every day.
    3: I’m really not into knives, or mess, and that kind of management refusal is the sort of thing that makes me walk away and see whether management stop paying me. Gross comments are gross but I’ll take that over being stabbed.
    4: I regard lie detectors as no worse than horoscopes or cleromancy so at that level it’s more humorous than awful. But the illegality? Ow. Binder comments guy is gross but the binder stuff was a symptom, possibly not the worst symptom and LW has got out of there already. I’m going with lie detector because dressing up a firing with illegal {bovine excrement} is terrible.

  29. Festively Dressed Earl*

    I went back and reread all the original posts, any updates we’d had, and extra context from the LWs in the comments section. That turned a lot of obvious choices into coin-tosses for me.

    Bracket 1: I went with the negging boss, but it was close. The drunk-driving SIL is responsible for her own actions. Her momager has to make a decision that’s logically and ethically easy, but it can be incredibly hard to dole out tough love to a family member who’s suffering from addiction. I hope the mom either got the courage to put her foot down or is no longer managing her own child, but I do have some compassion.

    OTOH, the negging boss was a 50something white man deliberately manipulating a 20something Black female into doing twice as much work as she needed to, exploiting her, and tearing down her self esteem for no good reason. That kind of nitpicking and unfounded criticism is at best a sign of serious subconscious bias. At worst, it’s outright racism, sexism, or just blatant abuse of power to make himself look better at the expense of his report. I can’t understand that. At all.

    Bracket 2 was harder after I read the updates, but I still went with the anti-bereavement ED. Her job literally involves looking out for the well-being of women and children, as well as her employees. She was presented with hard data showing that her assumptions were wrong. And even so, in the update she had to be overridden by the organization board and then got bent out of shape about it because she doesn’t understand the difference between being persecuted and contradicted.

    At first I thought the affair-boss was a no-brainer, because, well, people cheat. It was a bad idea because of the power imbalance and the lack of discretion, but some bosses don’t think about that if neither party is one of their direct reports. His reaction after LW put in her notice turned this into a closer call; the only thing that kept him from winning was the fact that his bad judgment wasn’t being turned into policy like anti-bereavement ED’s was.

    Bracket 3: Pretty easy. Stabby Charlie is a missing stair, and while his manager should have noticed and done something, it seems like working around eccentric or outright volatile people is part of the workplace culture that extends way beyond LW’s supervisor. It makes me think of the LW who only realized how toxic her workplace was after she bit someone.

    Boundaryless Boss’s behavior wouldn’t be acceptable outside the workplace, let alone inside, and there’s no indication that it was normal for LW’s workplace. Everyone was complaining about her. In addition to Alison’s correct observation that BB was breaking the law by creating a hostile workplace, she was also fatphobic and arguably sexually harassing her reports.

    Bracket 4: Literally a coinflip. The quarter on my desk didn’t land on edge, so “making sexist and transphobic supervisor work at a law firm that violates the Geneva convention” wasn’t an option.

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