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25 Cringeworthy Tales About Bad Coworkers Kissing Up to the Boss

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Bad coworkers

Ah yes, the office suck-up. That rare species who thrives on approval and has somehow mastered the art of laughing at jokes that aren’t funny—loudly, and within earshot of the boss. We’ve all had one in our lives. You know the type: they're one motivational quote away from printing out a "world’s most loyal employee" mug for themselves. These stories will remind you why you sit at the edge of every Zoom meeting with your camera mysteriously “not working.”

Here are 25 brutally relatable tales of bad coworkers whose entire personality revolves around pleasing the higher-ups at the expense of human decency. These suck-ups have done it all—ratted people out, taken credit for group work, and brought in cupcakes with creepy levels of enthusiasm. You'll see firsthand how a brown-noser can derail an entire office vibe with just one well-timed “As per my last email...” If you’ve ever had a coworker who would sell you out for a gold star or worse, a LinkedIn endorsement, these stories are your therapy session.

I used to have a guy that was on a temporary contract that would wait in the parking lot before I got there. He would jump out when I did so he could walk in with me. "What do you got for me to do today boss?"
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I work with a woman who threw a baby shower for a manager's (not her manager though) wife, thrown in our office. Meanwhile her equally pregnant "friend" in the office was invited to the party but received no shower of her own or even an acknowledgement from the suck up. Funny thing is everyone hates the manager so nobody really stayed longer than they had to.
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A colleague tried to feed the manager during lunch saying "just one more bite please". Both female but still, was so embarrassed to witness that.
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Fake laughter at the boss's jokes... laughter that goes on for WAY TOO LONG so that even the boss notices and gets PO'd.
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At my job there was this guy who kept buying his direct supervisor lunch everyday, one time the supervisor asked him why he kept doing it, he responded with "The king's gotta eat" everyone in the immediate area cringed super hard at that, including the supervisor, what are your stories?
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Told some coworkers I was friends with that I got in trouble with weed. Female coworker was snooping behind some boxes and called HR. (She was trying to get a manager position.)
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We had a manager that wasn't really qualified for his job and loved it when people called him for help doing their basic job duties. To this day I don't know if a couple of my coworkers were thoroughly incompetent or just sucking up because they couldn't do anything on their own. I'll give you 3 guesses on who avoided the layoffs.
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Shovels the boss' car during winter.
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f you’ve made it through all 25 stories without flashing back to Karen from Accounting or Brent from IT who “just loves staying late,” then consider yourself blessed. These coworkers reminded you why noise-canceling headphones were a genius invention and why lunch at your desk is less about work ethic and more about avoiding their unsolicited opinions. You may not love your job—but at least you’re not them.

Want more workplace laughs and relatable office suffering? Check out office politics fails, workplace gossip stories, tales of insufferable bosses, or hilarious work-from-home mishaps.

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Posted by Roy R. About the author

Roy has been one of the internet's meme tastemakers for more than a decade. He and Phil started Thunder Dungeon in 2012 by posting the stuff they found funny, and it grew into viral photo and video creations, one of the largest meme community apps and one of the best sites for daily meme content. If you've spent any time online, you've probably laughed at one of his memes.

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