10 Horrible Bosses to Work for

It's Boss's Day.

What better way to celebrate than by counting down 10 of the most horrible bosses to work for?

You think you have it bad? Try being under the employ of some of these people...


10. Michael Scott

It's hard not to like Michael Scott...if you're watching him on The Office. If you're his employee, that's an entirely different story. He's in way over his head when it comes to managing anyone.

In his attempts to be politically correct, he ends up offending many of his employees. He's constantly trying to be the center of attention, making a miserable work setting for the crew that works at Dunder Mifflin.

He'll often make promises, but renege on those promises when he realizes they won't work.

His heart is in the right spot at times, but he usually messes up anything that starts off with good intentions.


9. Parker Selfridge

I was going to place Donald Trump here (due to some of his horrible decisions in the board room on Celebrity Apprentice over the years...usually dismissing decent workers and keeping the likes of Aubrey O'Day and Omarosa).

However, I can't not put Parker Selfridge on the list. The name may not sound familiar, but he was the guy who was playing mini-golf in Avatar while humans were strip-mining Pandora of it's resources.

Seriously, anyone who has a mini-golf set up in their office qualifies as a 'bad boss.'


Parker tried to negotiate with the Na'vi just so he could avoid bad press. He's one of those profit margin bosses -- more concerned with getting rich and keeping his job than standing up for what's right.

"This is why we're here: unobtanium. Because this little gray rock sells for 20 million a kilo. That's the only reason. It's what pays for the whole party. It's what pays for your science," Parker told Dr. Augustine (Sigourney Weaver).

Watch Parker and Augustine exchange words.


8. Richard Fish

If you’ve watched an episode of Ally McBeal then you’ve probably seen the kind of crazy antics that take place in that office.

That is, in large part, due to Richard Fish and his lack of control. He's the type of boss who lets almost anything go.

In a way, that's a good quality.  He (sometimes) delegates and lets his employees go to town.

The problem is that a lot of times there would be a certain degree of chaos that happened at the Fish & Cage law firm.


7. Katharine Parker

It's the second time one of Sigourney Weaver's movies is on the list. This time she's the horrible boss.

Working Girl was a big hit in 1988. It was hard not to enjoy watching Melanie Griffith's character as a secretary with bigger goals. Part of the reason it was so easy to root for that character is because there was a counterpart in the form of Sigourney Weaver.

Weaver played Katharine Parker -- a seemingly supportive boss who is eager to share Tess McGill's ideas with the higher ups. She was eager to share the ideas. She did share the ideas. In reality she was pitching them as her own ideas though.

Yep, Katharine Parker is the kind of boss that will take credit for your work and backstab you in a second. It got her pretty far in life. After all, she was able to take skiing vacations in Europe and ride in fancy limousines.

After seeing Parker's despicable attitude throughout the movie, it's a nice pay-off seeing Katharine Parker get her comeuppance at the end of the movie.


6. Cobra Commander

He’s sniveling, whiney, loud, and spineless, which means if it comes down to it, he’ll throw you under the bus in a second. Cobra Commander has qualities that make him a great comic book villain, but a horrible boss.

The proof is in the pudding with the Commander. How many times have his goons lost their battles against the Joes? It’s not too often that Cobra Commander or Cobra is on the winning end of fights with the G.I. Joes.

Cobra Commander would never take responsibility for those failures, but a large portion of the blame probably lies on his shoulders.

Watch Cobra Commander defend himself against those claims


5. Miranda Pirestly

The Devil Wears Prada was a pretty widely talked about movie when it debuted -- mostly because of Meryl Streep's portrayal of Miranda Pirestly -- the Devil in heels.

She treated her employees like servants, flinging her coat in their direction as she walked through the door. She had no qualms about making her displeasure known if any of her employees messed up in the tiniest of ways.

She showed that she does have a heart --- waaaaaay deep inside of her, but it's not often that she makes that side of her personality public.

Watch Miranda's employees freak as they prepare for her arrival.


4. Bill Lumbergh

When Bill Lumbergh asks you a question or makes a comment, he's actually telling you how it's going to happen.

Bill Lumbergh: "Hello Peter, whats happening? Ummm, I'm gonna need you to go ahead come in tomorrow. So if you could be here around 9 that would be great, mmmk... oh oh! and I almost forgot ahh, I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday too, kay. We ahh lost some people this week and ah, we sorta need to play catch up."

The deliver of those lines in Office Space made Bill Lumbergh an instant classic when it comes to bad bosses.

He has zero interest in his employees or their happiness in the work place. He likes to tell people what do and he has a personalized license plate that reads: "MY PRSHE." That should tell you something about his ego.

Meanwhile he's always focused on having his employees fill out pointless paperwork. Oh yeah, if that means coming in on a weekend, so be it.

Bill Lumbergh: "Oh, oh, and I almost forgot. Ahh, I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday, too..."

Watch the Best of Bill Lumbergh


3. Mr. McMahon

From 1997 to 1999, Steve Austin got to do what thousands of people around the world would love to do every day: stand up to his boss….by beating the crap out of him on a regular basis!

Mr. McMahon was the typical corporate tycoon and he didn’t like the fact that a cussing, beer drinking redneck from Texas was representing the World Wrestling Federation as its champion. That’s why McMahon tried to make Austin’s life a living hell.

He constantly stacked the odds against him, trying anything he could think of to cause Austin to lose the WWF Title. In some cases he was successful. Numerous wrestlers have said that meeting Vince McMahon in real-life is intimidating, but the Mr. McMahon from television would be much, much worse.



2. Mr. Spacely

Mr. Spacely may look like Danny DeVito, but he's nowhere near as comical if you're working for him.

He had the "You're fired" catchphrase long before Trump did, too.

What other boss sets laser traps to check and see if his employees are on time? Who else but Mr. Spacely pulls on his employees’ ears and drags them to where he wants them to be?

It's a wonder George Jetson survived as long as he did.

Of course, Jetson may have lasted so long because he doesn't like confrontation and didn't often ask for a raise. Mr. Spacely was depicted as a big (although physically small), egotistical, corporate tycoon who only cares about the bottom line.

If George was willing to work without asking for a raise, why would Spacely fire him?

Vacations that only happen once in a while and raises that are impossible to get? Not for me. More power to you, George. More power to you.


1. Jonah Jameson

“Parker!”

Those words were yelled more times in comic books, the animated Spider-Man TV series and the movies than probably any other in the entire Spider-Man franchise.

Jonah Jameson must’ve been a nightmare to work for.

No picture that Peter Parker took was ever good enough. He never got the photo to Jameson quick enough. He was underpaid for all of his work because, on top of being constantly angry, Jameson was a cheapskate.

A cheapskate boss who yells and always demeans you? Yep – he’s got to take the number one spot on this list. Working in news is tough enough, but working for a boss like that? No thanks!

That being said, Jameson is certainly one of the more entertaining aspects of the Spider-Man franchise. Sure, Spider-Man goes off to fight villains, but Jameson provides an antagonist in the workplace setting, making Peter Parker relatable than a lot of other super heroes.