How Bad is Your Boss?

By Kate Stinchfield

A teacher says her principal wouldn't let her get her broken arm treated until the end of the day. A manager writes about a company owner who said he couldn't afford a portable toilet for his staff when the office pipes froze for two weeks--even as his wife was picking out a $20,000 chandelier for their vacation home. Those bad-boss tales are entered in a contest sponsored by Working America, a group affiliated with the AFL-CIO, to find the best stories of workplace woe. Submissions are being accepted at workingamerica.org until July 19, and anyone can vote online for his or her favorites. The top prize is a one-week vacation.

But entrants risk earning a permanent vacation. "Chances are, someone is going to find it," warns Nadine Haobsh, who was axed as a beauty editor after she blogged about the lavish gifts that firms sent her boss. "In cyberspace, you shouldn't get into your job, period."