Bad Boss Story: Sales Floor Predator

Source: Street interview

"So he's in prison, 15 years, I told you it would get dark quickly.

I started working at a hosting provider in Manchester in England. Started working my way through. Started realising that there's a very misogynistic culture with sales staff.

You know, alpha male sort of sales staff and then the ladies always short skirts and high heels and you know that kind of thing and then stories start coming out about the boss is a bit creepy. He starts coming into the office with PAs that are very attractive young ladies and then a few weeks go by and those young ladies have got augmentations to their physical appearance that may fall outside of what their wages might be. That continues and continues and then allegations start coming forward.

I work in IT, it was a hosting provider. So it's already a very male dominated industry. The company I work for now, our team are all male, but it would be great to have more women in the industry. But when that kind of thing is happening, it destroys the industry. Most people were very uncomfortable.

It was interesting with the rotation of staff coming through. The turnstile never stopped when it came to the women in sales. They were just in and out so quick because they'd be in and be like, great, I've got a sales job, it's a big company, it's a very rich company, blah, blah, blah. And then within six, seven, eight months, some of them would last over a year, they'd be out the door again. Whereas most people have been there five, six years.

It's a shame. Just be respectful, be mindful, treat everyone equally and try and create a good work culture. Be a good human."

👀 Our Take:

This isn’t just a bad boss — it’s a whole workplace ecosystem built to push women out. No wonder the talent pool dries up when the water’s poisoned.

🧠 Could this have been avoided?

Could have been. Respect, equality, and zero tolerance for harassment aren’t “nice to haves.” They’re non-negotiables. 

That’s why we built the Work Personality snapshot — a 60-second quiz to help leaders see their blind spots before they cost people their jobs.

→ Find out what kind of boss you’d be

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