The Bad Hire Podcast

How does someone steal $38.7 million from a company… without anyone noticing for years? In Episode 40 of The Bad Hire, Ken and the team react to unbelievable hiring disasters and workplace scandals—including one of the largest employee theft stories you’ll ever hear. From massive embezzlement to fake résumés, dangerous workplace mistakes, and employees who simply disappear, this episode proves tha...

What happens when an armored truck employee steals $200,000 on his very first shift? In Episode 39 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Emma react to another collection of unbelievable hiring disasters—from massive payroll fraud and fake résumés to executives who should’ve never passed a background check. This episode proves that one bad hire can cost a company hundreds of thousands of dollars… somet...

What happens when an employee claims his brother died, his mom passed away, his car was stolen, and he got COVID multiple times… only for everyone to discover it was all a lie? In Episode 38 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Morgan, and Emma react to listener-submitted stories involving fake credentials, viral firings, toxic high performers, and one employee whose excuses became more unbelievable with every p...

What happens when a CFO lies about a Stanford MBA for years… and nobody notices until an anonymous tip exposes everything? In Episode 37 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Morgan, and Emma dive into a series of unbelievable stories involving fake degrees, résumé fraud, hiring shortcuts, and the career-ending consequences that follow. From a receptionist who quit after three hours on the job to executives who b...

What do you do when a candidate shows up nearly an hour late to an interview… then answers personal phone calls in the middle of it? In Episode 36 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Emma react to a fresh batch of listener-submitted hiring disasters, including interview train wrecks, fake remote workers, workplace meltdowns, and employees who spent more effort avoiding work than actually doing it.  ...

A receptionist starts calling clients “Sparkles Chompers.” A salesman disappears without a trace. And a remote engineer gets caught using a fake video feed during Zoom meetings. In Episode 35 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Morgan react to some of the most bizarre hiring stories yet — including workplace boundary disasters, employees who completely disappear, and remote work scams that sound too...

A new employee accuses her manager of poisoning her with heroin. Another worker gets fired for scratching lottery tickets behind the register. And one admin casually announces on her FIRST DAY that she stops working at 2PM. In Episode 34 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Morgan, and Corey react to some absolutely unhinged hiring stories — from fake medical excuses and bizarre paranoia to fake references and e...

A bank manager physically grabs an employee by the arm. A new hire brags at lunch that his résumé is completely fake. And an MIT admissions dean spends 28 YEARS building a career on degrees she never earned. In Episode 33 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Emma, and Kyrie react to some of the wildest stories yet — from workplace power trips and résumé fraud to theft, manipulation, and employees completely expo...

A pizza delivery driver lasted exactly one delivery before getting fired. A firefighter showed up drunk on his first day. And a candidate with violent felonies asked why the company couldn’t “focus on her personality instead.” In Episode 32 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Emma react to some of the most unbelievable first-day flameouts and hiring disasters yet — from misogynistic pizza drivers to...

What happens when a single tweet destroys your career before your flight even lands? In Episode 31 of The Bad Hire, Ken is joined by Randall Wilson and Jamie Franco for an episode entirely focused on social media disasters, online reputation, and the hiring mistakes companies never see coming.   From racist tweets resurfacing years later to servers getting fired over Facebook posts, this episode d...

What do you do when your brand-new hire steals inventory… and then falls asleep an hour into their shift? In Episode 30 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Emma react to more unbelievable hiring disasters — from fake transcripts and stolen office supplies to employees who couldn’t actually do the job they were hired for.   This one is packed with chaos, confusion, and a few painful lessons along the...

What do you do when your brand-new hire texts you… asking to push their start date back… because they got arrested? In Episode 29 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Morgan, and Emma are back reacting to some of the most chaotic hiring stories yet — including a guy who spent his first week of work in jail, an employee stealing during onboarding, and someone literally hiding under their desk to vape. This episod...

What do you do when a new hire shows up to orientation… drunk… at a substance abuse treatment center? In Episode 28 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Morgan, and Emma react to some of the most ridiculous and unbelievable hiring stories yet — including a contractor who couldn’t make it through day one sober, a candidate who brought his mom to the interview (for a very specific reason), and a bookkeeper who sec...

What do you do when a candidate shows up to a job interview… completely naked? In Episode 27 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Emma are back reacting to some of the most unbelievable hiring stories yet — including a Zoom interview that instantly went off the rails, a toxic employee who thought he was above everyone, and a hire who couldn’t complete the most basic part of their job. This episode is...

What do you do when an employee literally follows you home… and starts asking security about your personal life? In this episode of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Morgan react to some of the most unsettling, bizarre, and downright unbelievable hiring stories yet — including one that crosses the line from bad hire… to genuinely creepy.  From a candidate inventing his own language mid-interview to...

What happens when a candidate lies in an interview… fails the background check… and then accidentally leaves a 10-minute voicemail screaming at her dad? In Episode 25 of The Bad Hire, Ken is joined by Emma and Corey to react to more outrageous hiring stories — from accidental email disasters to interviews that should’ve never happened in the first place. This episode is full of moments where one s...

What do you do when two employees are days away from full-time offers… and instead of waiting for their background checks they steal company mascot costumes, hop on a golf cart, flip off every security camera, and disappear forever? In Episode 23 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Emma react to some of the strangest listener-submitted hiring disasters yet — from drug test cheating schemes to candid...

What do you do when a candidate looks you dead in the eye during an interview and says, “I don’t get mad… I get even”? In Episode 24 of The Bad Hire, Ken is joined by Morgan and Corey to break down more unbelievable hiring stories — from candidates who sabotage their own interviews to employees who shouldn’t have made it past day one. This episode dives into the moments where everything seems perf...

Seven DUIs. Cocaine use. And somehow… still applying for the job. In Episode 22 of The Bad Hire , Ken Monroe is joined by Nathan and special guest William Capps , an HR Manager from Charlotte, North Carolina, to break down some of the wildest hiring stories yet. From shocking background checks to employees who disappear after a week, this episode dives deep into the reality of hiring — where red f...

He missed his first day of work. Then missed the next. Got terminated for attendance. And called back 15 minutes later asking if they were hiring. In Episode 20 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Emma, and Morgan react to an entire episode of listener-submitted chaos — and these stories absolutely deliver. From a forklift driver with sudden “amnesia” to a vertigo excuse that unraveled at trivia night, to offsh...

What do you do when a brand-new hire claims her brother died… gets paid bereavement leave… and then you find out he’s very much alive? In Episode 20 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Morgan, and Emma are back on the couch reacting to some of the wildest listener-submitted stories yet — from ghost-haunted interviews to arson confessions and a benefits manager who disappeared after cashing her check. This episo...

Sometimes a “bad hire” is just a bad apple. In Episode 19 of The Bad Hire, Ken and Nathan are joined by special guest Steve Stewart, CEO and co-founder of SongHub, to talk through some of the wildest (and most expensive) hiring disasters he’s seen in both startups and the music industry. From a tour manager who went rogue with a company credit card, to a fake coder who couldn’t code, to a $360K CT...

How far would someone go to get a raise? In Episode 18 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Emma react to one of the wildest stories yet—about a guy who edited his $60K offer letter… and turned it into $1 million. Plus: a top-secret “government project” excuse, gambling theft, and a hiring manager who refuses to work with anyone wearing the color orange (seriously). You’ll hear: – Why people lie thei...

What happens when a seemingly perfect candidate walks in on day one… and immediately proves she’s not the same person you hired? In Episode 17 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Emma are back to break down some of the wildest real hiring stories submitted by listeners—including a literacy tutor who showed up drunk, a boyfriend who caused total chaos in the lobby, and a moonlighting CTO making $360K...

Follow Laura at www. EastSideStaffing.com and ⁨ ‪@learnwithlaurahr‬ on all platforms! In Episode 16 of The Bad Hire, Ken (CEO of ‪@bchexscreens‬ ) and Nathan are joined by guest Laura Mazzullo ( ‪@learnwithlaurahr‬ founder of East Side Staffing) for a raw, funny, and practical breakdown of how hiring actually works—and why most teams get it so wrong. From passive-aggressive HR execs to the emotion...