Malingerers who made a name for themselves
When a good sickie goes bad
1 British cop Jonathan Adam was caught on camera celebrating a win at a horse racing event after calling in sick. He told a disciplinary hearing that he went racing as a form of therapy for his stress, migraines, and irritable bowel syndrome.
2 A Scottish man’s beleaguered attempt to pull a sickie went viral last year, when his boss had to remind him it was the weekend. Mark McLelland, from Glasgow, thought it was Monday when he woke up the worse for wear after a night of drinking so decided to claim he had the ‘‘runs’’. His boss pointed out it was Sunday.
3 In 2008 Australian man Kyle Doyle posted about his sickie to Facebook. On his profile he wrote: ‘not going to work, f*** it i’m still trashed SICKIE WOO.’ The HR department asked for a medical certificate. Doyle tried to argue he did not need to provide one. HR responded with a screen grab of his post.
4 Danny Anderson was caught on SnapChat posing with a friend of his boss at a bar. ‘I won’t be in today I think I’ve count (sic) kevs 24 hour bug,’ Anderson wrote to his boss the day after his big night out.
5 A Gisborne man was fired after attending a waka ama championship when he was meant to be at home sick. In March 2011, Taiapa, 59, was refused leave to attend the Rotorua event and then claimed he had a damaged calf muscle. His boss saw him on Facebook at the championships.