Could you please share your experience as to what has REALLY become a reason you were fired? Not just imaginary reason that could lead to it, but real experience that has happened to you or maybe your ex-colleagues. Either software bugs you "implemented", some rules you didn't follow or just some stupid things that happened.
EDIT: Has anyone got fired for sitting on "social" or dating sites?
EDIT2: Come on guys, don't be shy... I don't ask for your names just about [anonymous] experiences. :)
I once worked for a mortgage company that had a Netware network. It was unsecured, meaning anyone who was authenticated to Netware could look at anything on the network. Since I was 19 and curious, I started looking around at stuff I found on the network. I saw documents about why people were demoted, financial data, and other sensitive materials.
I was fired for "hacking."
Previous to that, at the same mortgage company, I added beep commands to Lotus 1-2-3 macros. My coworkers thought I was playing games and I had to defend myself in front of a "grievance panel."
Always assume your test data will be seen by a client! Never use anything offensive.
Not going into details, but had to fire someone for their test data!
As techies we get access to all sorts of sensitive information in myriad ways nobody is every aware of. In the normal course of our work we are asked to help HR with their highly confidential databases, restore a backup of the business plan the CFO corrupted, and non-techies just can't seem to stop blurting out their personal passwords to us when their email doesn't work. What actually got my colleague "resigned" was glancing at a printout laying face-up on the CEO's desk showing all salaries, and he couldn't keep his mouth shut.
Error messages, no matter how unlikely they are to ever occur, should not be insulting.
It didn't get me fired, but it sure got me in trouble. Apparently "The idiot user must have really really $@@#$ed something up to see this message", is in fact, not an appropriate error code.
Probably the only reason I didn't get fired over that one is, it took about 5 years for an idiot powerful enough to trigger the error to come along. :) It was code I had written within the first year of being hired.
All told though, it was epically stupid of me.
This didn't get anyone fired, but it got him expelled from college. In the middle of an all-nighter, a buddy of mine started writing comments in his code to deride/scorn/and otherwise belittle our professor. He intended to remove all of these before submittal.
He didn't.
This same professor shortly later accused my friend of plagiarism and submitted him to the dean for expulsion. He withdrew the demand hours before the final exam (after my friend was already packed to leave). Needless to say he flunked the exam, class, and out of school, one computer science course shy of his bachelors degree.
He eventually got his bachelors 2 years later from another school.