Ep. 12 Consultant Vanishes at Bacardi, Preschool Teacher Fakes Heart Attack: HR Cannot Catch a Break

In this episode we talk about two HR disasters that sound like movie plots but were all too real. William Tincup and Ryan Leary sit down with Jackie Clayton from Textio and Allyn Bailey from SmartRecruiters at the FAMA booth during HR Tech to share stories about a consultant who vanished mid-assignment at Bacardi and a teacher who faked a heart attack to avoid getting fired — in front of a playground full of toddlers. You can’t make this stuff up. Key Takeaways ➡ A consultant placed at Bacardi developed a minibar habit that spiraled into a disappearance ➡ Hazmat was called to clean the hotel bathroom — the consultant was never seen again ➡ He’d done such poor work, the client felt “relieved” when the truth came out ➡ Allyn once managed a preschool employee who knew she was about to be fired ➡ The employee faked a heart attack in front of a group of toddlers and fled via ambulance ➡ HR blocked the termination because she might have developed an ulcer from workplace stress ➡ The experience was Allyn’s brutal intro to people management at age 20-something ➡ Both guests reflect on what could’ve been done differently — better feedback, slower decision-making ➡ Early-career managers often over-correct and make reactive calls without full context ➡ Sometimes the worst HR stories are preventable — with the right structure and communication Chapters 00:00 Live from Fama’s booth at HR Tech 01:00 Jackie’s Bacardi story: Consultant, minibar, and disappearance 02:30 Hazmat in the hotel and a vanishing act 03:45 Allyn’s early career in preschool HR chaos 05:00 The fake heart attack and three-year-olds watching 06:30 Why HR blocked the termination — workplace stress defense 07:00 Reflections on better screening and early feedback 08:00 Leadership lessons from managing too fast, too young 09:00 Final thoughts and what both guests learned This limited series is brought to you by FAMA, Modern Candidate Screening. Talent teams use FAMA to improve candidate quality, create safe and inclusive workplaces and place the right leadership for their organizations. You can subscribe and listen to the #9to5Nightmares podcast here https://fama.io/podcasts or here Guest Info Jackie Clayton, VP of Talent Acquisition and DEIP, Textio LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackyeclayton/ Website: https://www.textio.com Allyn Bailey, Brand Strategy and Communication, SmartRecruiters LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allynbailey/ Website: https://www.smartrecruiters.com Connect with us William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary Connect with WRKdefined on your favorite social network Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined Twitter: https://twitter.com/WRKdefined Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com