Web Site Devotes Itself to Strange Firings

SAN FRANCISCO - Getting fired is rarely a happy event, but that doesn't mean you can't have a sense of humor about it. That's what Simply Hired, a 5-month-old employment-related Internet startup, counted on when it started an affiliated Web site devoted to the stories of workers who have received a pink slip for a silly, outrageous or embarrassing reason.



The Mountain View-based company is even offering a prize to the biggest "loser" — a Caribbean cruise that will include passengers famously fired by Donald Trump on his popular television show, "The Apprentice."

The contest will be judged by a panel that includes Phil Kaplan, an irreverent entrepreneur who learned a thing or two about sad-sack stories while running a Web site about the foibles of failing Internet companies during the dot-com bust.

Kaplan's old site, which had a profane name, helped inspire simplyfired.com, said Kay Luo, marketing manager for Simply Hired, whose specialty search engine scours for job listing posted on help-wanted sites such as Monster.com, HotJobs.com and craigslist.

The early submissions at simplyfired, which was launched Monday, includes a posting from Mark Jen, who was fired from Google Inc. earlier this year for discussing the highly secretive company on his Web log.

Virtually all the other postings have been made under pseudonyms. The musings include stories about being fired for doing perverse things with prosthetics, refusing to cook the company books and neglecting to sign a holiday card for the boss.