Just because The Office's Pam Beasley is known as the shy and reserved member of Dunder Mifflin, doesn’t mean she’s without her flaws. Besides the whole being in love with Jim while being engaged to Roy thing, there were a few occasions when Pam is a less than ideal employee. It may not seem possible; after all, she seems to be the glue that holds the office together and one of the more sane and rational people in the motley crew full of colorful characters. However, there were a few times where Pam’s work performance renders adequate punishment.
And no, we’re not talking about the time where she abruptly left her job on the ill-advised temptation to work as a salesman for the Michael Scott Paper Company. No, these are the instances during Pam’s employment at Dunder Mifflin where she shows her worst colors. Here are 10 reasons why Pam should have been fired.
Getting Drunk At A Company Event
Granted, Dunder Mifflin isn’t really a company where professionalism and etiquette are regarded as redeeming traits. It’s a pretty lax office, but that shouldn’t mean the employees can act however they want. For instance, when the crew goes to Chili’s for the Dundee Award, Pam gets uncharacteristically drunk.
It’s so bad, in fact, that she is kind of falling all over the place, she kisses Jim, and she gets get herself banned permanently from Chili’s. Needless to say, that’s not really how people should act at a work event.
Belittling Michael
Pam is pretty patient with people, especially when it comes to Michael. Michael Scott isn’t your average manager and most of his employees don’t really take him seriously. However, Pam routinely puts up with him. This comes to a screeching halt when she finds out that Michael is dating her mother.
She has a bit of an overreaction, which leads her to treat Michael (her boss,) pretty poorly. She essentially belittles him during the meeting, yells at him, and acts out in a way that would normally get her fired. And then she even slaps him in the face (though, this was at Micahel's request)!
Taking Other Salesmen's Leads
After her brief stint at the Michael Scott Paper Company, Pam returns to Dunder Mifflin as a salesman. A lot of people aren’t really happy with this transition, especially since it means splitting the leads. Pam, Michael, and Ryan did a fair job of taking a lot of the office's clients from their previous colleagues.
After the three of them are offered their jobs back, however, Pam still sees that it’s fitting for her to keep the leads she stole from everyone else at Dunder Mifflin. Michael backs her up on this, so she really never had a chance of getting fired, unless it came from the executives at Dunder Mifflin, because this move was pretty messed up.
Indulging Bad Press Towards Dunder Mifflin
When Sabre bought out Dunder Mifflin, they almost immediately started getting a bad rap for their faulty printers. They would spontaneously catch fire and wind of it got to the press. Pam is apparently one of the four Dunder Mifflin employees who unintentionally leaked this information to the press.
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She accidentally told the story about how the printers were catching fire when she was talking to the wife of a reporter local newspaper. While she wasn’t really a true whistleblower, had she been found out, she more than likely would have lost her job for slander whether it was intended or not.
Rewiring the Elevators For A Prank
Jim’s pranks are what brought Pam and her future husband together. And while Pam is usually the more sensible one who doesn’t initiate pranks against Dwight, she takes one into her own hands after ruining one of Jim‘s pranks. She elicits the help of Kevin (of all people) to help her rewire the elevator buttons so that they all do perform differently than they are supposed to.
This faulty wiring causes the elevator to break and Pam and Dwight are trapped on the elevator. This probably cost a decent amount of money to fix, and it is definitely worthy of her being let go.
She Helps Destroy Company Property
After Pam appoints her self as Office Administrator, she takes it upon herself to use Dunder Mifflin funds to get only Erin a new computer for the reception desk. There was no real motive to spend this on Erin, especially since Erin clearly doesn't care about the speed of her computer.
After the office complains about this favoritism, namely Andy, she devises a plan to help legitimize spending more money on a computer for Andy. The two work together in Andy’s car to destroy his old computer, (you know, a piece of Dunder Mifflin property) so that she can rationalize getting him a new one.
She Made Up A Position
Speaking of her role as Office Administrator, when it's clear that being a salesman isn't working out for her, Pam becomes at risk of losing her job. So instead of trying to work harder to upgrade her performance in sales, she tricks Gabe into giving her a fake position that she made up herself.
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In fact, it’s not just a new position, it’s a promotion. She talks her way into a higher and salaried position. And then she goes on to use her new authority against her employees. The aforementioned use of funds to buy new computers without permission, threatening to find a new building when Dwight buys the property, and so much more.
Gives Unwarranted Paid Time Off
Once Darryl discovers that Pam helps destroy a piece of Dunder Mifflin property, he somewhat blackmails her into giving him more paid time off. They barter back-and-forth for a minute, but she ultimately concedes and gives Darryl what he wants.
Someone in a true leadership position would have never done any of these things, which is why Pam isn’t really fit for the role that she gives herself. Pam ends up giving Darryl three vacation days essentially just because she can. And the worst part is, Pam doesn’t even feel bad about it. After helping Andy and Darryl, she tells the camera crew, “I’m full-on corrupt!"
She Makes Copies Of Personal Information
When Robert California because the acting CEO of Dunder Mifflin, he leaves his notebook on top of the reception desk. Erin glances at it and notices it has all the names of the Dunder Mifflin employees on it. The names are separated into two categories.
Erin calls Pam over to investigate it, which rallies the rest of the office as they try to figure out what the list means. Then Pam takes it upon herself to make copies of this book so they can look at it more closely without Robert realizing that they had looked through it. While the office as a whole was looking through Robert's personal property, Pam's action of making physical copies isn’t really something that would bode well with most managers.
She Was Kind Of A Bully
Pam, a bully? You would never think it from her kind-hearted persona, but there are a few times where Pam’s ego gets the better of her.
This happens after she names herself the Office Administrator and starts reining control over her peers. It’s also obvious anytime she helps Jim prank Dwight, making it two. And then there is the time that she, Toby, and Oscar put together the Finer Things Club and refuse to let Andy join for seemingly no reason. Not cool.