[terran57]

In my 2nd job out of college I found myself taking a position with a startup to shepherd along a neglected project while the core team worked furiously to deliver their signature project. That project team was led by what can only be described as a sociopathic madman. He'd throw items around in his office and scream profane insults whenever a problem came up (QA finding bugs app crash/bug/missed graphics/etc.). He'd dress-down he responsible party with no pity in front of others. The team feared him - but nobody quit because there was a significant bonus promised to them on delivery.

The management team tolerated his exploits as they desperately needed the project delivered as there were substantial performance bonuses for early delivery, and significant penalties for late delivery. The team was cajoled into a "death-march" in the last few weeks with unlimited drinks/snacks and free meals for staying late and classical psychological manipulation for attempting to leave "early" (anything before a 12hr day). (I can still hear him saying to people "we're a team - how can you let your teammates down, you p** of sh*t")

In the end, the project was delivered on-time, but as the company had bet on an early delivery and so, had spared no expense in throwing resources towards that project, there were no bonuses. Instead, the team's extraordinary work was rewarded with layoffs...

I'm optimistic that that in today's environment (assuming you work in a free and open society) such behavior is no longer widely tolerated. First, I think that society has evolved and with the emphasis on work/life balance, people will refrain from subjecting themselves to a boss like the one described above. With high attrition, companies will remove people like that from oversight positions. Also, companies themselves can face consequences if they don't address such behavior immediately. Nothing like a surreptitiously recorded video or audio recording appearing on the internet to bring a public shaming.