'He called legal on me': Bad boss cheaps out on Christmas bonus and tries to fire worker after they quit for a competitor

There's a point where being overly petty, stupid, and cheap crosses a line over into straight-up malice. I'm a huge proponent of Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity — but sometimes the negligent stupidity is so wanton it becomes evil. Still, this idea of a stingy boss cheating their employee out of a hard-earned Christmas bonus is a theme so storied that it has been featured in one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time: Christmas Vacation.