Friends: 10 Times Ross Should Have Been Fired

Love him or hate him, the dinosaur-loving Ross Gellar was definitely one of Friends’ most memorable characters. Throughout its 10 seasons, fans of the series watched as Monica’s nerdy, awkward older brother had children, went through a series of marriages and divorces, and moved up in his career going from a museum paleontologist to a professor.

Unlike some of his friends, Ross rarely appeared to struggle with his career. He’s seen receiving an award and even gets a book published, though only one student seems interested in it. Despite these achievements, Ross seemed to have plenty of missteps along the way: he yells at the museum director for eating his sandwich, sleeps with Rachel in an exhibit, and even has a romantic relationship with one of his students. It definitely leaves fans wondering, just how many times did Ross commit fireable offenses?

10 Had An Affair With His Student

One of the worst decisions that Ross ever made in his professional career was when he made the choice to pursue a romantic relationship with Elizabeth Stevens, his barely-of-age student from one of his classes. While Ross initially thinks that going out with a student is only “frowned upon” and not actually against the rules, he later learns from another professor that it’s a fireable offense.

Unfortunately, after finding this out, Elizabeth seems to think that the rule only makes the idea of them being together more romantic, to which Ross agrees. He also says he wants to get a hot plate for his office, another thing that’s against the rules for professors. It’s definitely one of Ross’s most shocking moments.

9 Slept With Rachel In An Exhibit

Ross and Rachel shared many romantic moments in Friends, and fans were thrilled when they finally slept together in “The One Where Ross and Rachel…You Know.” Still, the way it happened wasn’t exactly professional, considering that Ross and Rachel wake up the next day in a museum display, naked beneath fur blankets with school children staring at them.

All in all, with how they were discovered, it seems quite surprising that Ross never faced any consequences from the museum. Sleeping in an exhibit, touching artifacts, and being seen by underage kids is definitely something most people would get fired for.

8 Freaked Out Over A Sandwich

While it is definitely rude to eat someone else’s labeled food at work, Ross took things way too far having a completely over-the-top meltdown over his boss eating a small amount of Monica’s moist maker sandwich and throwing the rest in the trash. After finding this out, Ross screams so loud that his voice scares away birds outside.

By this point, Ross had already upset and scared his co-workers with a threatening note he got from Phoebe. How Ross only ended up on sabbatical instead of out of work is a genuine mystery.

7 Made Out With A Student In The Library

Ross is initially extremely upset when he finds out that students at the school library are fooling around in front of his newly published work. However, his anger can pretty much be disregarded after Ross himself engages in the same behavior with an attractive student who’s read his book.

As a professor and an adult, Ross clearly knew that kind of behavior is completely inappropriate especially when it is happening at the school where he teaches. Yet again, Ross got away with something that most people would certainly get fired for.

6 Not Showing Up To Class

Throughout Ross’s time as a college professor, he would often forget that he was supposed to be teaching a class. Typically, this would happen while he was hanging out at the coffee shop with the gang.

While once or twice might have been understandable it shouldn’t have been a consistent occurrence. Perhaps the students never reported his absence, but it does seem pretty strange that a teacher who forgets to show up for his own classes is able to hold on to his job with no repercussions.

5 Got Terrible Evaluations

Ross convinced himself that his students were giving him terrible evaluations at the end of the year because they were sad to leave his class. Of course, based on his poor and problematic work ethic, his friends, (and fans of the series) knew the real reason for these poor marks had nothing to do with being heartbroken.

As a poorly regarded professor seen making numerous mistakes, it is surprising that Ross not only still had his teaching position but managed to get tenure by the end of the series.

4 Pretended To Be British/Public Shaming

Ross starts out his new job as a guest lecturer at NYU by teaching his first college class with an extremely ridiculous and fake British accent. When his friends find out and suggest that he phase out the accent, Ross tries following this method, but the entire class is clearly baffled.

After Ross finally admits to the students that he’s not English, and asks that they give him a second chance Rachel bursts into the class and screams at him for faking their annulment. How Ross ended up getting a permanent teaching position at NYU after that horrible first impression is truly a mystery.

3 Graded Papers Without Reading Them

Throughout his time as a professor at NYU Ross made more than a few fireable mistakes. One of his worst offenses as a teacher was grading papers without reading them. It was something that fans saw continuously happen as Ross would struggle to read the student’s work and end up quickly grading them after he was unable to concentrate on their writing.

He also randomly graded when he wanted to engage in personal relationships, and even changed grades after another professor thought Ross’s were too generous. As a teacher, nothing about this random grading was professional. It not only hurt the students in his class academically, but it also showed that Ross was not a competent teacher.

2 Rachel Stole A Museum Artifact

While it wasn’t entirely Ross’s fault that Rachel took an important artifact from the museum, Ross was at least partially responsible considering he let her into the museum exhibit in the first place. The realization that Rachel took the object doesn’t even arrive until season 4 when she shows it to him in order to prove that she is sentimental.

According to Ross, the object is over a million years old, and workers at the museum have been looking for it since its disappearance. Still, despite these facts, Ross does not take the artifact back from her. Had his bosses discovered where the object had ended up and how it got there, Ross certainly would have been fired.

1 Unfairly Gave A Student A Better Grade

After a male student pretends to be in love with Ross in order to pass his class, Ross agrees to give him a better grade, believing that his appearance was too distracting for the student and contributed to his academic failure. After finding out that the whole thing is just a scam, Ross tells the student that he is changing his grade back to a failing mark.

However, when two other professors walk in on them arguing so Ross offers to give the boy a C if he doesn’t cause a scene. While the student was definitely also in the wrong, Ross offering to bride him was completely unprofessional.

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