The Big Bang Theory: 10 Times Howard Should Have Been Fired

Howard Wolowitz was the only one in the group (aside from Penny) without his doctorate, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t highly educated or bright. Howard was a talented engineer with a great job as an aerospace engineer at the prestigious Caltech. Sheldon had no reason to mock Howard due to his credentials.

If there was a reason to mock Howard, it would have been for all of the times he was inappropriate at work and only got a slap on the wrist as opposed to being fired. Howard was brilliant but he didn’t always make the smartest decisions with his time or resources at work. In fact, he should have been fired on more than one occasion on The Big Bang Theory.

10 He Crashed The Mars Rover

One of Howard’s greatest fails was crashing the Mars Rover while trying to impress a woman. For starters, a person who wasn’t working with Caltech or the United States government shouldn’t have been allowed in the lab, let alone be granted the ability to drive one of the most important robots in history. When Howard crashed the Mars Rover while trying to impress Dr. Stephanie, he also lost data. The FBI eventually found out it was Howard after Sheldon ratted him out but did anything happen to him? Nope!

9 He Interfered With NASA Satellites

When Howard and Raj heard of the show America’s Next Top Model, they found out that the cast lived in a house in Los Angeles.

After watching the show and taking note of nearby buildings, Howard abused his work privileges and used a satellite from the United States Department of Defense to figure where the models lived. Not only is this highly illegal but it’s predatory behavior.

8 He Used University Money For A Sex Robot

In “The Robotic Manipulation,” Howard was playing around with a robotic arm that was created by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The JPL is “federally funded” and most likely not meant to create robots for playtime. But in this episode, Howard borrowed the arm to play around with. He taught it how to pass certain items and how to massage his shoulders. But after too much thought, Howard used it for bedroom activities as well. The robot ended up malfunctioning of sorts while attached to Howard, which led him to the emergency room. If the JPL even knew what Howard was using the robotic arm for, he would have been fired.

7 Sexual Harassment Complaints

Before Howard settled down with Bernadette, he was a man on the prowl and didn’t know when to take no for an answer. Any time a woman blinked in his direction, he took that as an opportunity to approach her. And unfortunately, Howard offended plenty of women without realizing it.

Janine Davis worked for Caltech’s Human Resource Department and already knew far too much about Howard Wolowitz. In one scene, the guys were called down to HR, and Howard and Janine were already very familiar with each other. It alludes to the fact that Howard has been called down to HR for his inappropriate comments far too many times.

6 Brought Home Work Equipment To Spy On His Friend

There are plenty of times in The Big Bang Theory where the guys are playing around with work equipment at home for their own personal use. In “The Pancake Batter Anomaly,” Howard used government property as a means to spy on Sheldon. He attached a camera to Leonard’s head so that they could direct him to his room without glasses on. While nothing bad happened to Howard’s equipment, it was still being used for something that it wasn’t meant for.

5 The Christmas Pigeon

In “The Clean Room Infiltration,” Howard was in Caltech’s clean room with Leonard and Raj for a cosmic particles experiment. What should have been a brief experiment on Christmas Eve turned into an extended evening after Howard left the door open and let a pigeon in. With the room being extremely sensitive, letting in a filthy wild bird could contaminate and ruin everything. The three men were so embarrassed that they erased their names from the sign-in sheet, left the bird in the room, and left.

4 Using Food On Lab Equipment

In “The Infestation Hypothesis,” Howard was in the lab with Leonard and Raj using work equipment worth $170,000 to make a panini sandwich. Not only does that seem unethical but the word “contamination” immediately springs to mind. Using science equipment that’s both owned by the university and the government for unauthorized lunch-making could have easily put Howard on probation.

3 The Kissing Machine

When Leonard was in a long-distance relationship with Priya, he vented to the guys about how hard it was. With Priya in India, they were barely awake at the same time to have a conversation. Howard had a solution to Leonard’s problem. With work’s equipment, he created a kissing simulator that made it seem like he was kissing the other person. It’s not known if this kissing simulator was an experiment on behalf of Caltech or if it was Howard’s creation out of boredom but it didn’t seem authorized by Dr. Gablehauser.

2 A “Six-Breasted Robot”

When the four best friends were called down to Caltech’s human resource department, they were all nervous about the outcome. Out of panic, Raj blamed Howard for creating a six-breasted robot on the university’s dime. Howard denied the accusation but when Mrs. Davis asked Howard if the robot had six breasts, he couldn’t deny it. He claimed the robot had breasts because he was a “feminist.”

1 M.O.N.T.E.

There are loads of things that the characters on The Big Bang Theory did that they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise without the resources they had at Caltech. In season 2, the gang joined the Southern California Robot Fighting League Round-Robin Invitational and created a robot called M.O.N.T.E. And while Howard wasn’t there on fighting day, he was the brain behind the robot. As a practice round, they fought Barry Kripke’s robot in Caltech and chased the two robots down the hall. Chasing fighting robots — created with university materials — throughout a place of work doesn’t seem like it would get Howard a promotion.

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Lynn Gibbs
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Lynn is a nomad who travels the globe on the hunt for her next adventure with her husband. A lover of being outside (and finding the best latte in town), Lynn is typically hiking, walking, or jogging when she’s not focusing on her love of writing. When it comes to shows streaming on Netflix or anything Bravo-related, Lynn’s your gal.

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