Police in Kingston, Ontario, were called to the scene by a man who claimed two thugs assaulted him on his way to work and tried to steal his wallet.

The man had a swollen lip and a possible broken nose, the Whig Standard reports.

After questioning him, the police began noticing holes in his story. Eventually, he broke down and told the truth: He’d punched himself in the face several times and concocted the mugging story to use as an excuse to skip work.

Police didn’t release the name of the man’s employer, but the officer who questioned him said, “I can only assume that they didn’t have a great sick plan where he works.”

In the end, the cops were kind enough to give the “victim” what he wanted. He got the day off — but he had to spend the day in jail for filing a false police report.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen an employee do for a day off? Let us know in the comments section below.

Mark Wilborn, store manager of Appliance Parts Co. in Metairie, LA, reported $10,000 in heating and air conditioning equipment was missing from his inventory.

Now, police have arrested Wilborn on charges of taking the stock himself and selling it for cash, according to The Times-Picayune.

It turns out Wilborn may have made off with as much as $203,000 worth of inventory.

Wilborn told the local sheriff’s office that 70 rolls of copper sheeting were missing from the store. He said his corporate office told him about the shortfall and ordered him to contact authorities.

The company’s own investigation showed Wilborn had been using his alarm code to enter the store after hours.

When confronted, Wilborn admitted selling the equipment for up to $50,000.

He’s being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

A high school girls’ basketball coach was fired after he said he would not apologize for badly beating another team.

Covenant School in Dallas recently defeated Dallas Academy in girls basketball 100-0.

After the game, Covenant, a private Christian school, posted a statement on its Web site regretting the outcome of the shutout: “It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition.” The statement was signed by the school’s headmaster and board chairman.

Covenant Coach Micah Grimes sent an e-mail to The Dallas Morning News that said he didn’t agree with his school’s statement.

He wrote: “I do not agree with the apology or the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel embarrassed or ashamed. We played the game as it was meant to be played. My values and my beliefs would not allow me to run up the score on any opponent, and it will not allow me to apologize for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity.”

The school’s headmaster would not comment when asked whether Grimes’ firing was connected to his statement to the newspaper.

The score at the half was 59-0. A parent who attended the game said Covenant continued to make 3-pointers even in the fourth quarter.

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It hasn’t had a win in the last four seasons. The school specializes in teaching students with “learning differences” such as short attention spans or dyslexia.

The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools doesn’t have a “mercy” rule for girls basketball. However, the association’s director, Edd Burleson said “a golden rule” should have applied in this contest.

According to Burleson, the losing team “showed much more character than the coach that allowed that score to get out of hand. It’s up to the coach to control the outcome.”

Since this case involves a personnel decision which an employer is keeping private, there are details we don’t know — such as exactly why Grimes was fired.

But the situation does raise several questions. Organized sports can provide a means to teach children and teens useful workplace skills, such as teamwork. Do you agree with the fired coach’s decision to allow the score to reach 100-0? Do you agree with the headmaster’s apology? And would sending an e-mail to a newspaper, disputing his boss’ statement, be insubordinate enough to merit firing?

Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Suraj Samaroo recently pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $400,000 from an IKEA call center in Baltimore, MD.

Samaroo learned all he needed to know to skim the money in less than six months.

Prosecutors say he would issue himself refunds for purchases made by customers and then alter inventory records to cover his tracks.

At least he was generous with the money: He gave some of it to friends and family.

Samaroo faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. He’s admitted his actions were motivated by “pure greed.”

They are three items on CareerBuilder.com’s list of “13 things to keep to yourself at work.”

Those three should be (we know, it’s not always the case) among the most obvious things that people shouldn’t talk about at work.

But there are some other less obvious suggestions that we like of things on the don’t-talk-about-this-at-work list:

• Your privileged life. Despite what some people obviously believe, the rest of us aren’t interested in your latest hobnobbing with the A-list or how difficult it is to find a really good company to clean your Olympic-size pool.
• Your Chris Rock routine. Comedians get paid to be edgy, daring and often offensive. Stand-up comics at work get disciplined or fired.
• Online venting Web sites. Posting something online for the world to see that’s critical of your employer or co-workers is questionable enough. Letting your co-workers know about what you’ve posted is just plain stupid.

The complete list is online here.

Do you have something to add to this list? Or a story about how someone sunk themselves by talking about one of these items? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Well, a school bus driver in Billings, MT, crossed the line when it came to making a stop that definitely wasn’t on her regular route.

A motorist reported that the driver had parked her school bus outside a liquor store.

No students were on the bus while it was parked outside the store, but by the time police caught up with the bus, the driver had picked up some middle school students.

The driver allegedly asked one student to hide a paper bag with bottles of alcohol near the back of the bus, according to wire service reports.

Billings Public School Superintendent Jack Copps said the district immediately notified its bus contractor that the woman was no longer to transport its students.

District policy prohibits alcohol in vehicles transporting students.

The driver quit her job.

The Connecticut Department of Development Services placed the employee on leave after pills were found in a cake served at the home. The Department is investigating, according to the Republican-American.

A spokesman says the pills were an antihistamine.

The employee told state police her prescription bottle tipped over while she was making the cake. She says she didn’t realize some of the pills fell into the batter. Police haven’t filed charges.