My working life was spent in the oil patch trades, in isolated frontier areas or under populated areas of the Prairies. I encountered very few mean bosses during my long career. A mean boss just could not keep a crew together and he wouldn't last very long.  

Twice in my life I simply packed away my tools and drove away from such a boss to find another job. In both cases I was a key man on the drilling rig and work shut down immediately upon my departure. A nasty rig manager would always have a tough time explaining that away to his superiors.

In the macho world of oil exploration men such as these had a very short lifespan as a boss. I have seen physical 'justice' being administered to nasty bosses; even did it once myself.