Psst! Don’t Tell Dilbert About This

If the person at the top of your office’s corporate ladder acts more like something at the bottom of the food chain, Claude Carter wants to hear from you.

The creator of the Web site myboss.com is seeking submissions for his Dumbest Boss of the Millennium Contest. The person who tells the funniest story gets $1,000, but it won’t be easy.

Every week, Carter receives about 150 tales of woe, with workers from the United States and abroad blowing the whistle on their head honchos.

“There’s really no difference between what people say in Bombay and what they say in Boston,” said Carter, who started his Web site in 1996.

Visitors to the Web site, which posts new horror stories every Monday, can vote for the century’s most meat-headed manager. One winner will be picked each week of the contest’s run, and then Web site visitors will choose the worst five stories from the weekly winners.

The contest, which started about two weeks ago, ends Nov. 29. Like all stories sent to myboss.com, the sender and the subject of their ire remain anonymous.

One recent submission went like this: “My company conducted a salary review and then raised the pay scale for my level. I immediately met with my boss because my current salary was below the new minimum. To fix it, he reduced my level.”

And another, describing what happened after a company closed its first big deal: “To celebrate an excellent ‘team effort,’ our boss called a meeting in the conference room and ordered two bottles of Dom Perignon to share with everyone.

“When the room was quiet, he raised his hand to signal a toast. He said, ‘Here’s to me.’ ”

Asked why he thinks 100,000 Web surfers from 70 countries stop by his Web site each week, Carter--whose own experiences with dumb bosses gave him the idea for the Web site--gives a simple answer.

“There’s a large number of people out there who work for blockheads.”