Scapegoat

By Anonymous - 29/01/2023 10:00 - United States - Seattle

Today, I was told I was being fired from my job after "5 months for poor performance." I helped lead my team to the highest possible success they’ve had the last 4 years. FML
I agree, your life sucks 965
You deserved it 115

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Did you get a new boss who doesn't like you about five months ago? I was a star at my job for 4-1/2 years then a new boss came in and I suddenly became a moron. I wouldn't be surprised if the same happened to you.

I am old enough to have seen several rounds of layoffs and firings in my career. There are two possibilities that come to mind: … (1) Employer is cutting back for business reasons and it’s cheaper for them to fire someone for cause than to call it a layoff because they have to pay into unemployment for a “layoff” and some states like CA as an example, have laws protecting the rights of people laid off, but not those “fired for cause”. If you think this is the case it may be worthwhile to lawyer up… (2) Boss has a different idea of what constitutes “good results” than OP. This could be anything from pure economics (how much did the team earn for the company) to other potentially illegal motives like planning to hire a relative, friend, or lover - If you can prove that you met the objectives given by former boss and that they are being dishonest or have other less legal motivations, it may be worth lawyering up… Unfortunately unless you have substantial savings, the most important thing you must do now is to find another job. Revenge and “lawyering up” may feel good, but they won’t pay the rent anytime soon. Maybe you can find a lawyer who will take the case on the contingency you win, but that should not be your #1 priority right now… By the way, most larger companies have policies that before a person can be fired for cause they have to have been warned beforehand that they needed to improve in most cases.

Comments

If you can prove this, lawyer up. Screw them.

I am old enough to have seen several rounds of layoffs and firings in my career. There are two possibilities that come to mind: … (1) Employer is cutting back for business reasons and it’s cheaper for them to fire someone for cause than to call it a layoff because they have to pay into unemployment for a “layoff” and some states like CA as an example, have laws protecting the rights of people laid off, but not those “fired for cause”. If you think this is the case it may be worthwhile to lawyer up… (2) Boss has a different idea of what constitutes “good results” than OP. This could be anything from pure economics (how much did the team earn for the company) to other potentially illegal motives like planning to hire a relative, friend, or lover - If you can prove that you met the objectives given by former boss and that they are being dishonest or have other less legal motivations, it may be worth lawyering up… Unfortunately unless you have substantial savings, the most important thing you must do now is to find another job. Revenge and “lawyering up” may feel good, but they won’t pay the rent anytime soon. Maybe you can find a lawyer who will take the case on the contingency you win, but that should not be your #1 priority right now… By the way, most larger companies have policies that before a person can be fired for cause they have to have been warned beforehand that they needed to improve in most cases.

Did you get a new boss who doesn't like you about five months ago? I was a star at my job for 4-1/2 years then a new boss came in and I suddenly became a moron. I wouldn't be surprised if the same happened to you.

My employer just laid off another 10k people. Ironically the people they targeted were the most knowledgeable and well paid. Made it pretty clear they're making cuts purely based on wage and not performance. To their credit though anyone laid off gets 2 months+ of benefits and severance, it's nice not working in a "right to work" state.

ODBeefalo 10

but what have you done for them lately? literal corporate line of thinking.