My boss told me I was useless. But I felt fury not fear
I was 19 and new to the world of work, having recently completed my A-levels. This was my first grown up job. The owner of the company I worked for was a deeply unpleasant man. He would have everybody stand up by their desks and scream at us until he was blue in the face. Some of the workforce were literally terrified of him. I was new and inconsequential so stayed off his radar for the most part.
One morning however, it was my turn to feel the full force of his vitriol. He told me I was useless and ineffectual, he ranted at me and as he did so, I felt fury not fear. I’d seen grown men in this company quivering in terror at this boss but I decided that I was not going to be one of them. So I answered back. I’d never seen or heard anyone else do it there, so you can imagine the stunned silence. I told him not to speak to me like that and if he wanted to keep me working for him he’d have to show me more respect. Obviously, I was soon shown the door.
I drafted a letter saying I was considering suing him for breach of contract. In return I received a very conciliatory letter from his secretary and a cheque for £1,000.
I was young and daft really. If I hadn’t been I’d probably have kept my mouth shut and got on with it. But I’m not sorry it happened. There was a terrible culture of bullying in that place and I’m glad I got out when I did.
Andrew, production assistant, Kingston
I was stranded for three days in an outback town
I lived and worked at a pub which was in a small settlement, the only pub for hundreds of miles. One Monday morning I started work and my boss asked me if I’d noticed his girlfriend was working that morning. I had. He told me: “She’s doing your job from now on.”
It was the wet season and the tiny town was surrounded by water. The only way out was to catch the postal service plane. My now ex-boss told me he had booked me a seat on the next plane – the Thursday flight.
I awkwardly hung around for three days in my former workplace before finally getting out of there.
I was upset, but not surprised. My boss saw me as a mouthy Pom chick who didn’t respect his derogatory views. I was amazed to have lasted more than a couple of weeks.
I see it as a travel story. I’m glad a person like that didn’t like me, and it made me more likely to challenge prejudice rather than meekly accept it for the sake of a job. I was able to move to a city and find work.
Anonymous bartender, Australia
I was sacked for drawing a doodle
At the age of 18 I was sacked for drawing a doodle on a scrap of paper. It was a slow period when there were no customers and I was stuck sitting at the till, so I doodled a house and wrote “I am bored” underneath it, then threw it in the bin. My boss found out because a spiteful sales assistant fished the paper out of the bin and gave it to him.
I just shrugged my shoulders – it was a rubbish job and I knew I’d have better opportunities elsewhere. I was a good employee and it seemed ridiculous to sack me for something so minor.
Looking back, I wish I had got angry and confronted the older sales assistant about her spiteful behaviour, which was totally out of order.
Anonymous sales assistant, Newcastle
I felt like a dead man walking
One of my best friends had begged me to leave my high-profile, stable, but slightly boring job as director to join the company where they worked as CEO. The new job doubled my income, increased my budget by five times and my team was twice the size. I also got a company car and the opportunity to earn a huge bonus.
The morning I arrived I asked for the HR director. He had left the company. I knew then that I had made a huge mistake.
My friend, the CEO, held a meeting to introduce me to my team. They used the opportunity to describe a reorganisation of the department. I was not included in the organigram that they sketched out on a flip chart. I felt like a dead man walking.
Weeks later I was told that I had to leave the company. I was asked to sign a letter, given a cheque, and asked to return my company car keys. I was shocked into near silence. Speechless with a mixture of anger, disappointment and incomprehension.
I was clearly very foolish to trust my friend. I think of it as a very strange adventure. I kept in touch with several of the team at the company. They put me in contact with my predecessor. She was very sympathetic and we met for lunch with the former HR director – and they agreed the CEO was the problem.
William, director, Spain
I completely broke down, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move
After being away from work due to severe depression I had returned to my job on a phased basis. I arrived back from a holiday that had been booked more than six months in advance expecting to finally get back to normal. My manager took me aside part-way through the morning and I was told they were contemplating dismissal. He cited the fact I had missed an occupational health appointment due to my illness and inflated this one incident to imply I was being deceptive or disrespectful.
This was a clear case of discrimination, as I discovered after taking legal advice. When I pointed this out they said that I could return on a probationary basis – only to withdraw this offer without explanation.
I completely broke down; I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move. I was crying silently for what must have been half an hour. My manager had no idea what to do and just gathered all my belongings and sent me home. I have never been so humiliated in my life. This triggered a major relapse of my depression and also an eating disorder I had been treated for many years ago.
I was furious and disgusted. I am still fighting to get my life back on track and feel sick every time I think about it. It cost me my health and has completely shattered my confidence and self-esteem. The worst part is that there wasn’t anything I could have done differently to make it better. I feel like a complete failure, I can’t even hear people talking about work or their careers without wanting to cry.
Anonymous senior strategy consultant, London
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