I was working as an E-Commerce Marketing Manager for a local small business that was a retail store with an online presence for almost 5 years. I got COVID from my mom over the New Years holiday and was home for the first two weeks of the year.
When the time came for me to go back to work, I was getting ready for work and I sent a group text to my boss and supervisor asking if I was all good to come back after the 14 day quarantine. My boss said they I needed a negative test before I returned, which was not a problem because I had a rapid test ready. I mentioned that the CDC guidelines said negative tests weren’t required to return to work if you quarantined but I had no issue giving a negative test. While I was waiting for my test results, he replied with something out of left field saying how I disregarded CDC guidelines through the entire pandemic by traveling and going to school, which he did as well.
When I got in to work, there was a weird tension and he gathered all of us around saying how I jeopardized the company by coming to work sick and since he runs “an 8 million dollar company with 8 people, he can’t afford people to be out sick.” The situation didn’t sit right with me so I contacted an employment attorney to make sure my rights weren’t violated and I unfortunately missed the COVID protection act, which lapsed in 2020(?)
Anyway, I was talking to a coworker about the tension and let it slip that I was seeking legal counsel and he narced on me. I was at work Tuesday and released on Thursday with the reason being “we can’t have someone here that seeks legal counsel.” Which to me was weird because my old boss would threaten to sue people all the time so why are you mad when I learned it from you?
Anyway, I found a new job after taking a blessed month off and have been doing really well ever since. I did keep in touch with my old managers wife and she would give me the tea every so often. Recently my old boss requested access to a spreadsheet that I managed for their Google Ads account but since I’m no longer their employee, I disregarded the message. I didn’t think anything of it until I was chatting with my old managers wife recently and she told me that the e-commerce side tanked after I left and is now closed. From my knowledge, everyone quit or left and my old boss is now the only employee.
If he was kinder to me, maybe I would have given him access to that spreadsheet but he wasn’t and now has to deal with the consequences.