My wife works as a graphic designer in a marketing firm. She's great at her job and has never had anything but glowing reviews from her boss and a subsequent raise. This year however, she got her review, which was very good, but she was told that even though everyone else was getting a salary increase, she was not. When she asked why, her boss told her, “There's only so much in the budget for salary increases and since your husband is an engineer and makes good money, you don't need it unlike the men here.”. I was completely gobsmacked. That's just so fucked up. It just makes me so angry. I mean, I am an engineer and I do make good money, but that's not a reason to sell her short.
I've told her she could just quit and look for something else, but she's worried that could take a long time. We live in a small Midwestern city where good opportunities for graphic designers are fairly scarce, so it's not like she can just quit and get a dozen offers by the end of the week. I think I'm honestly more upset about this then she is about this though.
I really just needed to get this off my chest