For context, I worked for the prosecution in my area as a legal assistant.
Late this past July, I get an email from HR at around 4:30 PM asking me to come down. My stomach drops as I make the trek downstairs to HR's office. When I come in, I make a nervous joke about them firing me, to which they say nothing. My boss walks in and I repeat myself, this time directly asking if I'm being fired.
I AM being terminated, my boss says, and she hands me a sheet of paper with the list of reasons why they were firing me. That's handy, I guess. Before I say what they were, some context:
A big part of my job used to involve sitting in on arraignment court and taking minutes, then entering those minutes later. Covid changed that. They were now emailing the minutes. They kept that change after the “lockdowns” lifted. I was told I didn't need to attend court anymore, as they were just emailing the minutes now. What a relief, right? It was! Until the start of 2023. Basically, the head honcho prosecutor and my boss talked and decided they did want someone sitting in court after all. why? Because they said so, that's why.
So the reasons I was fired:
- Didn't always go to court/left court early.
It's true. If the judge was going too slowly, or the list of people scheduled was obscenely long, I would peace out at about 9:45 (court starts at 9). If my boss wasn't in the office, I wouldn't go to court at all. I had other work to do! I'm going to be able to accomplish more and get MORE work done at my desk, not down in court. I brought this up to my bosses back when they told me they wanted me to start going again. They didn't care. Who was I to question the head honcho?
- Didn't go to court to drop off a morning file that had already been emailed down.
An attorney had been assigned a pretty serious case at the intake level, which ended up not being filed by the end of the day. In the morning, the attorney finished the intake and we sent it down to be assigned a case number. The attorney was wanting to know why I wasn't in court to let the court know the case had been filed. I told her I already did that, saying we sent it down to the clerk's AND I emailed the arraignment clerks the case number when it did get filed.
- Talked back to a judge, asking her if “it looked like I was asleep”, which my bosses found to be disrespectful.
Yeah, my mouth got me into hot water. But allow me to explain: I'm sitting in court with a judge whom I absolutely despise. Think a stretched out leathery old white lady with bleach blonde hair who over pronounces Hispanic names. She's incredibly rude to people, both defendant and attorney alike. Anyway, a defendant comes up and the clerks can't find anything on him, so they ask me. I made the mistake of saying “hmmm?” before trying to help them. The judge then asks, “state, are you asleep?” It took me by surprise, and I blurted out “Did it look like I was asleep?” I just want to make it clear that it took me maybe 1 second before responding, and she decides to be an asshole.
Well, later THAT day HR calls me into their office, asking about the morning in court. I'm honest, saying I wasn't trying to be snarky, but I was so surprised she said that to me I forgot my place. She assures me that I'm not in trouble, she just wanted to know the whole story. Should have put two and two together smh.
It's not how I thought I would leave. I had been there nearly 4 years. I made a handful of great friends. I had health insurance! And suddenly it's all gone. Super cool.
Now I work at a pizza joint, for 10 dollars an hour. With no benefits, no consistent schedules, the odd hours.
Hooray.
I know it's technically my fault I got fired, but it still sucks and I just wanted to complain about it.