Hello All,
Looking for a little feedback on my recent termination. Feeling pretty shafted and am not sure if there is anything to do about it or if I just need to sulk for a bit and get over it. I live in an At Will state so that may have an impact.
I was with my previous employer for almost two decades, I moved up the latter in the company and at their request, I even moved around the state/country many times.
For about a year leading up to my termination, I had been working with my two direct bosses on relocating to an area in the state that I wanted to settle down in and be near family. My bosses were all on board with this and told me it was a done deal (verbally). I had no reason to doubt this as I had done it many times over the course of my career. I talked with both bosses regularly as time went by and was very clear with things like when my lease was up or when I started looking at houses in the new area etc.
A few months before my original lease was up, I got a letter from the apartment complex asking if I wanted to resign for another year, I brought this letter to my bosses and asked for their input, both said not to sign a 12 month extension but did ask if I could do a 6 month extension. They said that a 6 month extension would work really well due to construction set backs in the area I was going to be moving to. A few more months passed and I got another letter asking if I wanted to extend my lease. I brought the letter to my bosses and again, they asked if I would mind extending the lease. I talked to the apartment complex and this time they would only allow for a 3 month extension or a full year, when I brought that to my bosses, they said that was fine, asked me to sign the 3 months and said that they would make it work. A couple months later, another letter from my complex, talking about my lease ending. My bosses did the same thing once again, but this time, my apartment complex said I could only extend my lease for one month and then I would need to be moved out. My bosses told me to sign the extension and they would move me no matter what.
As a few more months passed by, I kept on my bosses, I mentioned every few weeks that I hadn’t yet gotten a new offer letter/relocation package. My boss kept telling me not to worry and that I would be getting one soon.
Fast forward to three weeks before I had to be out of my apartment, I went to my boss and told him that I was getting really concerned that I didn’t have an offer letter yet and that I was already in the process of buying a house in the market they told me I would be moving to. I was again reassured that something would be coming really soon.
My last week.
My boss called me on Wednesday the week before I was fired and told me that we needed to come up with a plan for me to stay put in the city that I was currently working in, he said that they were still working through construction issues and I wasn’t needed in the new place yet. He added that we needed to cross every bridge we could on finding a way to keep me in place. I told my boss that I could talk to my apartment complex once more to see if they could do anything. I also added that I could talk to the building manager of the building I worked in as they had apartments for rent as well. We agreed that I would do those things and we would reconnect on that Friday.
I struck out with both options and when I spoke to my boss on Friday, he said that we really needed to think outside the box on keeping me in place. I said I could talk to our company’s hotel reservation team and see if they could get me quotes on an extended stay hotel for a couple months if he wanted me to do that. My boss said yes and asked me to let him know what I hear. I finished the call by saying that I was fine with staying out if needed but I could not pay for it, if the hotel option is what the company wanted me to do. I mentioned that I was in the process of buying a house in the new area they were moving me to as we had spoken about multiple times already. He said ok, and that we would speak again on Monday.
Friday afternoon: I sent the email to our hotel reservation team asking for hotel quotes.
Monday morning: I got an email back from our hotel team asking me some questions about the type of quotes I was looking for.
Monday afternoon: I got a call from the head of corporate HR asking me about a company issued discount card and if I knew that my parents had used it. I told the woman no I didn’t and mentioned that I had my discount cards in my wallet and it wasn’t possible for them to have one. Corporate HR responded with a “we have them on camera and they are using it”. As we discussed a bit more it dawned on me that my parents may still have had a discount card that they were given 12+ years earlier when I still lived at home (parents/family you live with are allowed to have one of your discount cards when you live at home with them) and it turns out, I just never remembered to ask for this card back when I moved out after college.
Corporate HR lady said “ah, that makes sense, but I will have to bring this to our senior leadership team though, because as you know, it’s not policy”.
I explained that I understood the policy and that I would never allow my parents to use the card without me being present when making a purchase.
Corporate HR lady added that she could see me being written up but that should be it, she also said to please just make sure that my parents throw it away and know they cannot use it.
I said “absolutely”, and added that I would call them right away. I did call my parents and told them what was going on, they did in fact have a really old card. My parents apologized and my dad threw the card away while we were talking.
Tuesday Morning: I was fired for theft.
After all is said and done, I was fired because it was the best financial decision for a company that is having its worst financial year ever. My bosses screwed me, they told me that I was guaranteed a spot in a new area and said that they would make something happen and when it came time to make it happen, they couldn’t deliver and fired me.
Employed for almost two decades and the company used a trumped up reason to get rid of me. Something that many many many people across the entire company do (knowingly and unknowingly like myself, and I can prove it) and something that the company could easily have the IT department check and prevent, but instead they save something like that for when they want to fire someone.
My position at both locations was filled quickly by people already in those locations so they avoided any and all moving costs that they have always paid and that I was expecting.