- My supervisor began to groundlessly accuse me of theft, vandalism, substance abuse, tardiness, absenteeism, lying, and gossiping at workplace. This began after getting my HR accommodations approved for disabilities.
- I denied having done such things, but said I will continue to make sure these things do not occur. I had the paper trail, evidence, and witness to clear myself from such allegations. Nothing was done to address the false allegations.
- My supervisor fired me for the following reasons
A. Unwillingness to take constructive feedback -Every feedback given by the supervisor was met with denial, deflection, claims of discrimination and harassment instead of taking personal accountability for her actions, deficiencies, and progress.
-Thus, the supervisor is unable to provide adequate progress updates and assist her in improving her skills.
My Response:
If I admitted I did the things I did not, they would have been the reason for termination. Now, I feel that she is using my honest denial as the reason for termination.
There were several items that were true deficiencies. I resolved such issues immediately.
B. Accusing the supervisor of lying, discrimination, and harassment
-Despite her supervisor's efforts to improve communication, provide reasonable accommodation, and constructive feedback, she remained hyper-focused on the idea that her supervisor was out to get her and threatening to her success.
-Every claim of discrimination and harassment made by the employee had a reasonable explanation from the supervisor.
My Response:
She was compiling an extensive list of trivial matters (such as someone submitting a written documentation of “she looked anxious looking for something.” There was an important form no one knew of whereabout, so I was looking for it but I was not particularly anxious. My supervisor is saying I made coworkers uncomfortable by appearing anxious. I told her I will develop an efficient strategy to not appear anxious at workplace) When the list continued to grow, I directly questioned her: “I have not seen you treating any other employee in this manner. What have I done here to cause you to monitor me so closely?” Her response was “That is your perception, assertion, and claim.” I then asked “To be completely honest, the items on the list are stuff that you would never bother yourself with if it was not done by other employees. Wouldn’t you agree? Why am I being held to such a higher standard of performance and professionalism?” Her response was “Everyone is different so I treat everyone differently. You can’t come yourself to others.”
C. Distracted from Performing the Duties
-Employee was primarily focused on the perceived discrimination she faces from her coworkers and leadership. She struggled to identify issues as they happen and often laid blame on the other party.
My Response:
I was explaining her the issues happen due to how I am being treated so differently. For example, she added extra work “to ensure I perform my duties properly” I had to use a specific and time-consuming form for each duty (no one else had use the form except me)
D. Disruption
-Employee created a chaos by going above her the program director in the chain of command to make discrimination claims.
My Response:
My supervisor emotionally responded (“I am very hurt because of you accuse me of discrimination and harassment.”) to my concerns instead of addressing them. That is why I had to go to a person above her.
E. Fixation
-Employee had a hard time letting go of the past (her feeling that she has been discriminated against) and moving forward. She hyper-focused on previous negative experiences instead of working towards self-improvement.
My Response:
The events in the past were the cause of the issues I have been experiencing. I was requesting her to clarify to my coworkers I did not steal, vandalize, and abuse substance; and also to ask them to stop spreading the baseless rumors. My supervisor’s response was “You have to move on. You are hyper-focusing.” “I can control only myself, not others. People do what they want to do. You should learn to focus on yourself.”
What other defense could I come up with?