For about a year now, I’ve worked as a personal chef for the CEO of a nonprofit group home. We’ll call her B. I cook in her home once a week. I’m self-employed, and I never signed a contract with her.
Five or six months ago, B asked if I’d like to start cooking with the members of her group home (as sort of a cooking aide/tutor). I said yes, filled out my W4 and I9, and was hired by the nonprofit. (Aside: I soon learned that most of the members at the group home really dislike B).
Two weeks ago, I notified B that I was raising my personal chef rates. I’d been hired by an agency, and I was starting to get clients that paid almost 3x what she offered me. I offered her a substantial discount (compared to my standing rate for new clients), but she declined.
Today, I was fired by the nonprofit. My manager (N) seemed genuinely sorry to let me go; she told me that I added value to the organization, and the members all really liked me — but it was B’s decision to fire me. N said that B wanted the personal chef role and the aide/tutor role to be filled by the same person. This expectation was never communicated to me — again, I was working as an employee in one role, and self employed in the other, with no contract. The roles did not overlap at all. Despite both involving food, the two jobs are completely different. It definitely feels like she was just trying to come up with an excuse to fire me.
So basically, it seems I was fired as retaliation for raising my self-employment rates. Is there anything I can do? I don’t have a specific outcome in mind here — I just care about the people I work with, and I’m upset.