TL;DR I was on paid 10 minute break, sanctioned by the company policy, my coworker “caught” me in my parts room sitting at the desk inside, so he actually CALLED the manager to tattle on me and I was fired on the spot. I wasn't informed that the company policy dictated exactly where and how I was supposed to take my break.
For some details: I was working as a maintenance guy in a factory. I have specialized skills that nobody else on the maintenance team has (robotics) and that's why I was sought out and hired. I am a veteran and a professional with almost 9 years of experience, and I'm making around 75k/yr.
Anyway, to begin, I did the interview and things seemed to be alright. The HR lady was happy to find someone with my skillset and the Manager (we will call him Roy) explained the plan to me. That I was going to be the lead of their new robotics maintenance team. They'd be sending me to school out of state to learn a lot of things and then I'd return to teach other technicians they were allegedly going to hire. I said I wanted day shift, because I have a sleep disorder and I'm working with the VA to treat it. Roy said it's fine.
Offer letter comes. My job title is Mechanic, nothing related to automation or robotics, despite what I was told. Okay, a title is just a title. There ARE automation techs that work for this scumball company, but whatever. However, the other thing is that the offer letter says NIGHT SHIFT. I never fucking agreed to night shift, in fact I negotiated the opposite. I told the HR lady and she said “the opening is for night shift. not sure what you were told but this is what we have on file.” Okay, I guess this is just a miscommunication because Roy said I got day shift. I made the mistake of accepting this offer letter and resigned from my job at the time, assuming that my verbal promises were worth a shit. (you can guess how that went.)
I will spare the specific details of this circus, basically the whole plant is fucking disgusting and dirty, completely disorganized, and I wasn't provided any tools I needed to properly do my job. I work with PLCs and I need a laptop and software subscription among so many other things. Roy said they're “working on it.” So in the meantime I'm trying to do my job and the company refuses to fucking buy new parts or new machines even though the old ones are virtually falling apart. They all leak oil and stop working on a consistent basis. All of the other maintenance techs have been there for literally over a decade, as long as 16 years in the case of my lead technician, we call him Jay.
So my first day with Jay the dude asks me about my experience so far. I tell him the truth. HR and Roy lied to me, or there was a misunderstanding. Jay said “yeah, sounds like they fucked you.” I thought Jay was on my side at this point. Us vs Management. So I asked him, did they fuck me on my pay, too? They only hired me on at $37 an hour. He laughed at me and said “probably”
Apparently this was a fucking problem. I heard from another coworker that the dude had a very negative opinion of me and wanted me fired. Talked all sorts of shit behind my back and bitterly thought that I was “unfireable” because I had skills that nobody else in the building had. One day when I was working on a really important project (that even my management failed to understand, I was working with an engineer to program a new conveyor) I was “caught” outside by Jay when I stepped outside at the beginning of my shift to let the engineer in, because he, as a guest, didn't have access to the building. Jay said, “you've been out here all morning fucking around. What have you done today? I'm telling Roy.” So the dude tattles on me and I get written up for “abusing” my breaks. Completely fabricated, I said so during my write up and they didn't care. Sign it or you're fired. I signed it so I could just continue working on my project.
Anyway, I do my job to the best of my ability. They have me working on these incredibly old machines, so old that the manufacturer has discontinued fucking support for them. So I'm literally trying to collect scraps to MacGyver these old pieces of shit. I am doing my job well (as well as I'm allowed to) and I'm fixing these stupid things so we don't lose production volume. One day I'm working on a machine for 2.5 hours before I decide to go take my break. Instead of going to the break room, there's a parts room with a desk and a chair where I keep all my ROBOTICS parts. Because I work on ROBOTS. It's my storage area. It's quiet in there. So I took my break. 9 minutes into my 10 minute break, Jay walks in. “What are you doing in here? You have no business being in here.”
He says I have to take my break in the break room. I have been “hiding” in there way too much and he's gunna tell on me to Roy. So he calls him on the phone while he's at home, and tattles on me like an elementary schooler. Roy sends me home and said I'll get a call from HR.
So that's that. I'm fired. With terrible timing. I just moved and I had lots of moving expenses on my credit card. Bank account was drained and I was really leaning on next month's paychecks to get back on my feet. And now I'm FUCKED, because big man over there had to feel important and get me fired out of literally spite.
The only silver lining here is that at least I don't have to work there any more. My skills are in extremely high demand and I can find a new job easily. But finding a GOOD new job is another fucking story. This is such a pain in the fucking ass.