Yesterday I got fired from my job doing pizza delivery for one of the big three. No big deal, I have gig work to tide me over until I get a new job, and it was such a horrible environment to work in that I was close to quitting anyway. So whatever, genuinely zero fucks given about being fired.
However there was genuinely no reason given, and I can't think of anything I would have done to deserve it. My assistant managers (who I worked with regularly as GM usually left soon after I would clock in) would regularly talk about how good of a worker I was and how they wished I was there more often, I didn't really have any issues with my coworkers (and even the ones I didn't like, I still wouldn't badmouth at the store or with any coworkers). I showed up to my shifts on time and got all my work done and didn't goof off. Minimum wage means minimum effort, but I'm also an overachiever and can't actually stick to that so I go above and beyond even when I'm not directly asked. I'm not trying to brag or talk myself up, but the only issue I could think of at all would maybe be attendance, and even then I would bring in sick notes and never got any kind of write up or anything so if there ever was a problem, I sure wasn't informed of it.
This location honestly shouldn't be open. The roof is slowly caving in, with several small leaks in the dining room, bathrooms, and even in the kitchen directly above the cut table. The mop area is covered in a black filth that looks like mold, and even if not mold, definitely still layer up on layer of dirt and grime. The back sinks for employee hand washing don't get hot water half the time, so nobody can truly clean their hands during any sort of rush. And right before I left, I found three boxes of product in the freezer that had expired in August, because none of the product gets rotated when truck comes in and nobody else looks at dates so FIFO is almost never followed. Labels are just changed when they show something as expired, instead of getting rid of the product and restocking properly. I honestly don't know how they continue to pass various inspections, it's by far the dirtiest place I've ever worked. But it paid the bills and it did keep passing inspections, so I put up with it.
A couple weeks ago, a new employee was hired, and drama started immediately. She cornered another employee who I'm friends with outside of work and went to the GM claiming that friend had done something to her first. We only worked together for a handful of shifts, but she seemed to absolutely hate me for no reason despite literally never saying a word to her outside of greeting her when she started (kitchen staff and drivers don't usually have much time to interact, no malicious intent there). On top of that, she seems to be getting special treatment. Friend has been begging for more hours (also gets the same compliments from AMs who actually work the same shift as them), but they continue to barely be scheduled for 20 hours, meanwhile new girl has 33 and counting as she asks managers if she can take on additional shifts. GM had pulled friend and NG into his office to confront friend about their nonexistent beef with NG. NG had a medical emergency the other day, and while all the managers on shift went to help, GM seemed extra affectionate towards her. And I've been told that NG was shit talking me to the GM the day before I was fired for seemingly no reason, so it seems extremely likely that she's somehow behind it.
The biggest indicator that she did something though apparently happened the second after I left (after being publicly fired in front of all workers on shift in a sudden emergency meeting). I haven't mentioned it up until now, but I'm trans. Currently pre-everything, but I've been out for nearly a decade now and have fully socially transitioned. I'm fairly open about it (kinda have to be since I don't really pass), but I don't tell people unless we've established a decent rapport. Yet the moment I left, NG went on a transphobic rant about me. She was shut down (by another new coworker that I only worked with once and honestly would've thought he would agree with it), and it wasn't in front of me or directly to me, but it explains a lot of her behavior towards me.
So now I'm figuring out my next move. I don't think I was fired specifically for being trans, but I have major reason to believe that the new transphobic coworker fed lies to GM to get me fired and I have reason to believe that their relationship goes beyond manager-emplouee. I have pictures of some of the worst things I saw, such as the expired product, the mop area, and a couple of the leaks. I also know for a fact that the business isn't doing as well as it once was. I worked at the same location a few years ago (all new management since then), and with a fraction of the radius, we had so many more orders and deliveries come through. They expanded the radius by a significant margin and added the store onto Doordash, but 220+ order nights are now barely cracking 180. The computers let you clock in 5 minutes before you're scheduled, but a new rule said no clocking in until exactly when you're scheduled. No more refunds at all in any scenario, employee discounts reduced from 50% to 25%. There are a lot of signs that they're hurting for cash, and posting pics onto the local Facebook community page would almost certainly make it even harder to turn a profit. And considering they get a heads up for basically every inspection to clean things up a bit, I want to see if there's any way to really communicate to the health department all the blatant violations they get away with every single day.
Two days ago, I was basically set on quitting at a moments notice and saying “fuck it” to all the bullshit I was putting up with. But fire me for absolutely no reason while engaging in shady behavior with the new employee? That “fuck it” just turned into “fuck you.”