Sorry for the long-winded story…
I used to work for a popular Thrift Shop Corporation.
I started part-time, but rose through the ranks quickly. I was at the first store for three years, and about fourteen months at the second store. The person that hired me was extremely difficult to work with. I left her office crying on several occasions, and considered finding a new job. When she retired, the person that took her place was much more relaxed, and I felt like the nightmare was over. She quickly recognized my potential, and had started training me for her position. (We will call her Mindy) Before the pandemic started, another store in the same chain, about an hour and a half away. Hired a “Monster” for a Manager (we will call her Jane). She was only a manager for stores that were closing in the past, so this was a new experience for her. She only managed to drag the store down, profits and morale had dropped significantly under her management and the higher ups were starting to take notice. Mindy tried helping Jane by giving her tips and going to the store to help her.
Then the Pandemic hit, and we all got laid off.
After a few months we all went back to work, and upper management decided to demote Jane, because only 2 people agreed to come back, and they said it was only because they needed the money.
original store we will call Port and second will be Las
Mindy took on dual-managing both stores. I stepped in and took on the role as the Lead Assistant Manager for Las. I wanted to help where I could, and my experience was needed at this store. I had never relocated before, so Mindy sweetened the deal by getting me a slight pay raise and promised I would be manager in no time. For 6 months I commuted three hours round trip and worked 10+ hour shifts. I never called out, and worked thru sickness and health. I built strong, lasting relationships with most of the team, and quickly became their go-to when issues popped up. I kept being told I was doing “good” but needed to pay attention to the “finer details”. When I inquired about the “finer details” Mindy always came up with an excuse to discuss it later. I SHOULD have seen the red flag here… But I was naive and trusted Mindy.(I look back and think “oh, you sweet summer child”) Mindy spent most of her time at the Port store, and required me and the other assistants to self-manage at Las. Not a problem, Las was significantly smaller than Port and it was easy to keep up with.
Now, the cracks start to show. One of the other Managers was a sexist bigot with a huge ego, and frankly hated women (We will call him Joe). He constantly argued with me over safety concerns. (I also held a seat in the safety committee to enforce any concerns) Joe went out of his way to go against my every move. It got to the point I would contact Mindy every time I needed to approach Joe to get approval, even though she kept telling me I didn't need it. Mindy knew this was a problem, but never tried to remedy the issue, and soon wouldn't even acknowledge there was a problem. Another red flag I stupidly ignored.
It was frustrating, but I figured she was stretched thin being at two locations. So I tried my hardest to work with him, even though he started showing signs of being Narcissistic.
The last straw was when he told me we were being “too safe” and it was cramping his style. This was regarding me requesting him removing some very heavy objects off the top shelf. The safety committee recognized this as a potential safety issue, because these items could fall and cause a serious concussion or even kill someone. I contacted HR and filed a complaint. He was talked to and seemed to back off a bit.
Flash forward about 3 months, I finally find a house and moved over to the area. I was no longer commuting and could spend more time focusing on making the store even better.
Upper management decided that we had built a strong enough team and Las was turning a corner. So, we all got notification that there would be a Requisition posted for Las's new Manager.
I kept checking every day, and even asked Mindy about it. no Manager application was posted for that store. But an application for another location, hours away, was posted.
After waiting and inquiring for weeks, Mindy finds me on a break, sitting in my car, and tells me Joe got the position and she was going back to managing Port fulltime. After two years of working together, building a close relationship, she completely alienated me.
Was I upset? Abso-fucking-lutely! I had sunk over a year into learning to be a good, fair manager. I read books, took online courses l and even took several courses thru the corporate office (4 hours away) to prepare myself to be the best manager I could be. I would also like to add, I was physically attacked by a customer and refused to take time off, shiner and all. I thought this was the kind of dedication they wanted and wanted to prove I could be a strong leader in any situation… Boooyyy was I wrong!!!
Once it was announced Joe would be manager, the whole team erupted. NO ONE could stand Joe, he was self-centered, Narcissism was his management style. Within a week, the team's morale had taken a nosedive, the morale that Mindy and I had worked so hard to build back up was gone in a blink of an eye. People started to quit, and customers started taking notice and the rumor mill started in the community. When confronted about the store's success, he would blame everyone else, and never took any responsibility.
Instead of quiting in a blaze of glory, like I wanted to, I stuck it out and tried to make the best of it. I had gained the trust of almost everyone on the team and was the only manager they felt comfortable bringing concerns up to. Most employees only stayed because I was there, because they knew I had their back.
He hired a new assistant manager, and stripped my title of lead assistant, and even tried to cut my pay by getting me to sign a document taking $1 an hour off my salary. This was all because the new manager was angry I made more (we will call her Karen). Of course I refused.
Karen did everything in her power to gain favor over me, which didn't work because she was so strict it pushed people away. But when confronted with this, she blamed me because I was “too nice”. The favoritism was so bad between Joe and Karen that everyone (employees and customers) thought they were sleeping together.
There was a morning I woke up late. I contacted Karen and told her I was running behind and would be ASAP. I stopped for breakfast, and even bought her breakfast because I felt guilty being late.
A few weeks later, Karen made a hurtful comment about me to another employee (regarding the attack that happened to me) and that employee was so upset they told me (gee, I wonder why). I decided to email Joe about these comments, and to give them an essential wake up call that this shit isn't going to be tolerated.
He ended up pulling me into the office and told me she didnt mean it to be rude, the continued by writing me up for being late to work, and stopping for breakfast “while on the clock”. I knew this was retaliation, refused to sign the write up and contacted HR. I told them EVERYTHING that was going on. All the way down to how I was screwed out of a promotion. By the way, Joe did approach this problem, by telling me I should have applied to the other position… Which was 4 hours away… Why would I re-relocate? I was promised HIS job.
After talking to HR nothing changed. Then one day I was pulled into the office. Mindy was there, along with Joe. They decided the best thing to do is put me on a Personal Improvement Plan. And outlined all the stuff “I was lacking as a leader.” At this point I was already looking for a job, but couldn't take anything paying minimum wage because of bills. So I felt forced into doing this PIP. I maliciously complied and played the good little worker until I was finally offered a job as an Office Admin.
By now, the team had fallen apart and we were struggling to keep people, because minimum wage is not a living wage, and Joe had ridiculous expectations. Karen also played a huge role in why people didn't want to stick around. I knew me leaving would leave a huge hole to fill, I had the most knowledge and experience, and was basically carrying the store on my shoulders. So, I gave Joe a three week notice so he had time to find someone to replace me and maybe I could train them. He dragged his feet and kept trying to get me to stay instead of posting a requisition.
Unfortunately my last week at that location, I caught COVID. My partner tested positive the night before and I didn't want to come in and risk getting anyone sick, so I called Joe very early the following morning. He told me if I wasn't exhibiting any symptoms to come in. I went to work that day, but by the end of my shift I knew I had covid. I tested positive that evening and sent Joe a picture of the test. I had two days off, so he told me I had to test again the day before I was scheduled to work. I thought that was ridiculous and reminded him that I am legally required to quarantine for 10 days.
I knew this company played the “non-profit” gambit hard, and made sure to confirm with Joe that I would get sick pay for the days I was sick, even though it was my last week. I made sure this was in text. He knew If I had been sick with a regular cold I would have been in, but, of course I was legally required to stay home. He assured me all was good and to take care myself and that he “missed me”. I am sick that whole week, and have to even hold off on starting my new job until I tested negative.
I receive my last paycheck, and it is only the vacation time I had left over. I needed to pay rent and was relying on the sick time to cover it. I contact Payroll and ask why I didn't get sick time paid for the days I was scheduled. They simply tell me “we don't pay out sick time.” I again asked them to make this right and send me the money I am owed. I even double checked my sick time accrual, which I had over 100 hours of.
I decided to push the issue and contact HR. They tell me they had a long-standing policy stating employees that don't work their final week don't get any payment. I tried to get them to understand that me not showing up was out of my control because I was legally obligated to quarantine. They stuck by the policy, so sorry. I tried to push more by essentially guilt tripping them, saying I would get evicted, and I felt my loyalty wasn't appreciated. But, nope, four years of dedication isn't enough, policy states this and we stand by it.
One of my new co-workers overheard my conversation and saw how clearly upset I was, and told me to file a complaint with L&I right then and there. I filed and a few days later they contacted me. I provided evidence that I was scheduled for 40 hours and provided the conversation I had with Joe, proving I had requested sick time, and did everything in my power to communicate with him.
L&I told me I was entitled to payment and did the math. They owed me almost $900.
After a little over 3 weeks we finally hear from my old job. They put up a substantial fight, even brought up the PIP to make me look bad. L&I of course doesn't care about that, and my old employer now owes me almost $900!
A few days ago I received a email from the HR department. They stated due to me filing a complaint towards them, I was not hireable anymore, and to not bother because I would be denied. Obviously they were pissed off I reported them and wanted the last word. Instead of playing their game, I forwarded this email to everyone I am still in contact with at my old job. Most of them responded almost instantly, a couple of them had already quit due to mis-treatment and told me the store was desperate and really struggling. They told me they would share my experience so no one would go through this shit.
Today I drove by the store and a huge sign in the window said they were closed because there aren't enough people on staff to run the store. As an extra kick in their asses, there are piles upon piles of peoples' “donations” all over the parking lot and behind store.