So I'm an openly queer person, I have been for a long time and I don't think that will change ever. I feel this is an important note to make, as I am the only person at the company who I have asked who has had interactions with the CTO this severe. Essentially, I have interacted with the CTO exactly 4 times: for an interview, for a job offer, and for two performance improvement plan meetings. My other coworkers have regularly met on more positive terms. The pip I was given came with no warning, and zero tolerance for failure. The reason for the pip was, in my opinion, tenuous at best. Several of the points made on the pip involved holding me to a much higher expectation than my peers, including one which was marked as “insubordination”, for which he didn't even try to provide evidence for, and which we agreed in meeting was inaccurate. For some reason these pip meetings were run by the CTO directly, and not through HR, and they largely consisted of the CTO roasting the shit out of me. After both pip meetings, I had to take the remainder of the day off due to the uncontrollable panic attacks they gave me. One thing the CTO said stood out in particular: “Did you know that Maryland is an at will employment state? Do you know that means I can terminate the contract at any time for no reason?”. I don't know why he would have told me this other than for a power kick, but that as much as anything left me scared shitless. However, here's the scenario I'm in now: I have a job offer that is 150% my current salary, and I am in a position at the company to the point where I'm pretty certain it may collapse without me. I have the opportunity to effectively email him: “Did you know Maryland is an at will employment state? Did you know that means I can quit any time for no reason? I quit, get fucked.” Is this a trigger I should pull? Or should I avoid burning a bridge with someone who might be discriminating against me in the first place? Do I try and twist his arm to get a counter offer?