I hardly ever post on Reddit so please forgive me any formatting issues.
I currently live in Ontario, Canada and work at a large retail chain. I’m going to try and make this as vague as I can because I am somewhat worried about retaliation from my employer. I have worked at this store for 4 years, climbed the ranks and am now a cash manager. For reference I am a female in her late 20’s, married with one toddler.
Last year we hired a new girl, let’s call her Violet. Violet was around 19/20, seemed super sweet and was amazing at her job. She was with us maybe almost 6 months before she announced she was pregnant. We were all really excited for her, we threw her a party and sent gifts, kept in touch while she was on MAT leave, etc. Around 4-5 months into her MAT leave, she wanted to come back because it was too hard for her to stay home all day with the baby. I get it, I’ve been in the exact same position so we welcomed her back with open arms.
Here’s where things get dicey. Violet wasn’t the same. And I know what you’re thinking, well she’s still in postpartum. Yes, but this behaviour is out of control. She started refusing to do her job, coming in late, leaving early, on her phone at all hours on the clock, taking extra long breaks, calling in a ton, etc. She was written up for her behaviour but it only got worse. It reached its peak when her and another coworker had a falling out which lead to threats, screaming, swearing, etc all on the sales floor on the clock.
I was one of the managers that witnessed this incident, and since then her target has been me. I recently found out I was expecting again, when Violet found out she threatened to kick me in the stomach to “kill it”. She made fun of my child’s facial features, she’s screenshotted my photos on social media and drew vulgar stuff on them, she’s yelled at me, cursed at me, refused to do her job whenever I am directly in charge of her, it’s gotten so extreme. She was written up for her behaviour again and again (at least 4 times that I know of) but nothing was changing, all of my coworkers didn’t understand until she started to show.
That’s right, she’s pregnant again. Our store administrator flat out refuses to fire her for fear she will sue for “pregnancy discrimination” when we know her termination would have nothing to do with her pregnancy. She is now ready to pop any day now, still threatening, being insubordinate, etc but we’re told “nothing we can do just hope she doesn’t want to come back after MAT leave”.
Now I understand a 9 month pregnant woman isn’t necessarily a huge threat to me as she can barely walk at this point, however going to work everyday and having to deal with all the stress has genuinely made me lose 20 pounds.
Fuck retail