Not a story about a personal experience of my own, but rather the story of an old coworker (CW abbrev.) of mine. Settle yourselves in for the long haul boyz. TLDR at bottom but unfortunately, you can't get the full picture without reading the post.
CW and I had been working together at redacted (but think theme park) for a couple of years when our team got a new general manager (GM). New GM was fine for about 3-months, but then started to show her true colours. She began utilising her power over employees to punish them if she didn't like them and introduced multiple new stringent rules and regulations. Some included:
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a write up if you walked from into a building/store from outside areas with sunglasses on, or on your head.
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a write up if you were even 1 minute late for a shift; shifts started at 8:00am and you had to call in a minimum of 3-hrs beforehand if you couldn't make the shift, so if you woke up sick at 7:00am you had to go to work or you would get a write up, and on top of that, if you came into work sick, you would get a write up.
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no colours ie. black or white socks only, no coloured hair ties or headbands, no badges (even those advocating for organisations or causes that which redacted heavily promoted).
Those are just a few minor ones I remember. 3 x write ups would be grounds for termination. You get the picture.
GM had it out for anyone who was even slightly individualistic or wasn't a kissass to her. This included me but that's another story.
Speaking of other stories:
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One coworker who was hounded and penalised by GM committed suicide a year after the end of this story. But that's another story.
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One coworker of asian descent was once asked by GM if she had recently dyed her hair blonde to appear more white. But that's another story.
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One coworker came into work right after her grandfather passed away because she was not able to call in 3-hours early and was terrified of being written up, and was asked by GM if she “even looks in the mirror before coming to work” (part of her shirt was untucked and she had wiped off her make up with a make up wipe but missed part of her cried off mascara, so there was a small amount of smudged black mascara under one of her eyes). But that's another story.
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One coworker, who was in GM's good books, told me to be on my best behaviour one day because new supervisor (who licked the floor GM walked upon) had been advised by GM to basically spy on me all day and to write down each and every time I stood still, or leaned against something, or spoke to another coworker because these could be considered infractions. But that's another story.
Anyway, back to the original tale of woe, presented with a side of steaming hot bullshit.
CW was told she had to change her work shoes or she would get a write up. The shoes were black riding boots – nothing fancy but they went half way up her calf. Unacceptable attire in redacted where 90% of employees in departments separate to GM's wore similar boots! CW brought in a doctors note stating she needed to wear the boots as they were prescription. We were on our feet almost all day walking up and down hills constantly so your feet would be aching by the end of a shift. As previously mentioned, GM had also instilled the “no leaning” rule which meant you couldn't lean up against anything and had to be standing up straight all day, or you'd be written up. The doctor's note didn't matter to GM. She demanded CW buy different shoes, which would cost her a mint because of the prescription. She obliged, begrudgingly.
Then the mobile phone rule came in. You couldn't have your phone in your pocket or anywhere on your person – it had to be in your bag in the locker. No personal phones can be somewhat of an acceptable rule in select workplaces. Like in an office situation, if you have children and their teacher needed to contact you because they had an accident at school, it's a reasonable rule because the school can call the office and have the call put through to you at your desk. But working at redacted and in our role meant you would be regularly, sometimes constantly, walking around the huge grounds to multiple different locations with no way for someone to easily contact you.
One event happened where a different coworker's (CW2) son broke their arm at school. School rang CW2's mobile but no answer because it was in her bag in the locker. They rang redacted who put them through to the main store who then had to work out where CW2 was posted that day. They then had to put the school on hold and use the second phone in that store to call the store closest to where CW2 was working. It happened to be where I was working that day and I answered the phone. I then had to go and find CW2 to let her know the school had rung and was on hold. This whole process took around 15 minutes and CW2 was obviously livid. But that's another story.
CW was the legal caretaker of her disabled parents and needed to be contactable at all times without delay – her parents were in and out of hospital etc. When CW explained this and provided all the relevant documentation to GM, she fought it tooth and nail and refused to let CW have her phone on her person.
CW got some free advice from government subsidised employment lawyers who basically said that what GM was doing in CW's case is illegal since CW must be contactable at all times per her obligations as a legal caretaker and GM could not provide an employment situation where this was possible. CW brought this information to GM's attention which resulted in CW being rostered on for half the number of shifts she usually got, which wasn't that many to begin with, because GM had already been utilising her ability to restrict shifts given to any employees she didn't like, or who wore a pair of sunglasses on top of their heads inside, as punishment. She did this to me as well, but that's another story.
GM and CW had to have an “official meeting” with GM's higher up (HU) and a support person of CW's choosing. HU was an okay guy and used to be our manager before he was promoted and put GM into his old role. Everyone loved working at redacted when HU was manager, but he was a huge push over, especially when it came to GM – I'm not sure why.
CW chose me as her support person – she couldn't afford to hire a lawyer to come in and I had also experienced GM's wrath. I was told by GM prior to the meeting commencing that I could not participate in the meeting (no speaking at all) unless it was to ask a question I thought may help clarify something for CW. I asked many clarifying questions just to mess with her.
The meeting was a shitfight. GM brought every single one of CW's minor infractions that GM had recorded in her little book of hate, or her lackeys had reported to her, all of which were in relation to the relatively new stringent rules set by GM. She chastised CW relentlessly, causing her to start crying and then finally got around to the subject at hand, which was that according to redacted retainer lawyers, legally GM cannot disallow CW from having her phone in her pocket for emergencies, but she could restrict CW's use of it, which she did to the absolute fascist best of her ability. They settled on an agreement that CW could have her phone on her person but could not pull it out of her pocket to answer a phone call until she was in a staff room away from the view of the public (there were 4 of these staff rooms in total spread out amongst the grounds). If she was on a shift where she was dealing with the public/not near a staff room and felt her phone vibrating, she could not take it out of her pocket to confirm if it was a call relating to an emergency. She would have to radio in to notify the closest store area to advise them, a coworker would then have to come to her to take her position and then she would need to go to the nearest staff room to remove her phone from her pocket in order to check who called – a convoluted and dictatorial solution rank with oligarchy, but a slight win because she would at least know there could be a possible emergency situation and act immediately, rather than rely on others to get the message to her.
GM was utterly fuming by the end, with her curly hair frazzled and her cheeks flush red with anger at being legally obligated to make an exception to one of her ridiculous, controlling rules. It was a glorious sight to see.
I don't speak much with CW anymore. At one point, after I had left redacted and she was still working there, she told me she was thinking of looking into suing them for mental duress and would demand a monetary compensation if she did. She left redacted a few months later and started living it large, or at least that's what I took from some of her instagram photos where she was doing things she always wanted to do but couldn't preciously afford. When I asked her if she sued and got a pay out, she simply said: “there is nothing that I can say in relation to that.” So I assume she is under a gag order.
Last I heard GM was studying to become a psychologist… Of all professions.. God help any of her potential future patients.
TLDR; New general manager who had multiple ridiculous, controlling rules and made her employee's lives hell got her comeuppance when one of her rules resulted in legal ramifications.