I was let go after a year and a half from my ex-employer, stating that i “wasn't a good fit for the company.”
It was a very small (under 10 employees) company, primarily doing a lot of construction 'At Height', among other things. I was hired with a low-ball offer because of Covid and that i didn't have a strong background in the industry. I made the sacrifices to adapt to the chaotic schedule, and invested heavily in personal equipment.
During my time there, One employee got violently drunk in a hotel lobby and fought another employee. That fighter? Still working. Another employee was texting and driving and ending up hitting a deer while and nearly totaling a company vehicle. That same employee messed up several projects, including a roughly 250K contract, costing the company thousands to fix. These guys were messing up left and right but weren't fired for any of the wrongdoings.
But me? i had a very normal and reasonable reaction to a fall from a considerable height. I called to tell the Owner that my equipment arrested my fall, but was considered “spent”. He insisted that i could still utilize the safety equipment, even though it was compromised. This really didn't help my anxiety in the moment.
I then spoke with my supervisor. I was trying my best to maintain composure when talking about what happened. I said that perhaps i needed to talk to someone and that it probably wasn't best for that person to be my boss. They assured me that they were willing to listen and talk to me if it helped. I confessed that i was having an emotional reaction to the traumatic event and needed to decompress. As soon as i ended that call, I knew i messed up.
On the next friday, i was asked to bring my work assigned equipment and meet in the office. Once seated in the owner's office, i straight up asked, “Am i Getting fired?” He said yes. He then presented me with my termination letter stating 4 vague article violations of the employee contract, each about minor occurrences over the course of my employment. My supervisor was not present. i won't be receiving any sort of severance either.
TLDR: I was mercy fired from a greedy small business owner because he didn't think i was mentally tough enough to continue making him money