I have a friend who was recently deceived by the company for which she works. They said that she was hired during a period of growth that had since stagnated, so they encouraged her to resign. Well, what do you know — she finds out that they lied as the company in question ended up rehiring someone. Now, according to her, the higher ups seemed content with her work, even saying that she was an exceptional employee and was good at her job. She was not in a low-level position either. She basically oversaw various employees for quality assurance purposes at a dietary supplement manufacturer, akin to HR, so it is not considered “unskilled” work/labour. She had only been there for 3 months, so she would not have likely gotten severance pay or any other form of compensation had they fired her.
Is this a common practice? What does this achieve? Does anyone have any idea as to why they would lie to her face, basically tricking her into resigning, and then rehire?
Bonus Question: is there any recourse for this kind of thing if that series of events can be proven to have been the case — deceptful?