Terminated
Winkletter • 24 Jun 2022 •
For the first time in my life I have been fired. I had a “performance review” with my General Manager who started by saying, “I am disappointed.”
Is she disappointed with how things are going at our office? No, she seems to be disappointed with my performance in particular. As she continued to speak, I thought that she was joking. Then I realized this isn’t something she would joke about.
She rolled out “metrics” that showed I wasn’t being productive and ended the meeting by saying I was terminated.
I had no opportunity to review those metrics or explain gaps.
What it really comes down to is my (former) GM didn’t want anyone working from home and I had a disability accommodation to work from home indefinitely. She has been setting me up for a fall by throwing me into work I wasn’t adequately trained for. My metrics look bad because I spent much of my day reading work instructions.
That’s not me being paranoid. I am very much in the pronoia camp.
At a certain level, though, I knew this was coming. That’s why I’ve been trying to develop my skill as a writer.
Next Steps
I haven’t talked here about my disability before. It’s difficult figuring out how much information is too much information to share online, so I’ve avoided that complicated question by sidestepping the topic.
But basically I’m homebound for the foreseeable future, perhaps for the rest of my life.
Thankfully, I’m not destitute. I have options. In the worst case scenario, I dip into my retirement fund early while I try to get on permanent disability.
I’ve been preparing for this eventuality, albeit, not as urgently as I would have if I had been more paranoid.
For now I’m planning to keep writing on Lifelog. I have a whole new set of important goals I need to focus on: getting on unemployment and disability while I try to find a job where I can work from home. This is also my chance to focus deeply on starting a freelance career.
In some ways, at this moment, I am freer than I have been in a long, long time because I have so many options to explore.
Comments
@Winkletter Sorry to hear this, Robb. What a horrible employer and boss. Crazy how this still happens and employers get away with such unfair, unethical practices.
But glad to hear you’re staying positive, and seeing opportunity in it. Freelance writing sounds like a great idea! I think you can do it. Just need to find gigs. Will be happy to help you set up a freelance writer landing page if you like (for free of course), though not sure you need any help in that area. Let me know! 😉
Things happen for a reason. Obviously the company thinks it has an airtight case to terminate someone who has a disability accommodation because you know how those cases can play out. I like your attitude and approach and glad you’ll still be writing here.