I got fired yesterday...

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

My shift boss called me on my day off to spare me from having to get up at one in the morning and go all the way to work to find out. Apparently, when he came in to work at two in the morning and there was a note on the podium telling him that I was to be terminated. He wasn’t given a reason.

I spent the entire day wracking my brain trying to figure out what the hell I did or didn’t do. I haven’t been involved in an incident or anything, I try as far as I can to work and play nice with my coworkers, I do my job well, give good customer service, etc.

Funny thing is, my shift boss doesn’t know why I was let go either.

I’m going to repeat that because I think it is important.

My shift boss, who I work with everyday, you know, my immediate supervisor, doesn’t know why I was fired. The note came down from The Office. When I went to pick up my termination paperwork (which wasn’t ready yet, so I have to go back) I asked him, and he looked me in the eye and said, “I don’t know what triggered this. If you were doing anything wrong, I would have told you.”

Now, Bill isn’t exactly what I’d call a great boss, but he’s a pretty straight-up guy and he doesn’t bullshit I told him that I smell politics, and he said I might be right. I know I lost my last job because of workplace politics (won’t go into detail, but it was pretty messy, and I wouldn’t play along with an attempt to get an unpopular pit boss fired on false accusations).

This whole situation just feels wrong. An order came down from a manager I have never even had a thirty second conversation with, much less worked with directly, to let me go. The boss that I work with everyday has no clue what I did, and was given no explanation by the casino manager who gave the order.

My mom, who has also had problems keeping jobs since we moved to Vegas, thinks it’s a square peg/round hole kind of a thing. The other theory we’re kicking around is that the Horseshoe is in financial trouble, but has long had a reputation for treating its employees well, having a sense of loyalty to them (which hasn’t been true for a long time- the company no longer offers company paid health insurance- it was cancelled a year ago) and wants to preserve that illusion, so instead of doing a massive layoff, they’re letting people go one by one to cut payroll, and my name was just the first one pulled out of the hat for graveyard shift craps dealers. Oh, and coincidentally, I also just happened to be the only female craps dealer in the joint

I’m getting out of the business. I’ve had it. I know that workplace politics is a fact of life no matter what you do for a living, but in the casino industry, it’s particulary blatant.

It makes me sad. I enjoy dealing craps, I really do, but I just can’t take the bullshit anymore.

#2

:frowning:

Sorry it came to this.

Have you any other prospects immediately?

#3

Do you have any legal recourse? Are you at least getting a severance package?

If your immediate supervisor didn’t know what was going on, I think you have a pretty good case for wrongful dismissal. Even if you don’t get your job back, at least you could get a little cushion to help while you’re looking for work.

:frowning:

#4

alice- Nevada is an at-will employment state, which basically means an employer doesn’t have to have a reason for firing you. Also, labor laws in this state heavily favor the employer, especially if the employer is a casino. Even if the casino is legally in the wrong, the labor board tends to look the other way.

Depending on what the paperwork says, I might have a case for sex discrimination (I told the guy at the unemployment office that I think I was fired because of my gender, but that was really more anger talking than anything), but I really don’t want the job back. I’m pretty well disgusted with the whole casino business. I know a guy who hires dealers to deal games at private parties (educational purposes, conventioneers who want to learn a little about the games before they go out to gamble), so I can get my dealing ya yas out and make a little extra money that way. Some money would be nice, though.

#5

I’m tellin’ ya - that’s why Socialism rocks…
:smiley:

#6

:frowning:

I’m so sorry. There is not much worse than getting fired but it would be doubly disturbing when you don’t even know why.

It’s apparently time for you to take advantage of new opportunities that you wouldn’t have taken had you been employed.

Good luck.

#7

I think your theory about financial trouble is right on the mark. This kind of behavior starts to happen when a company can’t meet its payrolls. The managers will soon be looking for work too. Maybe you’ll be hiring them at your next job.

#8

I’m very sorry for you Thea Logica.
You know (we’ve discussed it before) that you’re kind of a board mentor to me. Mentor may not be the right word, but you know what I mean.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune.
:frowning:

#9

I’m terribly sorry to hear of this, Thea Logica. I hope that you may find something better.

By the way, good to see you back around these boards, although not that it comes as a result of job loss.

#10

I grew up in Las Vegas Nevada (1963-1985) and have seen it all.
Though I never was a dealer, or worked in the casino’s, I have alot of friends who did, and they constantly told me about some new “pit boss” who came in and brought “his/her” people with him/her. Usually, within weeks, the “others” got fired, put on crappy shifts, or were basically pressured out.
Though the “mob” mentality has supposedly left Vegas, I have seen that it is still alive and well, and, like Hollywood, it is “who you know” and “who’s butt are you kissing?”
I think you are wise to get out…some things never change, I’m afraid.
Good luck.

#11

auntnut, it’s actually worse since the mob was pressured out of the business. Since the big corporatons took over, the business has seen the advent of the “89 day wonder”- casinos hiring people, then letting them go just before the end of a 90-day probationary period, at the end of which the emplloyee, if retained, would be eligible for company-paid health care benefits.

I once worked with a floorman who was employed at one of the really big casinos and his wife became pregnant during his probationary period- she would have been covered by the healthcare policy- and on his 89th day, he was told that he “wasn’t meeting the standards of service” and let go.

The practice has become so common that it is the rule rather than the exception in the industry- some of the larger casinos have a 180 day period, so they get to use a dealer’s services for six months before they dump them.

The worst part of it is, the people the casinos do keep beyond the 90 days tend to be less than model employees- poor dealers, no sense of teamwork, verbally abusive to coworkers, rude to customers. The mentality seems to be that good dealers who give good customer service earn good tips, and money that goes into the tip box is money the casino can’t win back (dealers are not allowed to play table games at the casinos where they work, and many places don’t even allow dealers to play slot machines). The bean counters who run the joints don’t seem to grok that good customer service is what keeps players playing, brings them back to play again, and leads to word of mouth advertising that brings new players in, and having a bustling casino full of happy people happily buying in for another $100, or $1000 is what makes money for the casino.

#12

So what? Should your sex mean that you get preferential treatment?

I’m sad to hear that you’ve lost your job,. I hope you find another one soon.

#13

um, well, actually, the 'Shoe for many years paid the quarter mil fine every year rather than hire women craps dealers. I’m just wondering if I wasn’t singled out because of my gender. I have been discriminated against in the past- at one job, my coworkers basically treated me as though I was invisible because they didn’t want a woman on the crew, until I was let go after a month on the job- an investigation revealed that there were some false complaints against me- in one instance, a dealer had gotten stuck on a tricky bet, and I suggested an alternate way of doing the math, and he complained that I was being sarcastic with him. I was the only female dice dealer in that joint, too.

When you’re the only member of your gender/racial/ethnic group in a department, and you’re suddenly let go without explanation, and even your own immediate supervisor doesn’t know why you’re being fired, there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark, er, Nevada.

#14

Why should they care if their dealers are male or female? Is it just blatant sexism, or do they think they have a “reason” for not wanting women around? (I’m asking out of curiosity, not to be a poop or anything - I’ve been fired unexpectedly before, too, and you have my sympathies.)

#15

Luck to you Thea. I hope it all works out.

#16

I’m really sorry to hear that, Thea. I hope everything works out all right for you.

Working in an at-will employment state sucks. Bigtime. I’d invite you down to Tucson, but things are the same or worse here.

My best wishes to you; you really deserve to find a job where they’ll appreciate your skill, charm, professionalism, and savoir-faire.

#17

It’s just blatant sexism. featherlouCraps is regarded as a “man’s game”. It hasn’t been too many years since players would color up and leave if a woman dealer came onto the game, or even if a woman came to the table to play. Male players outnumber women probably eight to one, except for at casinos that cater to Hawaiians. With the Hawaiian crowd, the mix is almost 50/50- and Hawaiians rival Texans as being awesome tippers.

Incidentally, I worked for two years at a casino that is known for placing a really high emphasis on customer service. It probably had the highest standards of any joint in Vegas, customer service wise, and at least a couple of times a month, when I was tapped off the game for my break, some floorperson would call me aside and praise me, saying, “You’re giving such good service, your players are having such a good time”, and doing the same things I was doing there seems to get me reprimanded, or fired from other jobs.

Go figure.

#18

Just another post saying I’m sorry Thea. I’ve enjoyed your commentary on the boards, and hope you’ll land on your feet soon enough.

#19

You might want to consult a lawyer who specializes in gender discrimination cases. Even though employment is “at will”, they can fire you for any reason or for no reason, EXCEPT they can’t fire you based on your race, religion, ethnicity, age (over 40) or gender. If you were the only female, and the only one fired, you may have a good case.

And, even better, they may be willing to settle rather than go to court, and you could get a tidy sum.

It’s worth looking into, anyhow.

#20

Sorry to hear about you job loss. Welcome to the world of the unemployed. Here’s a sympathetic and understanding hug hug.

<Tough love hat on>
Time to pick yourself back up and get moving. Join the emotional rollercoaser of the job hunter.
If you lived in the Ann Arbor area I would invite you to the next Network Downtown meeting Feb 13. Oh heck, c’mon. You can stay with me. A great place to meet all sorts of folks interested in networking. Mostly IT guys, but I’m trying to bring more into the mix (next up, biotech!). Dinner and drinks.

Or, look in local chamber of commerce sites and find a networking group near you and attend the next meeting.

Dust off that resume, update it, and highlight all your contributions over the years and special skills. Don’t skimp but keep it under 2 pages.

Have a friend or group of friends coach you with behavioral interviewing questions. Have them review you resume for constructive criticism.

Get a really GOOD friend whose opinion you trust give you the lowdown on YOU. What are your shortcomings? What can you improve? I’m fortunate in that I have a friend who knows how to tell me all about me some of the hardest stuff to hear. I’ve taken some hard hits and been hurt-to-tears, but we’ve both agreed that I’ve become a better person for it.

Good luck.

Anne