Mrs. Bob just got fired

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This really sucks. Except for one little thing, she really liked everything about the job. She like the company, liked her co-workers, loved the location, and got to accomplish some really useful things.

The “one little thing”? Her boss. The company is a large medical practice, and she reported to the Executive Director (a professional manager, not a doctor). This person insisted on my wife hanging out at her beck and call, but never actually gave her anything useful to do. So she ended up going on soda-runs for her boss, fixing her computer when she had screwed it up, stuff like that. Whenever my wife took on something that needed doing, the boss would get upset if it meant Mrs. Bob wasn’t there to make another soda run for her.

The boss wouldn’t even come in to fire her. The Controller, number 2 person on the business side of things, vehemently disagreed with the firing, but she wouldn’t come in today either so she wouldn’t have to face my wife. The dirty deed was left to the number 3 person in management, who felt just awful about it.

The reason for firing her? “Not a good fit” between she and her boss. Okay, that much is true. Her boss (a woman) is crude, foul-mouthed, impatient, lazy, takes credit for the work of her subordinates, and is quick to assign blame for errors. She’s a sycophant to the doctors (who own the practice), and insists on sycophant behavior from her employees. My wife is a professional, and couldn’t bring herself to fawn over her boss.

I think the boss is heading for a flame-out, and soon. She’s replaced my wife with a somewhat nice, but dim and ill-prepared young thing who will do what she’s told but who won’t take initiative or look out for the best interest of the company. I suspect they’ll discover that my wife patched a lot of leaks caused by the boss before they could become massive gaping holes in the ship (to slaughter a metaphor).

My wife called me from her old office just after getting the news, to ask my opinion on signing a separation agreement. The unfortunate manager who had been obliged to fire her was still in the room as she called. During the call, Mrs. Bob was cool, calm, professional and efficient.

Of course, then she called me again after she got home. Crying – it didn’t help that the manager who fired her started to cry as she was escorting her from the building. Doubting herself; wondering what we should tell the kids (they’re 13 and 15). Worrying because we’d just put a deposit on a new car (a Mini Coops S – Yay!), worrying about paying for college. Worrying and second-guessing herself.

I told her almost exactly the same things that the firing manager had told her: it’s not your fault. You could not, should not, have done anything differently. Sometimes you run into psycho bosses, and that’s bad luck, but it’s not your fault.

Money-wise, we’re okay. We have money in the bank (everything she made went into savings – living, retirement, insurance, all that stuff comes from my employment ). She’ll find something else; she has great skills, great experience and terrific work-ethic.

But right now, she’s hurting. She knows this was something that was done to her, not something she did wrong. But still, it’s a big blow to the self-image, and she needs a little time for the hurting to turn into anger. Then anger morphs into resolve, and she’ll be off and running again.

But, jeez, right now, it just really really sucks.

2

I’ll say–it really does suck. Been there, done that. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. A month later I was in a much better job. I’m so glad your wife has you to lean on, and I’m sure you’ve both got your heads on straight. One question: is it a good idea to sign that exit paper in that situation?

3

ew I can relate.

In 2003, I was laid off, along with 100,000 other employees. It wasn’t something any of us did, but a business decision made by the company to cut products. Not quite on the same lines as your wife’s situation but close.

It took a couple of days for it to sink in and after that I was devasted. Mainly because I was the breadwinner of the family, all of our bills came out of my checks so it sent me into a panic attack.

There really isn’t anything you could say or do to make her feel any better. Just be there for her to cry on your shoulder and comfort her. In a few days she should be feeling a lot better. Tell her to go file for unemployment, as it usually takes 4 weeks to start processing checks. It’s not much but at least it’s a sort of “revenge” thing, because the company has to show just cause for the termination and “not being a good fit” is a lame reason to get rid of someone.

4

That sucks! Sending supporting thoughts your way.

5

Would it be possible for your wife to return once TPTB realize Psycho Boss is a drain and fire her?

Maybe a simple phone call to the Controller, that there’s no hard feelings, and if circumstances change she would be interested in working for them again.

Good luck to the missus.

6

Leaving a boss like that can be a blessing. I was sacked last February, not laid off, not a mutual agreement, I was fired. Fortunately the summer before I had moved into a new specialty and had been working very close with the vendors for that product who were shocked at my being fired. It took four months but they got approval to hire me. I’m now making much more money just on my base salary and have a significant bonus package which I’m already seeing and most important I work with people who respect me.

While I wish no ill on my former employer they are are currently asking for more consulting time and no one is eager to go. It’s a safe bet they would refuse me but it would be worth it to see the look on their faces if I showed up to fulfil the consulting contract.