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Fired
by a Thief
by Dr. Lynne
Curry
Question:
Several months ago, the manager in our store fired my supervisor
for stealing and appointed me assistant manager. I've worked here
for a year and didn't realize that by accepting this promotion I
put my future at risk.
Last week my manager told me he planned to leave the company. He
said he was sorry he didn't give me more warning but he'd finally
"had it up to here" with corporate and was going to take
some time off. He also told me that I was the best employee he'd
ever supervised. After talking with me, he cleaned out his desk
and left. Thirty minutes later, my former supervisor walked in the
door. She greeted me and told me that she "had talked to corporate
and accepted the manager position." I was stunned and asked
if I was still assistant manager. She said "no," that
an employee she'd worked with at another branch of our company was
moving over and would take over as assistant manager.
Since
then, work has been hell. My two "managers" sit in the
back and talk. The other staff and I work out front, however, I'm
expected to handle both the tasks I'd handled as a regular employee
and most of the ones I'd handled as an assistant manager. Further,
I'm denied the "privilege" of working overtime and so
my work quality is suffering. This afternoon, another employee told
me she'd walked past the manager's desk and seen several "write
ups" documenting my "attitude problems" and work
deficiencies. I don't want to leave my job but don't know what to
do. I'm ready to just walk out. Should I call corporate and explain
the situation?
Answer:
Because your new manager apparently categorizes you as an enemy,
tread carefully if you want to keep your job. If you call corporate
now, you risk making a bad situation terrible. For the next several
days, do your job to the best of your ability. Give your current
manager a chance to see you as a good worker she wants to keep on
board.
Tonight,
find out the lay of the land so you can make an informed decision
about who to speak with and what, if anything, to say. Call your
former manager and find out what went on between him and corporate.
Ask him whom you can trust in corporate and what he told them about
the reasons he fired your former supervisor. Do they know she stole?
If so and they rehired her anyway, she may have a powerful ally
in corporate. If not, possibly your former manager can let a senior
corporate manager know the story so this information doesn't come
from you and compromise your job.
Next,
prepare the documentation you need to either gain a new job or protest
a potential unfair firing. Ask your former manager to write you
a glowing letter of reference. Make other notes documenting the
truth about your job performance. Are there customers or co-workers
who might vouch for your excellence?
Then,
given what you learn about the corporate office, decide whether
you want to go or stay. You may decide to stay. After all, if your
new manager steals, she may not last long. If you decide to stay
and your current manager either fires you or continues to push you
around, seek out an attorney. If she fires you unfairly, you can
sue or at least use your attorney to secure one or more months of
severance, depending on the strength of your case.
Alternatively,
you may decide to find a better job. If so, exit gracefully and
give two weeks' notice. If you leave in a huff, you give your current
manager the chance to tell a prospective employer, "She quit
in a huff and left with no notice."
Finally,
although you apparently put yourself on at least a temporary firing
line by accepting this promotion; you haven't yet placed your future
at risk. If you act wisely, you can tough out a challenging but
temporary situation or use your promotion to propel you into another,
better job. After all, whom would you rather hire if you were a
prospective employer - someone who spent a year as an employee or
someone promoted in less than a year into an assistant manager position?
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