Have you ever been fired and/or laid off from a job?

[UrbScotty]

I haven't, but I almost was recently.

Long story.

[1gobluedem]

1. But now I consider it an honor

Since I was fired from right-winger, Tom Monaghan's Domino's Pizza. I was going to quit anyway (just couldn't do PR for someone whose views I couldn't stand) when they made it easier by firing me and giving me 6 months of unemployment while I looked for a job I could stand.

[Left_Winger]

2. Laid off twice within three years

First time was during the S&L scandal of 1989-91 and then when my next employer sold out to a larger bank.

[ucmike]

3. was laid off by a small, mismanaged telecom service comp.

it didn't help that our main product was being made obsolete by high speed internet and fiber networks. our office was in maryland, i was the only tech in the ny/nj/pa market and wasn't allowed to say no to anyone. so if two customers wanted me on opposite ends of the state at the same time i was supposed to accomodate. it didn't help that our customers were large military-industrial type telecom providers who were also poorly managed. it really didn't help when the owner of the company constantly blamed his mistakes on the field techs and went fundamental christian on us. he started sending out copies of some christian family manual and suggesting that imbalance in our family lives was the reason his company was failing. finally i went to work in maryland for a few weeks and saw his car had a bumpersticker that said "evolution is science fiction". i knew my days were numbered.

i'm still looking, i spent most of this year working doing construction jobs for a couple customers but that ran its course. moments ago i applied for a job doing installations of solar equipment, wish me luck.

[LostinVA]

4. Fired in 1991 for being gay -- yup.

[coldiggs]

9. That is awful, is that even legal?

[LostinVA]

20. Of course it is, unless your company or city says it's not

And, this was a big company, WALDENBOOKS. They even gave me bad references for a while, telling people I stole from them! This was in a military town, and the whole staff were major Freepers. That stopped when a friend called making believe she was a lawyer.

If it happened now, I would raise so much hell they would be giving me a zillion bucks to quit talking to the press.

Oh! IT WAS WALDENBOOKS.

Worst thing? I hadn't come out to anyone. They suspected,a nd went into my locker and through my stuff -- I had an "Advocate" in my bag. This IS illegal (opening a bag).

[madeline_con]

23. "IT WAS WALDENBOOKS"

I thought that should be repeated. :)

[Mutley]

28. WALDENBOOKS?!

Fuck! I won't be shopping there anymore. Thank god I never bought their discount thingy.

I'm sorry LostinVA. :hug:

[Ally McLesbian]

34. I believe...

either Borders or B&N owns Waldenbooks now.

In any case, even if gays are a protected class, they CAN be fired with another excuse (and there HAS to be an excuse - like wrong eye color, even, or getting late to work for the first time in 2 years) if the employer is determined enough.

I learned this the hard way in San Francisco. That's why I am in Los Angeles now, even though the OC freepers and the conservative immigrants are pushing my patience thin.

[XemaSab]

44. Borders

I had a friend who got canned for calling Dr Laura a hatemonger. :P

[Ally McLesbian]

49. Borders is, of course, also linked to Amazon.com

which, according to BuyBlue, is quite Republican...

[Ally McLesbian]

38. Bad references

"They even gave me bad references for a while, telling people I stole from them!"

Unfortunately, Northrop-Grumman pulled the same shit on me in Silicon Valley late in '99. Not because I'm gay or trans, but because I am Asian (this was during the Wen Ho Lee scandal, when an innocent TAIWANESE-American's mistake supposedly translated into a massive spying operation by MAINLAND China). I was working there as a computer technician, and had to enter "US CITIZEN ONLY" areas often (and I am). I was accused of doing tons of crap that I never, ever did.

I never got another job in IT again, and was lucky to even get unemployment benefits.

After this happened, I booked a roundtrip ticket to Amsterdam, vowing to throw away the return portion - but when I got confronted by racist/sexist/homophobic Surinamese thugs on arrival, I came back right away. Apparently the Dutch tolerance includes tolerance for sexism and homophobia as long as it's foreign in origin.

Back to the topic, I changed my name and re-entered the workforce as a San Francisco secretary the next year. Then my transgender status caught up with me, and I ended up leaving the Bay Area, broken and bitter.

The Lee scandal happened during Bill Richardson's watch as Energy Secretary for Clinton, and I hold him accountable for my job loss. If you want to see me vote Republican, the surest way would be to nominate Richardson for Democratic prez candidate in '08.

[Servotron]

10. I think I got fired for being gay once.

Funny thing is, I'm straight. The boss just jumped to conclusions because I had some very openly gay friends who visited the business. Classic case of "guilt by association" apparently.

[madeline_con]

24. LOL! eom

[skygazer]

5. Fired in 1979 for doing too much work

Yes, you read that right - the owner checked in and discovered that the guy in charge was doing zip while I (at about $85 a week) was doing everything. So he told the guy in charge that he'd better shape up or he'd get fired and I'd get his job. So my boss fired me.

This was at a greyhound racetrack - I walked about 3 kennels over and got another job.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Yep. Sorta fired once. Laid off once.

The sorta fired one was more of "after this contract term, that will be it". And it wasn't because of a layoff, it was because I did a shitty job cuz I fuckin' hated it. Oh, and I told them how I didn't like it there.

I was young.

But it all worked out, because even if they didn't extend my time, I would have left.

[DanCa]

7. I have been fired alot but I never quit.

I take great pride in that.

[coldiggs]

11. LOL your hilarious. What all have you been fired for?

[DanCa]

19. Hmm where should I start

Horizons for the blind - i used to work in the mail room helping translate braile to written word. It was all well and good to the repuke son of the owner started showing up and opening his mouth up about how great the repuke party was. When I stood up to him thay got mad and labled me a "disturber of the peace." This kid wasn't handicapped btw just a brainwashed rushite.

The worst firing I recieved was when I worked at the green house in the college. I accidently killed of half the point setta inventory. I was supposed to combine 1/4 insecticide soultion with 3/4 water but I inverted the formula. When I turned around all the plants were withered.
The manager came over to me put his arm on my shoulder and said, "Dan most of us make mistakes, but we have to learn how to spread them out a little better."
And those are just two examples of my mistakes.

[madeline_con]

27. You should be proud of that! eom

[KansDem]

8. Never fired, but demoted once because "I wasn't growing with the job."

Never quite understood that one. I felt at the time the company needed to save some money and did so by demoting some of the workers to a lesser wage. With a catch-all reason such as "not growing with the job," management could demote anyone it wanted to. I mean, how do you defend yourself against a job evaluation like that?

[azmouse]

12. Laid off from AT&T in 1985

The breakup of the Bell System just killed that company. The location I worked at
closed up completely about 2 yrs ago.

[leftofthedial]

13. I've been laid off 4 times

now, I'm chronically unemployed and officially one of those who doesn't count anymore.

[hfojvt]

22. I may have been laid off 4 times as well

but they were kinda mass lay-offs. First time I was a part-timer, and the other times I was working as a temp. I only had a week in when they laid off all 60 temps. Another time my supervisor was playing games with the different temp services. He laid off all the people working through my temp service and suggested they sign up with the other service.

I was also fired, just before my 40th birthday, although I expected it for at least a couple months.

[raccoon]

53. How old are you? nt

[Oeditpus Rex]

14. Victim of a housecleaning

The suits at the last newspaper I worked for came up with a way to boost profits: get rid of everybody over 40 and replace us with kids, since they can pay them entry-level wages, and kids also tend not to opt for 401(k)s or much medical insurance since they can't afford it on what they make.

So they unloaded seven of us. We sued for age discrimination and settled, but the settlement amounted to about four months' salary. They also kept me from getting unemployment benefits.

[Crazy Dave]

15. I got fired, then hired back at a WAY higher salary

Justice! Yeah! :headbang:

[Ally McLesbian]

16. Fired for being transgender

in San Francisco. Yes, they will give some other excuse - like "overqualification" or whatever.

San Francisco's Financial District is run by Republicans, and they use temp agencies to weed out nonwhites and other undesirable types.

Lesson here: unless you are white, NEVER work with a temp agency, and unless you're Republican yourself, forget the financial sector.

More recently though, I fired myself from a contractor as an employee, then got myself rehired as a consulting engineer at a higher pay.

[madeline_con]

26. You and DaveTheWave should start a consulting firm...

teaching people how to do that! :hi:

[Crazy Dave]

31. Thanks neighbor!

It's a small but big fee business. My boss (the owner) lost his temper, fired me, found out it took two people to do half of what I can do and that's if they could even accomplish that much so he begged me to come back. It didn't take long to find out, no production, no invoicing, no payments, missed deadlines, possible lawsuits, etc. I became very important all of a sudden.

It cost him though heh, heh, :evilgrin:

[Ally McLesbian]

33. Thanks...

... though I am not that good of an engineer, really...

Firing and rehiring myself, for me, was more of a tax move.

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. I like to think of it as "we came to an impasse"

:hi:

[UrbScotty]

59. Was it because you mistreated constituents while in the US Senate?

What do you think of your successor, Debbie Stabenow?

How has life been since you resigned as Energy Secretary?

[Ikonoklast]

18. I was fired once

The company that I worked for was unionized, and the lower-tier management positions and department heads were working uncompensated overtime, which was grieved.
We won and each of us got a three-year back-paycheck, some for considerable money (Mine was the largest. Almost a years' salary). IIRC, there were fifteen of us.
When my immediate supervisor handed me the settlement check, he told me that I could just sign it and give it back. I laughed at him, saying how funny that was.
He didn't laugh.
I was fired.
A year later when I got my job back, with back pay, I found out that everyone who received a back-pay settlement signed it back over to the company. Except me.(I had found another job by the end of the month and worked there in the meanwhile all this was going on. Made almost as much money.)
The union was "unhappy" to say the least that their own membership let themselves be intimidated into giving a fair settlement back under duress.
They notified the IRS of this illegal activity, as the employees that gave the money back were still legally obligated to pay taxes on it, and none of them had. Neither had the company declared it as income, as the cash came back to the owners.
Needless to say, the shit hit the fan.
I was untouchable. Five years later it was time to move on, and I negotiated a buy-out; a years take-home pay to go away.
What a mess that place was.

[madeline_con]

21. I've been fired more often than not, come to think of it.

People keep mentioning my attitude. :shrug:

[grace0418]

25. Fired by a very mentally unstable man so I was thrilled.

Not kidding. My boss was bipolar and had a few other mental issues, not to mention physical issues. I actually lasted much longer in the position than anyone else had, and even got to travel to Japan to meet our suppliers, something he never let anyone else in my position do. The week before he fired me I was the greatest thing that ever happened to him. But his moods and his psyche changed on a dime. In fact, he was so hard to deal with I went home crying on the bus almost every night. It was a great day when I got fired. I collected unemployment AND got into a new line of work that I like much better.

[Left Is Write]

29. I was fired from my first radio job.

Bear in mind, the owner of the radio station was heard SAYING he didn't think women should be doing news (I covered, wrote, and reported all the news on the early morning show, despite the lack of resources - like a wire - at the station; I also did a mid-morning music show). This man also called down to the control room during one of my shows and told me never to play the song that was on the air at the time ever again. It was a current hit song, but HE didn't like it, and he expressly forbade me from playing it again.

I was reassured later by some other radio friends that almost all programming people get fired at some point in their careers and it was better to get it over with early.

Mr. I Don't Know How To Run A Radio Station eventually ran himself out of business. Goodbye and good riddance.

[Call Me Wesley]

30. Never been fired or laid off,

but I did quit a few times, for the good of both parties involved, even if 'one' party wasn't able to see the 'good' then.

[cynatnite]

32. I was a waitress...

Lousy at serving food, but I rocked when filling ketchup bottles :headbang:

[Ptah]

35. Yes, and I have fired several bosses. n/t

[CatholicEdHead]

36. Was laid off from a really crappy summer factory job during college

it was a blessing in disguise.

[supernova]

37. Been laid off twice

Once between 2002 and 2004 and then again for 3 weeks last August.

I had temp jobs early in my career where I wasn't asked back. But I don't count those. I didn't want those jobs anyway.

[MrSlayer]

39. Both. Happens all the time in construction.

When the job is done you get laid off, unless you're a shoppy puke.

[Bombero1956]

40. laid off

1 week before Christmas 1977. It was the last time I was unemployed. I got hired in my current job in February 1978.

[Ally McLesbian]

46. I know it...

I am in the contracting business myself - at the employer end. When the project is over, so is your job if you are a laborer.

And of course we whine about how expensive the unemployment insurance is!

[tinfoilinfor2005]

41. When I was sixteen I was fired from a Dairy Queen

because I couldn't make a squiggly at the top of the cone. The boss told me, "I'm sorry, you're a good worker and likeable, but the squiggly is our trademark, and you just can't catch on to the knack of making it." (I had tried for weeks.)

Since then I graduated with a degree in nursing, worked thirty years as a nurse, wrote three books for caregivers of Alzheimer's patients, and now run a multi-million dollar resort in Florida. But I bet I still couldn't make that damn squiggly.

[Kathryn STone]

42. god anybody who hasnot been fired ever scares me

when I was a kid my grandparents had this saying on the wall reminds me of you:

Once upon a time....
There was a man who took out a life insurance policy on himself.
He lived with his mother and worked hard and went to church on Sunday.
He never smoked, or drank, or even kissed a maid.
When he died, his policy didn't pay-
They claimed because he never lived
HE NEVER DIED

[Digit]

43. I was fired for not sleeping with my customers!

Hey, nobody ever told me it was part of my job description!
Anyway, I was about 24 and working as a cocktail waitress at a major hotel chain.
Customers kept trying to give me their room keys, and I did not "get it".
Then, my co-worker was telling me how she was making $100 tips...still, I did not connect the dots.
I guess I was naive. I would not prostitute myself for even $1000 in tips....so good riddance!

[Ally McLesbian]

48. Good for you

And I hear that secretarial work isn't much different in some places.

One reason I got fired from those San Francisco secretary jobs was because my (male) bosses couldn't f*ck me. Literally (I'm transgender and pre-op). Besides, even if they could, my nickname says I would rather get fired than allow it to happen.

[XemaSab]

45. I got laid off in August

This is not the time or the place for a long rant, but I'm not a botanist, and I'm not qualified to write the botany sections of environmental documents.

And what's more, I HATE DEVELOPERS AND I FUCKING HATE WAL-MART. SO FUCK 'EM!!!!!

(To translate: our clients were assholes).

[TOhioLiberal]

47. Laid off twice...

...and fired recently.

My First lay-off was from CVS. They closed all the Toledo Area stores, so bye-bye job. Sucked because we were informed of the closing 10 days before Christmas 2002. We were not allowed to talk to the customers about it until after New Years day. Still had to be happy and smiley in the interim.

Second was from Convergys. We did telephone tech support. At the time I hated working there, but now I miss it. We were mandatory full-time employees(!) There was often long periods of time with no phone calls (especially 3rd shift, which I worked). We couldn't go home, because you never knew when the next big rush would be...and we couldn't stay on the phones because it would screw up the 'calls per rep per hour metric' or whatever they called it. So they would leave a minimum number of people on the phone and the rest would go to the lounge or just log off the phone and sit. The beauty of it? Still got paid! Moved operations from Toledo in February 2004.

I just got fired from RGIS an inventory company. I couldn't pass their '8 minute speed test' so they let me go. It wasn't like I was working anyway, I think I worked a total of 2 whole days in December.
Let go on Dec 21st.

[Z_I_Peevey]

50. Fired once, laid off once.

My first and only firing...I was 21 or 22...it was quite a shocker, since I still believed that if you did a good job, you'd be recognized and rewarded. I was so young.

Laid off I guess is the appropriate term for the other situation. My boss lost an election and the new guy wanted the staff to resign en mass and then reapply for our old jobs. I declined to do either.

[tiddlywinks]

51. the Donelson Pike Budget Hotel

I didn't fit their profile or something.
The blonde manager took me into a conference room and told me that.
I had only been there 3? weeks. That time is a blur for me now.

In addition to being the front desk clerk, they wanted me to drive a large shuttle bus. I had backed it into a customer's car in their parking lot the day before. I wonder if that had anything to do with it. :shrug:

[malmapus]

52. Trying to count the times I've been laid off since ** took power

Makes me miss the 90s all the more lol. But yeah, think 5 times in as many years, such a strong economy.

[datasuspect]

54. i used to turn down work

in the 90s.

now . . .


crickets.

[malmapus]

55. Same here, actually got annoyed by the calls from headhunters

Now seems I send out resumes to a human resouces black hole in the internet.

[datasuspect]

56. and the shit they want you to do

for half the pay.

[malmapus]

57. Tell me about it

Looking at that scenario right now, the NOC I've been contracting at for almost two years just got bought by another company. They gave my company a 3 month notice, so having to re-apply for my job with the new company that since it took over has been cutting services to make things more "cost efficient" (wondering if there will be a pay cut), in the meantime also doing the job search yet again.

[SharonRB]

58. I worked for a small law firm when I graduated from college

back in '71, right after I got married. I was a secretary at the time. I was out sick for a week and they fired me -- through the mail, no less. To this day, I think it was just an excuse -- the main partner (there were only two partners) turned out to be anti-Semitic and I think he used my week's absence as an excuse to get rid of me. I think I was hired because I was Michigan grad, but he didn't know when he hired me that I was Jewish. He found out when I took the High Holidays off.

If it happened today, I might have sued them.