This is so strange. I have this family member who is a lawyer in SoCal. He got his first job four years ago at a small firm and developed a great relationship with his boss. He felt appreciated and had many responsibilities. Today though he was called in and fired. He says he thinks his boss felt threatened by him. Professionally. Is there such a thing as being too good at your job? Why would someone get fired for doing everything and then some? Has anyone experienced anything like this?
I think people get fired for all sorts of reasons, and the reasons are not always what we're told, or what they seem to be, or even what we think they are, and that even the person doing the firing may not understand the "real" motivation for their decision.
Often the "reasons" are never known. My husband once lost a job, he believed because he refused to fire a person based on an illegal reason (he was an HR assistant) and because of the time he took off to take me to dr appts (in theory protected by FLMA) The reason they gave was for poor performance, even though he never had a single performance review that wasn't in the high excellent range prior to the eval they used to fire him, after giving him a project to do and then not giving him the time or resources to do it.
We later learned the plant moved to Mexico, and if hubby had been fired even a couple months after he was, he would have been eligible for an enormous severance package.
Your family member may never know why he was fired.
This used to happen in labor unions all the time. Sometimes outshining the rest of the team can get you fired, or even worse.
Friend of the family some time ago told me a story about an ironworkers union. A new guy came in and was your normal new guy - fast, energetic, motivated etc. The older union workers didn't like how bad he was making them look so they threatened him to slow down. When he still didn't, they broke his arm. True story.
Totally, if the boss was failing in some way and he thought the higher ups might be able to replace him with someone competent from within the company it would be better to get rid of the competition.
I can definitely see this happening - it probably happens very often.
I had a coworker who was friends with the owner of the business and she got fired because she was rude, but she said it was because the owner was trying to find things to fire her for because they had fallen out.
Not fired, but my current boss thinks that I want to undermine her in her job so she is doing her best to ensure that I cannot do the work I am meant to.
She runs almost entirely on emotional responses including a need to be liked as the main basis of her managment style. So it makes it hard to get it through to her that she is not under threat from me.
Though that may change in the future if she keeps this up.
There are times when a person can be fantastic in the work that they do, but the organisation changes around them and no longer needs that expertise. That can be a difficult one for both parties to handle. Alternatively he may just be too expensive in comparison with others who are newer to the profession.
Totally, if the boss was failing in some way and he thought the higher ups might be able to replace him with someone competent from within the company it would be better to get rid of the competition.
Hopefully, your lawyer friend has copies of his evaluations so that at any future interviews, they can pull them out if need be. Most of the time, employers will see the word FIRED and not look further. So it's a catch twenty two. It's possible your lawyer friend can sue the firm for wrongful termination.
Ha I got fired for doing my job right. I took care of special needs children and their mother was upset that the children liked me better. When you spend all day sleeping, on the computer, or in bed with various men your children will develop a distaste for you. Exspecially if you constantly push them away because they are "annoying"
One never knows what is going on behind the scenes. Sounds like they may have a relative or former worker they want to place. Hopefully he kept records of his evaluations.
Getting fired for being too good at your job?!
