Every post is a piece of the puzzle — how a “supportive” workplace unraveled into gaslighting, retaliation, and the fight that followed. I’m not naming names. I’m naming patterns.
It didn’t come with warning — at least not the kind you expect.
There was no write-up handed to me. No final meeting to review my progress. Just a vague comment during a casual check-in:
“We’re just not seeing the results we’d hoped for.”
That was the first clue.
In the weeks leading up to my termination, I had been walking on eggshells. The so-called support had vanished. My FMLA paperwork was in. I had followed every HR process they asked of me — even when it felt invasive and humiliating. But the tone had shifted. I could feel it in emails. In quick glances. In the silence.
The official reason for my firing?
Two things:
I ordered “too much dinner” for a client event
I missed creating a graphic for the showroom
After nearly two years of building my role from scratch, self-training, streamlining chaos, and helping a team that felt like family… it came down to dinner and a missing graphic.
But let’s be honest — that’s not why I was fired.
It was never about performance. My end-of-year review — just a month prior — had included praise. My boss even increased my bonus. I was told:
“You’re too hard on yourself. You’re doing better than you think.”
A few weeks later, I was out the door.
No one said the real reason — because they couldn’t.
So instead, they let the paper trail do the talking.
I wasn’t written up. I wasn’t formally warned. I was just… done.
And the moment I walked out of that building, the emotional weight hit me:
This wasn’t about dinner.
This wasn’t about a graphic.
This was about retaliation — wrapped in professionalism and paperwork.