Co workers was fired today..on the spot..

[HipChick]

We were all told that we had an emergency mandatory meeting in the conference room at noon, and while we were all waiting, he was escorted out the bldg...he was not allowed to clean out his desk area or anything. I feel bad for him, he was a hard worker, and they fired him..he has two young kids too..

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Any idea what for? That's always disturbing.

[Chan790]

2. What was the meeting about? nt

[HipChick]

3. To tell us he was no longer part of the company..

and I think the company feared some type of outburst from him

[Chan790]

4. This seems absurd on their part.

He must know where the skeletons are buried.

[Major Nikon]

12. That's exactly how many large companies operate

You never know what someone is going to do when they get fired. Typically security escorts you out of the building and your personal effects are gathered and sent to you.

[lame54]

34. and they fire them on a Friday

[Initech]

35. My aunt had a meeting like that at her work.

They called people in to tell them "something big was happening". While that was going on my aunt noticed police had walked by the meeting room. Turns out the coworker in question had child pornography on his computer and was being arrested.

They don't call meetings like that for nothing.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. That's how people get fired these days.

You get escorted off the premises by security and you have to make arrangements to pick up your stuff at a later date, or have them send it to you. Business are so afraid that a fired employee will "go postal" upon being sacked that it is standard operating procedure that they treat all fired employees like criminals - which, if they already were angry or unstable, will make them even more likely to go off. And if they weren't angry or unstable, it will just make them feel even more like crap.

Unfortunately, though, once in awhile a fired employee will start shooting people. For example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Minneapolis_workplace_shooting

[Downwinder]

6. About like showing up to find the gates locked

and a bankruptcy sign on the gate.

[HipChick]

7. I left a company once...I called in via phone

to tell them I wasn't coming back..they kept me talking on, while they got all my system accounts locked..

[Angleae]

8. We had one do that last week. And another by text msg the previous day.

It was the talk of the shop considering the guy who called in was employed there for his orientation week, worked one day, called in sick the next day, then called in "I quit".

[HipChick]

9. sometimes other offers come in..

and you find its is just not for you...the least i spent a company was 3 weeks..could not find any affordable housing..NYC...and got a job offer working from home, otherwise i would be paying a mortgage and rent

[Angleae]

10. For him it was, "not enough overtime available"

However, quitting after one day of actual work is going to leave an imprint on his future employability.

[HipChick]

11. ok..fired co worker wants me to connect on linkled in

what do I do? just ignore him..

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. I'd try to find him on FaceBook

.
.
.

See what he's posting in there - don't "friend him" . .

just take a peek. You may not want to get dragged into this.

I wouldn't be doing too much about it on the web.

Employers are watching.

Be careful.

CC

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

37. You gotta be careful

While everyone likes to assume the big bad corporation is just a bunch of meanies firing for fun, it's more likely they have good reason.

I worked in corporate security for several years. Trust me, there were people who if I told you the stories you would say should have been at least suspended and banned from the building on the spot for everyone's safety that got to keep their jobs for weeks and months after because the legal department didn't think they had enough evidence.

[magical thyme]

22. only at that particular employer. beyond that, no. it is normal.

You simply leave it off your resume and applications. It never happened.

And it is very common. Somebody looking for work usually has multiple "irons in the fire." If you're unemployed or in a crappy situation, you take the first offer that comes through, but then use that to finegle better offers from the others.

Last year the lab I work at hired an MLT that had told me on the qt that he would not take a full time job at that lab because his other 2 part time jobs each paid more. Within a week or two of notifying the other 2 part time jobs that he was no longer available, he had an offer from the good lab that pays and he'd given notice. Now, he did finish out his full 30 days at the lab that had just hired him (they schedule out a month at a time), but then was off to the job he'd wanted all along.

Sometimes, the fence-sitters just need to know they're going to lose the per diem/contractor/part-timer they like to make things happen.

[hack89]

14. The bigger concern is that they will get on their computor and delelete files

I saw one guy erase 6 months of work in seconds.

[RebelOne]

21. Yes, I was laid off from my job in 2010 and

while I was in the HR office being told the bad news, the IT guy was locking down my computer.

[RobinA]

32. How Silly

I worked for a company that was perpetually laying people off. I actually lasted 12 years, but you better believe I had all my work safely at home long before I was laid off. Currently I keep my work product on a flash drive.

[Sheldon Cooper]

17. And the minute they don't escort someone off immediately, and that person

does turn around and go postal, it'll be the company's fault for not doing more to protect their employees. The company cannot win, regardless of what they do.

[B Calm]

13. Hell I was escorted out of the building once when I told them I quit.

Fucking assholes told my co workers that they fired me. So when I heard that I applied for unemployment comp and they told the state that I quit my job.

[Chan790]

15. I'd have filed an appeal.

After two appeals in many states, you get a court date and the power to compel former coworkers to appeal under subpoena.

Which annoys the company more...losing an entire day of productivity from another employee or having that employee testify that they were told by management you were fired? (remember, once that employee testifies that they were told formally that you were fired...the onus to prove you quit lies with your employer.)

[kcass1954]

20. I did that once, and it was quite satisfying.

I was fired and filed for unemployment. Employer said it was "for cause" so I filed an appeal. Three attorneys and the district manager showed up for the appeal. We didn't finish in the hour that was allocated, so they scheduled another date to continue. I called up that morning and withdrew my claim.

I had a new job 2 weeks after I was fired, and was only eligible for 1 week of unemployment. It cost them way more to deny my claim than they would have paid me.

[retread]

18. Knew a guy that was on a business trip when his company credit card quit working.

[hedgehog]

31. That is the worst!

I have a runner up - I showed up to work to be told I was laid off- and as the boss escorted me to the parking lot, he made a rude remark about my car being so old. If I hadn't thought there was a chance I'd be called back, I would have told him that if he'd paid me better, I would have driven a newer car!

[KamaAina]

19. Where do you work?!

Around here (nonprofit) we get an allstaff email with the person's name in the subject. The grim news is in the body of the message.

[magical thyme]

23. I remember when my former boss was fired from the little hi-tech startup back in 2000

This was back when we were all going to end up millionaires in stock options. She was a complete and total headcase and they were seriously afraid she would go postal.

I walked into work that morning and was greeted by my new boss and another director. One grabbed each elbow and they hustled me down the hall to an interior office that had 2 locked doors to reach it. While they were hustling me down the hall, my former boss appeared in her office door, being physically held back by the CEO and a VP, and hissed at me, "Where are you going?!? What's going on?!?"

I smiled and said, "Beats me! Guess we're off to write xyz presentation for next week!" while I was dragged by.

Once we were behind 2 locked doors, the directors told me she was being fired, and we proceeded to work on xyz presentation.

Later on I heard we missed a lot of excitement. While packing up her office, she "fell" over a table and ended up being escorted out on a stretcher. Filed a suit over her "back" injury.

[HipChick]

33. omg..

[PassingFair]

24. I was fired last Monday.

They "phased out my department" of 3.

They have been treating us badly and cutting our pay since July.
Attempting to starve us out.

I guess they finally decided to just get it over with and shit-can
all three of us "over 50" in one fell swoop.

I'm talking to a lawyer.

Management hovered over us, but they did allow us to
take our personal belongings.

They even provided a free box!

[HipChick]

25. I am sorry that happened to you...hope you get a good lawyer

[PassingFair]

26. Not sure it will be worth it....

I'm still pretty employable, despite my age.

My previous employer found out about me being sacked and
wants to meet with me about getting my old job back...

I had left THAT job because of the stress!

[HipChick]

27. ugh..BTDT...I took a salary cut and a less stressful job

that stress eats at you

[PassingFair]

28. I took a pay cut because of the stress...

and because I was sure that the company was going to go under.

While I was following the tanking of the stock of the OLD company,
the NEW company went bankrupt!

After that, my commissions were cut in half, and they hired
a bunch of young salespeople that were paid $15,000 more in
BASE pay than us "old people" (I had been there for 7 months
at that time).

They treated us abominably, but at the end, as I told my
fellow "oldsters"...they were not PAYING us enough to be terrified!

[Major Nikon]

29. Here is a good paper on the subject

http://www.aging.senate.gov/crs/aging21.pdf

[PassingFair]

30. Thank you! nt

[Kennah]

36. GE did that shit to people

They would even leverage the asshattery. In one round of layoffs, they called in a manager, told her she was being laid off, and oh by the way you need to tell all of your staff that they are laid off as well.

[davidpdx]

38. This is why you should keep a sledgehammer under your desk marked

"for emergency use only". If you know you are going to get shitcanned then just start whacking the fuck out of the computer.

*kidding*