Almost Fired: People Say Funny Things When They're On The Chopping Block...

Holy Anxiety Attack Batman!

I've complained several times over the past year and a half of the shady business that goes on towards customers at my current place of employment. I've felt genuinely bad for even staying on, considering some of the business ethics around here... I stay because I can't handle working retail along side full time classes right now, and in this rural area / college town, that's all undergraduates can usually get - retail.

A few months back, I had a customer call and tell me that someone from my office had cursed at her (actually used vulgar language) during a service call and she wanted to make a complaint. When she gave me the date and time, and a brief description of the voice, it turned out to be my boss! Great...

Sadly, I wasn't surprised; my boss is highly abrasive and says inappropriate things all the time, such as dropping F bombs and insults at employees (myself included) on a regular basis. I'm just recovering from a bout of enflamed eczema and the doctor at Open Door Clinic asked me if I was under any unusual stress. Hah...

So I did something controversial and flat out told the customer "You need to call corporate because that is completely unacceptable, but we are a licensee and honestly nothing is going to get done; the complaint will end here."

It did not occur to me that this person was dim enough to call back several months later (yesterday) and rub said bosses nose in it, with me being the only other female employee on staff (besides the boss) so "the other girl" is pretty descriptive in this case. Busted.

So I get to work and have a letter saying my betrayal is grounds for termination - um... no it's not, unless someone wants a lawsuit - but knowing that California is an "At-Will-Employment" state there are >9000 other things she could suddenly decide to let me go for, the most generic being "unsatisfactory performance." Stabbing your boss in the back with the corporate dagger is unsatisfactory performance, right?

Regardless, the illusion of trust is shattered and now she knows how I feel, and I'm about to get fired... Since I was 99% sure my ass wasabout to be unemployed, when she calls me in her office and asked "WTF?!" I sighed and folded my arms and told her what my husband has been telling me for the duration of my employment I should:I told her her that sometimes she is -very- harsh, and some of the words she uses -are- inappropriate and sometimes she downright mocks me, and it is not acceptable. I told her that when she lapsed her medication a few weeks ago she became a completely different person - one who was pleasant, civil a pleasure to work with and she really should get it checked out. I took a breath and told her that while I did not intend for my actions to be a malicious act of betrayal, and I was sorry for upsetting her, I did not feel I'd done anything wrong; in fact I felt that because she is so harsh with everyone here but there is no one here to check her, it needed to be done.

Shockingly... I am not fired. I’m not sure what happened, really, but she seems to want me to stay until the New Year, as I had already told her I was moving at that point anyway.