Boss from hell / poor colleague

Blue_Monkey

My colleague, has just been sacked

She is the #2 in our team and does everything and very very well. She’s been with the company for over 15+ years and does a cracking job and is really rated throughout the business, she really is a fountain of knowledge for us and holds the team together.

My boss (a lunatic) has been made to look a fool by one of our suppliers (incidentally, her best friend’s company, who have not been able to take on an account as large as ours) and now my poor colleague is bearing the brunt of this and is being used as a scapegoat.

Whilst it’s likely that my colleague will get some kind of payout, and will be well shot of this horrific boss, I just feel it’s a real injustice. Perhaps I should know better by now, but I’m shocked that loony though she is, even my boss has got the gall to do this. I hope Karma does its bit and bites Loony Boss on the bum; she’ll be up s*** creek without a paddle because she has no clue how much my colleague does/did. She won’t be able to stay as hands-off as she’s previously been, that’s for sure....

Officially, the rest of the team doesn’t know yet, but colleague has told me and another that she’s been told to go. Quite how Loony Boss is going to tell us that she’s leaving I don’t know. I expect it will be some bull about being off sick/new year new start when we’ll all know that is a lie.

I’m not really looking for any advice, just needed to come and jot this sucky situation down.

dickydonkin

Perhaps if you could put some more 'meat on the bones' there are plenty of people on here who will offer advice or relate to their own experiences.

There is employment law to protect your friend and if you elaborate on the situation, I am sure you will get some sound advice. Your friend just does not have to accept this situation.

maninthestreet

So why/how was your colleague sacked? Did she have a disciplinary hearing??

Blue_Monkey

Back in June, the day before my boss (B) went on holiday she asked colleague (C) for a report. Our supplier should've been able to pull the report, but couldn't. As boss' instructions/description of requirements was limited, rushed and the usual half-chewed piece of rubbish you get from her, my colleague did the best she could to pull it together.

B comes back from holiday, 3 days later C is due to be going on holiday. B says report is rubbish and requires an urgent revision, so C spends 3 days working all hours to try and improve it (still without adequate instructions), sends the report to B before going on hols.

B sits on report for a few days and then realises that there is a problem with one of the formulas in it... Cut a long story short, it took months to get the report sorted and C was told that it was not acceptable that someone of her seniority could get a report/formula wrong and was told to go on an advanced excel course.

The real issue was that our supplier is not able to run the reports they promised they'd be able to "Oh yes, we can run complete X reports in minutes"....

So despite initial tensions, things went pretty much back to normal between B and C. But. In the meantime, B has been severly told off by her VP and Director for not being able to pull the report, and rather than admitting that she's engaged a pap supplier who can't do what we want/pay them to do, she's pointed the finger at C.

We have another girl on our team, A, who left last August to further her career elsewhere. Things don't go to plan for A in the new job and despite hiring freezes etc, B manages to get A re-employed in April (they are like BFFs), despite there being no clear role for her to do (company took a bit of a nose-dive in the months A was at her other place, and we were all scrabbling around for work).

A's been working on a few projects and mentioned about a month ago to someone fairly senior that once her current project comes to an end, she won't have anything. Also, B has taken the credit for A's latest project so cracks are starting to show in their "friendship" and A is starting to hint that she feels like B just uses her...

So questions have been raised as to whether our team is overstaffed and seeing as B cannot justify A's work and also needs to keep her on side, it seems like C has been used as scapegoat and was sacked last week. No disciplinary, nothing. Just a phone call after a week's holiday to say "I don't want you on the team because I don't think you're up to it".

As I said, I wasn't really looking for any advice, and C is now at the point where she's going to take gardening leave and the payout. She did contemplate some kind of dismissal claim, but feels that her reputation is in tatters and that actually it's a blessing in disguise to leave.

Other colleagues in our team are now worried that if someone as good as C can get the sack, what will happen to them? C was a real "font of all knowledge" and her leaving will have a massive impact operationally.... Guess who's lined up to take on her stuff? Yep - A.

Perhaps I'm just naive to be shocked at this kind of behaviour, but I find it all just so wrong.

Again, as I said before, hopefully karma will work it's magic.

(sorry for the essay)

Sambucus_Nigra

Hang on!!!

Sacked; or paid off? Did she sign a compromise agreement? What actually happened for her to take a payoff and gardening leave?

Blue_Monkey

She will be signing a compromise agreement, so surely in effect that's being sacked with a payoff? Either way, it's pretty sucky that B has just ruined her career....

Sambucus_Nigra

Did she get paid for advice from a solicitor on this? Paid for by the company?

Blue_Monkey

The usual offering is an extra £500 to seek legal advice (choosing own solicitor)...

Sambucus_Nigra

Blue_Monkey wrote: »

The usual offering is an extra £500 to seek legal advice (choosing own solicitor)...

Did she see a solicitor though? Prior to signing anything?

Blue_Monkey

I don't think anything is signed... Doc has signed her off sick so hard to get in touch with her at the mo.

Sambucus_Nigra

Well text/email her and make damn sure she sees a solicitor before signing anything!