I need a job. I was let go for performance. Originally, I blamed myself. I now believe that I was fired for talking about a benefit my company offered, paternity leave. Even if it wasn’t explicit, my manager and company at large did not provide the support needed for me to return to work after an 8-week absence. However, I do believe my boss was misogynistic and sinister in his behavior.
When I first returned I was told that I should “take time to catch up” however this amounted to being largely ignored for weeks. I was also put on an assignment that had nothing to do with what I was doing before paternity leave. It was incredibly difficult as this was a custom technology known by only two extremely busy people. Job duties were vague and I was criticized in every single 1-on-1 meeting with my manager for not understanding my assignments. He also not so subtly hinted at my performance being poor without giving specifics. I was reprimanded for asking too many questions and supposedly slowing everyone down.
I am not perfect, and this work environment may have been doomed from the start, but this behavior and lack of support for a new father is disgraceful. There were literal fabrications of incidents in my performance review as to why I was a poor performer. Ultimately I left of my own volition after it became clear that the performance improvement plan given to me was arbitrary. I also spoke with my boss’s boss about my concerns and was brushed off.
I don’t want to seem bitter but this kind of treatment makes me angry. It makes me angry because it is not unique. Many people face much worse treatment by bosses and I don’t want to take away from that. I think it is just another example of why we need more unions and labour protections in this country.