Open Letter

To the company who fired me:

It's been two days and I'm still in shock. When you called me to fire me over the phone I didn't even see it coming. You didn't give me a chance to discuss it or even the courtesy of explaining why you were doing it.

You made accusations about my professional behaviour that I find incredibly offensive. Having worked for 10 years in the customer service field, with 3 of those years in a call center, I certainly have the knowledge of how to succeed in an office.

I was led to believe that my performance was great and that I was on the fast-track to promotions and other good stuff. My supervisor was generally friendly and always assured me that I was doing "just fine" or better.

Usually, if you give a problem some time, it will start to make sense.

This, I just don't understand. I really gave it my all, even when the company asked us to do things that I didn't necessarily agree with (like take orders for what is clearly an individual object and sign them up for a whole series "automatically"), but I smiled and did my job. I was encouraged and complimented and really felt like things were going well.

You have no idea what I'm capable of. You will never get to see the things I could have accomplished or enjoy the hard work I always strive to do. You fired me (and two others the next day) without so much as a consideration to my past track records (4 promotions in 3 years at the call center) or the first impression that got me the job in the first place.

You're a big company, but I really thought you were different. You're rich as hell, making 65% profit and have lawyers as good as "OJ Simpson's if necessary". I wouldn't waste my time trying to sue you for Wrongful Dismissal, but I honestly believe that if the law were fair, I'd win. Instead I have to just try and get over this , get on with my life, and be happy that I'm no longer part of a company with questionable morals.

"Finally, I'd just like to add that being fired over the phone without
being given a chance to explain and discuss this is something that I
never expected from such a well-reputed company. I am deeply
disappointed that things have ended this way. Please bear in mind
that I have not written this email to try and save my job, since that
decision has already been made without any attempt at communicating
problems to me. I only write this because my professional reputation
is very important to me. I feel that I have been misled regarding
both my job expectations and more importantly my performance, and I
truly hope that the current employees at your company have a far more
positive experience than I have. The worst part of this dismissal is
that since I was given the impression that I was doing a good job, I
still don't understand why I was fired." *

Thanks for wasting my time, stressing me out, insulting me, and not giving me a chance.

I can only hope that someday somebody else will treat you as well as you treated me.

Regards,
Melinda Peterson

* part of my real letter