If you’re going to threaten an employee for not making a bad decision, maybe don’t do it over the phone.
All content has been edited for clarity.
He Probably Should Have Thought That Through
“A ‘manager‘ threatened to fire me because I wouldn’t make some system changes that would have led the company very open to a cyber attack. I recorded a phone call with the manager where I explained the risk and that we needed someone more senior to sign off on that risk before I would make the change. He swore at me and told me just to do it, which was all captured on the recording.
He didn’t know I was recording.
At the HR meeting where he was going to effectively fire me, I insisted on bringing representation, and at the time, the policy said I could bring whoever I wanted. So I chose his boss.
The meeting started, the ‘manager’ cited insubordination and I just sat there. When they eventually said they were giving me formal notice, I just asked ‘Are you sure?’ He replied yes. My representative (his boss) at this point had said nothing.
It was at this point I played the recording.
I was asked to leave the room. I was called back 15 minutes later, apologized to, given a pay rise, and informed that the ‘manager’ would no longer be working on this client site. Or any client site we supported.”
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