Take that scenario:
I Got a Message at Work That Wasn’t Meant for Me—It Was About Firing Me
I used to be a systems engineer at a hospital network in the Midwest. I was hired to help automate database and CRM functions—nothing flashy, but I did my job well. A few days before Christmas, I got a Microsoft Teams message that wasn’t meant for me.
It read:
“Sorry for the late note—I plan to terminate [my name] on Monday. Unfortunate timing since tomorrow will be awkward if he shows up.”
No warning. No conversation. Just a stray message from my director to someone else that landed in my inbox by mistake.
At first, I was furious. I took a breath, went to HR, and asked what was going on. They claimed they had no idea my director was planning to fire me—no complaints had been made, and he hadn’t even gone through them like he was supposed to. HR said they’d “look into it.”
A week later, they fired me anyway.
I didn’t get a formal write-up, no explanation, just the same corporate song-and-dance. That Teams message was my only heads-up.
Looking back, I wish I had handled it with a bit more flair—maybe crashed the company Christmas party and made a toast about “looking forward to another 20 years with the company” before confronting the guy who tried to quietly delete me from payroll. But I didn’t. I walked away quietly.
In the end, I only had about a week of downtime before a contracting agency helped me land a better job. Still, the experience wrecked my ability to trust the people I work with.
So here’s the takeaway:
Don’t trust your employer to have your back. You are disposable to them the second it’s convenient. And if you think you're in the loop—you're not. I found out I was getting fired because someone hit the wrong button.
Stay safe. Stay sane. And remember: these people are not your friends.
Original article here:
Newsweek: Man Gets Work Message Not Meant for Him—Then Everything Changes