r/ProRevenge - Tow company destroyed with a phone call

I destroyed an entire tow company with one phone call several years back I went to work for a towing company it's about all I know how to do other than paint cars which is drastically affecting my health the pay was pretty decent but we had to share trucks in the boss felt that he knew where we needed to sit in order to get the best calls this is important for later several months in I realized that I was not making the type of money that I should be making so I took the opportunity while I was sitting in a parking lot one evening to start researching the laws pertaining to employees in similar positions he was kind of an a-hole and the trucks had transponders so that he could see if we had the my dealing with the air conditioner on and a hot day or idling with the heat on a cold day he was always calling complaining about something if the wheels were not turning during my research I discovered that if he was requiring us to sit in a certain parking lot Street or any location of his choosing then we were entitled to be paid an hourly wage not just our Commission the technical term was engaged to wait however if he allowed us to freely roam about while we waited for calls we were not entitled to hourly wages and we were therefore considered waiting to be engaged I never mentioned this to him but I did start taking note of my time another month or so goes by and he decided to start coming down on me for tiny little BS things that ordinarily wouldn't even matter such as I forgot a pop-can in the cat older he actually had a screaming fit about that at this point I was tired of working there and had already found another job so I decided it was time to put my plan into motion I called him up told him that we needed to have a conversation about my final wages and that we could meet at his convenience upon entering the office I laid out my argument explained the state law and told him I expected to be paid for the hours that I was on the clock but not freely allowed to roam looking for work or able to do things of my choosing he told me in no uncertain terms would not be paid for that time as that was agreed to upon my employment I did not bother to argue as I already had mine step plant so I took my final check and I left the following Monday I made a phone call to the State Labor Board where I laid out my case to them needless to say they were very interested in what was going on in the end they came to review his employment records and speak to the driver still working when he got the bill of what he had to pay us all it was too much for him to afford so he sold the trucks his boat and lot and went out of business I never got the money owed to me and for only a fraction but the satisfaction of knowing the law just a little bit better than he did and watching it all burn was pure bliss my story starts off as mundane as anybody's five years into working for an enormous corporation my group was Riyadh this particularly Aguas like most efforts a half-baked idea ginned up by a suit in a corner office questionably planned poorly executed and terribly communicated nonetheless I was sent from mild group to a brand new to me group managed by Jim Jim seemed an okay fellow with a dry sense of humor and a British accent that lulled me into thinking he was a decent guy working for Jim was ok he was never available and when we did meet maybe once a month had barked off a list of things for me to do then say he had a conflict and had to go to another call I was floundering a little but felt I had a handle on things during my first annual review via phone Jim offered up vanilla platitudes about how things were going well while I heard him distractedly typing away atoms from people pinging him he paused when he got to my salary and hedged a bit as though I got you a small increase i couldent get you much to be frank I'm not going to question how anyone arrives at their salary level but you make way more than the other people on my team it was awkward but not the first time I've had such a pointed salary discussion with a male manager it's never been a talking point with any of the women who managed me and I wondered if he would have made those comments to me if I were a man I've managed teams over the years and noticed the women on my teams seemed to make less in them counterparts so I get him an anomaly but in the high performer in a 25 year uninterrupted career as I never chose to have children I've worked hard for my salary and improv of it I could get hired elsewhere at this salary in my market easily given my experience qualifications and certifications shortly after our review Jim moved on to work with my primary group of business partners leaving me with no manager just a two-up manager had never met or spoken to and that's when the crap hit the fan unbeknownst to me at the time my salary was brought up in a discussion with his new team the fine ladies who were managers if the teams I work with in my business partner group as it's been relayed to me Jim didn't blurt out the specific details of course but when one of the women complained about something I'd done Jim said he was surprised there were issues because I was the highest-paid person on his now-former team he poisoned the world quite nicely for me going back through my emails I could pinpoint the date and time the remark was said because the tone of every single one of those managers changed as if on a dime if I asked a question I was berated because you're honest senior analyst you should know that documentation that had sufficed before was suddenly all wrong there were two particularly hostile culprits Pat who managed reporting on the systems we were migrating and her underling PM Wanda pad came at me quick fangs bared with a demand that I put together a plan to get us to the next generation of reporting which worsens due to be released until 2021 the 2021 plan Wanda her p.m. had put together looked like notes on a greasy cocktail napkin so Pat decided that since I was the Smith I should do Wanda's work for her instead Pat wanted a plan from today in 2019 through to the date of release in May 2021 according to her it had to include all the tasks needed for delivery right from the start which is not how planning works I can't predict the future so my plans usually start out detailed in the near term with increasingly widest wharfs of or generalized tasks to be elaborated in detail as we get further along this is an industry standard approach and was never a problem right up until it was Pat started hounding me relentlessly to get this full plan done for her in five days which would have been an impossible task under the best of circumstances nonetheless I put together a two thousand line long plan working evenings and over the weekend because my arms had been in pain for several months from typing at my home office and I had to take frequent breaks from the pain note I had been made a remote employee against my will and when I was reached I started asking for a desk back at work Jim always dismissed my request saying there was no space so I spent over 1500 dollars on an ergonomic chair and desk for my home to make typing easier but my arms still hurt in a time i sat at the keyboard for more than a half hour I had to backburner my more immediate pressing work for upcoming releases in the next couple of months because Pat told me I had to prioritize her work over everything else I had no manager to help redirect my priorities back to my other work and when I tried to say it would have to wait until I finished my more pressing work Pat sighed and bitterly said in front of a half-dozen people including Wanda say hurrah most seniors man here telling me you can't do the work Pat then decided to up the ante by insisting hire on every element of the plan I was creating for Wanda bye Wanda a junior level PM who not only didn't understand the systems we were using I had to tell her how to create her own status reports but wrote at a third-grade level even subject verb agreement is out of Wanda's grasp but she had a chip on her shoulder and now she believed she could tell me what to do and how to do it it was like a teacup poodle trying to guide her Rottweiler Wanda was immediately and clearly out of her element and obviously so as a result every single time she was caught a fine up she threw me right under the bus shed preemptively throw me under the bus to Wanda's only talent was deflecting blame and painting herself as the victim I didn't know what to do I was having anxiety attacks my heart would start racing to 145 BPM on the couch at night when I started thinking about work I was overwhelmed and my arms were killing me and then the unthinkable happened my mom suddenly died when I told the team they were not only completely unsympathetic they were pissed I had to take a week of bereavement and this to piss them off as I was leaving the day before the deadline Pat had given me to finish one display for the 2021 project instead of packing for the funeral or connecting with my family I spent the three days before my leave working late nights trying to finish the plan we met at 5:00 p.m. the day before I was to go on leave where Pat and Wanda ripped into my plan and said they would work with another team member to fix all of my mistakes in the week I was gone finally free of the evil twins I went on leave and while on leave my arm stopped hurting after six weeks of physical therapy for my arm problems just not typing for a while helped immensely I had two days left before I had to go back to the hellhole and I was dreading it when the heart palpitations started up again I knew I Colden go back at first I decided I would just quit the day I was supposed to return I didn't want to even give them two weeks notice I hated them so much they had been so cruel about me taking bereavement leave I wanted to Efimova good and proper no two weeks notice meant it leave them hanging for their near term releases that had not been allowed to finish up my work for as well as for the 2021 plan and if I burned a bridge or my reputation so what in nearing the age where people usually retire or have a major career change I don't need to keep that bridge any longer I have saved up enough and damid my health was more important to me than these toxic people or my paycheck the night I decided to quit I went to sleep relieved and not anxious for the first time in six months I felt the anxiety leaving me knowing I won't have to work with those people ever again it felt like a solid plan then the next morning I woke up with a plan even more brilliant it checked all my boxes i whould have to go back to work i woldn't have to give two weeks notice so Theed still be fed i would still get paid and i would be able to take care of my arms that had been in pain for so long and why limited manage the anxiety that had spiraled out of control because of my hostile co-workers my new and improved plan was simple take medical leave I needed protected medical leave in the form of FMLA which for those not in the u.s. provides up to 12 weeks of leave when my specific job role and salary must be protected and available to me upon my return and because it was medical leave I was automatically enrolled in short-term disability for which my company will pay 100% of my salary for eight weeks and then 65% of my salary for the remaining weeks amounts the best part of this plan is @fs overall the people I want to F over and it's all 100% legit I had been having problems keeping up at work because of all the doctor's visits I had for my arms physical therapy regular therapy for my anxiety that had gotten out of control and a psychiatrist my health issues were eating into my workday causing me to have to work early mornings nights and weekends more than ever and no doubt pissing off these people who thought I was making too much money to be deserving of any time off for doctor's appointments my team got a new manager after six weeks coincidentally just the day before I was to come back from their evenings I was sneakily logged on to work every day to catch his name and I stealthily dialed into the conference call where he was introduced to the team my 2-up manager that I've never spoken to even said at the outset I think we have everyone on the bridge this job is gonna kill won't be here son bereavement I called up the administrators of our FMLA and short-term disability plans to file my claim I got the forms and figured out which of my half-dozen doctors had to fill what out my orthopedist signed me off for 12 weeks of absence straight away because she noted had been in pain since May so it would likely take a while to heal after talking with her my PT and my psychiatrist I will likely do physical therapy for six weeks and then enroll in a program for anxiety and stress management for the remaining six weeks before returning all covered by my insurance and all three because I met my out-of-pocket maximum half way through the year due to a hospital stay for a different medical issue the night before I was due back i sat there grinning while looking at the next morning's 8 a.m. calendar invite from Wanda in her illiterate fashion she had written it is important all crucial partners makes every effort to attend this call like most of Wanda's obnoxiously illiterate declarations it was a dig at me because it said in my last call with her and Pat that I might not be able to log on until 9 a.m. on the day I returned from leave I opened a new window and typed out to my new manager dear Phil I hate that this is our first introduction to each other but while I was attending my mother's funeral an ongoing medical issue resurfaced and I need to take medical leave immediately I went on to inform him had been hospitalized a couple months back and there were other issues that were preventing me from returning to work and he could get the details from my prior manager Jim not that Jim paid a damn bit of attention to the MLS I sent him detailing my doctor's visits etcetera even as he had moved on from being my manager because I still had to let him know about all my absences until I got a new manager as things got worse at work I became more clear in my details about my pain with type and getting worse hoping it might make Jim realize the situation was getting worse but he never listened so here I sit on a beautiful fall Friday morning getting paid 100% of my salary to write this Jim wasn't happy about my salary when I was working for him I wonder how happy he is about my salary knowing him not having to work for it right now when I return I won't be on the two projects without coming releases one will have already released the other will release less than four weeks after I come back so fear fed on that I wonder if they've figured out the test documents for November haven't been signed off yet I was supposed to finalize them for sig North but Pat forced me to prioritize Wanda's 2000 t-1 projects over the November work so the test documents are still sitting locally on my work desktop unter shade I will also be returning with the requirement for accommodations which I am now entitled to as I've learned I qualify for the Mondavi adder no more telling me I have to work from home or hunched over a table in the break room if I want to be in the office in working with an occupational therapist to draft up what those accommodations will be but a height-adjustable desk two large monitors and a distraction-free workspace are the top-line requirements meanwhile my treatment plans include exercise trail walks both regular therapy and physical therapy and a weekly massage as well I've added in long visits to the library to read all the books I've been wanting to catch up on and nice lunches a couple times a week to the mix several times throughout the day I look at my watch while walking the trails with my dog or just relaxing and I smile broadly thinking about Pat and wander and Wanda's important project planned for 2021 wonder what poor Sal Steve roped in to help her finish it now I still may just quit right after I returned or they can just fire me it'd be indifferent about that but at least this way you'll have milk twelve more weeks of pay out of these a-holes while benefiting from all the free medical and emotional assistance my insurance plan can buy they say Living Well is the best revenge and I can think of a company or a group of people who deserve my pro revenge more thank you for watching slap that like button and comment your opinion on these stories below I'm waiting write that comment seriously have you written it yet if you don't comment you make a bunny cry somewhere you're not that kind of person I know anyways peace out and catch you tomorrow

Channel: PerStories

Views: 21,902

Rating: 4.8091106 out of 5

Keywords: reddit, askreddit, askreddit funny, top posts, top posts of r/, r/, r/askreddit, reddit top posts, reddit compilation, top posts of all time, ProRevenge, ask reddit, ToadFilms, subreddit, reddit stories, best of r/askreddit, funny reddit, best reddit posts, best of reddit, ask me anything

Id: QajhRLrlrHg

Length: 17min 28sec (1048 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 21 2019