DISCUSSIONS

I was told to work on a document and found errors that I thought my boss made.

Anonymous Image

Anonymous

Welcome to Fairygodboss!

We’re the largest online career community helping women achieve their career goals. Gain access to articles, jobs, events, and a supportive network of women and allies. Membership is free, always.

I was told to work on a document and found errors that I thought my boss made. I told my boss and a few hours later I was fired for 'performance issues' at 3pm on a Monday. Does anyone find this suspicious?

Why women love us:

  • Daily articles on career topics
  • Jobs at companies dedicated to hiring more women
  • Advice and support from an authentic community
  • Events that help you level up in your career
  • Free membership, always

Like

41 comments

Share

Share your insight

Join an authentic community that helps women support each other at work. Share your professional experience or ask for advice — you can even post anonymously.

41 Comments

Join the conversation
  1. Anonymous

    That sounds like your boss was setting you up because it sounds like the document was secretly yours but used someone else's name to show you that you made mistakes .

  2. Anonymous

    Why would she do this?

  3. Anonymous

    "Used someone's else's name to show your mistakes "?

    Sorry, makes no sense. If it's someone else's it's THEIR mistakes.

    Boss sounds like a jerk

  4. Anonymous

    wouldn't they have recognized their own document?

  5. Anonymous

    The crazy thing is that she told me they kept meeting with me about mistakes I was making and they didn't.

  6. Tabatha Tuszynski

    Or they where stealing your ideas and taking credit for it

  7. Anonymous

    isn't the whole point of working on a document , fixing mistakes..... and we can prouve who MADE said document. it makes no sense at all.

  8. Colleen Hanson

    Without knowing more about your relationship with the company, it is hard to say. Had you previously been written up for performance issues? If not, I would say that more than likely you were set up by your boss so that he/she would have an excuse to terminate you. I learned a long time ago to make copies of EVERYTHING, otherwise it is your word against theirs. I have worked for too many employers who were either bullies or would drop the ball and didn't like to be called out, and quite honestly I have found that employees have very few rights in the workplace; you are truly at the mercy of your employer. My last position I made copies of each assignment I was given, copies of the original document v. finished document, copies of emails, both theirs and mine, etc. When I was terminated due to my cancer diagnosis (obviously that is not why they said I was terminated) I was able to produce 50+ documents that supported my work product output and emails that showed I was being bullied almost daily to the EEOC. My employer claimed that I was not doing my job, yet the documentation I was able to provide told a much different story! Always protect yourself moving forward!

  9. Anonymous

    I was never written up.

  10. Erica Mitchell

    It sounds like a company you should be happy to get away from, but I understand that it doesn't feel good to get fired for something like that. Best of luck with your job search.

  11. Anonymous

    This happened less than a year ago, but I'm still traumatized. Luckily, I found another job. Just trying to learn from it.

  12. Anonymous

    Unless you work for a very fly-by-night company, it’s likely a coincidence because firings involve a lot of people discussing your performance to ensure that you won’t be able to sue.

  13. Anonymous

    I'm guessing that if you felt you had to inform your boss, that he/she didn't say "proofread this for me" or something similar. And that instead he/she was trying to hide mistakes and got mad when you pointed them out.

    Yes, definitely suspicious, if you've never had any performance issues before this. And especially if those "mistakes" were on anything like legal documents, forms, tax information or employee payroll.

  14. Anonymous

    Did you share the mistakes as just mistakes or did you tell your boss that they made the mistakes? If you were accusatory then I could see them being upset but not to the point of firing you. I feel like there is a lot more to this post.

  15. Anonymous

    I just asked "hey is this a mistake?"

  16. Anonymous

    Did you have ongoing performance issues? If so, where they addressed a few days prior to your termination? If so, then the termination was justifiable.

  17. Anonymous

    Not in a formal setting . It was more 'fox this'. Nothing screamed red flags

  18. Anonymous

    Suspicious only if this is an isolated event and no other events of reprimand or correction have taken place.

    Was your goal to ask permission to correct your boss's work? Why not just clean up the document as part of your review?

    Sounds like something has been building up.

  19. Anonymous

    Metrics can be interpreted all sorts of ways and my be overshadowed by ineffective communication, style of communication, weight of certain areas of work or taking certain indicators out of context. It's unfortunate your performance was never broken down and graded for you. It would have helped you understand where you were coming up short.

  20. Anonymous

    We don't know if this person was 'coming up short' or if this was a nasty reaction by their boss who was either covering something up or had a bruised ego, so we can't jump to conclusions without more information.

  21. Anonymous

    I don't think we see the full scope, so it's hard to really provide legit and fair feedback. Snapshots aren't always a fair ask. Which is fine, sorry for your journey.

  22. Heather Mc

    All depends on what led up to this. How did you present the errors to your boss? How did she handle the feedback? How was the relationship prior to this incident? Did you have any documented performance issues (reviews, write ups, 360s feedback from peers, etc.).

    Not saying what happened isn't suspicious at all - I've been in the same boat finding errors my boss made. I didn't know at the time she made them because I was new in the role and working for her. She didn't fire me, but she definitely hated me and made it a point to act like it in front of everyone.

  23. Lisa Primeau

    This sounds like wrongful dismissal. If there is no documentation indicating that your performance was poor then you would have a case. Talk to an employment lawyer.

  24. Aimee Robles

    They should had a conversation with you about your performance before just being fired. I would think, I always had to in a managerial position.

  25. LORI-ANN BURLINGAME

    How did you approach your boss about the errors you found? Were you critical or concerned? Bruising someone's ego is not a good thing. What made you think that you work/knowledge base was superior to your boss's?

  26. Monica Alvarez-Cunningham

    Regardless of the approach, and given only the context available, that would be a rash decision and says more about the boss than anything.

  27. Anonymous

    I disagree with your post, Lori-Ann. It doesn't matter if she bruised his ego or not. I also do not see where she has claimed or acted like her knowledge was superior to her boss. She was given an assignment to do, and she did it. This looks like retaliation to me, which is forbidden in most companies. I have 20 years of HR experience and this is a clear red flag. If I were in this situation, I would contact an employment attorney and file a suit for unlawful termination and retaliation.

  28. Anonymous

    I also disagree with your post, Lori-Ann. I don't think that assessing someone's working and finding errors is the same thing as thinking that your work is superior to your boss. The reason work is peer reviewed and error checked is that we can often find errors in other people's work that they miss and vice versa. It's important to leave the ego at the door. This feels like you are blaming the person who made the post. Bruising someone's ego is not an acceptable reason for firing someone.

  29. Anonymous

    I feel as if there is some information missing here.

    What were the errors? How did you dress them with your boss?

  30. Anonymous

    I doubt it’s related. Firing someone takes more than a few hours (unless this is a very small start up company) The process to fire you started a while ago. It just so happened to take place on the same day you caught the errors unfortunately. Best of luck to you and your future endeavors either way!

  31. Anonymous

    Something similar happened to my mom several years ago.
    She was asked to work on a task, and came across a bunch of unpaid invoices. When she brought it up to her boss, she was fired the next day (after a performance review two weeks earlier during which her boss said she was "hitting it out of the park.") 6 months later, it came out that her boss had been embezzling, and fired my mom when she started to unwittingly uncover it.

    Not saying something like that is happening here; there's not enough context in the post. BUT, if it's truly out of the blue like you suggest, I think it's definitely suspicious.

  32. Anonymous

    give more details.

  33. Bosslady963194

    ?

  34. Anonymous

    Termination does not happen in a vacuum and certainly not as a result of finding errors in the course of your work. This post is very suspicious.

  35. Anonymous

    I'm just asking a question. Why do people have to be so rude?

  36. Anonymous

    It feels like a bait and switch question that's why everyone is suspicious. No context. One minute you're employed and doing your job but pointing a couple of errors and you're immediately terminated.....I don't know, but nothing adds up.

  37. Gabrielle Manna

    no

  38. Gabrielle Manna

    the lack of context here is more sus lol

  39. Evelyn Cruz

    There's got to be more to this story

  40. Jenniffer E.

    The same thing happened to me in my early 20s after only working for a company for 3 months. There’s definitely more to the story. But ultimately your supervisor was looking for a reason to terminate you, possibly because they wanted to hire someone they know. Calk it up as a bad experience and move on. You don’t want to work for someone who is petty like that anyhow.

  41. Barbara Rickman Power

    Totally, but put it behind you and move on. You so do not want to work there.

Browse recent posts

Ready to land your next sales or marketing role? 🚀💜
Hiii everyone!
I'm. Current looking for remote jobs
The Great American Job Hunt is on. Despite advanced hiring technology, thousands of qualified candidate's report being rejected before a human interview.
I am looking for remote opportunities so that i can stay at home with my grandkids.
Empowering Business Women: Inspiring Women Leaders Making a Global Impact
See more
Fairygodboss VIP
Achieve your career goals.
Be part of the largest online career community for women to find jobs, advice, and support — for free.
Fairygodboss members