'They thought I was useless [but] within a week, they were frantically trying to get me to help them': Overworked employee quits his job after being disregarded for months; company scrambles, then retaliates with a baseless lawsuit

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  • 01
    Font - r/r/MaliciousCompliance Posted by u/Hot-Wallaby-6402 1 hour ago A Management thought they didn't need me, turns out they decided to try and sue me MOC
  • 02
    Font - For some context, this company wasn't new, they had been around for about a decade before I was hired and as far as I know they're still around but not sure how they're doing now.
  • 03
    Font - When I started there it was only about 60ish employees, which 15-20 were just hourly wage nobody's like me, I just had the luck of the draw that my team had 4 Manager's over my area.
  • 04
    Font - I was in a role that wasn't supposed to have any management elements but turns out not long after I started a few (3 out of the 4) on the management team moved on and I slowly took over some of their responsibilities. After about 6 months, I was starting to feel overworked and I went job hunting.
  • 05
    Font - Having listed the responsibility I had with this position got me a management role somewhere else with substantially higher pay, I even got them to let me have a month before starting because I wanted to give a longer notice than 2 weeks to be nice.
  • 06
    Font - After I had given my one month notice, they were very dismissive of me leaving and acted like it wasn't a big deal. They thought they could spread out what I did among the other management teams.
  • 07
    Font - They were so certain that they could handle my job description of responsibilities that they even told me in writing they didn't need a transition period or training and didn't want an exit interview. They even offered me a week early leave with pay because they just thought it was handled and that I was useless.
  • 08
    Font - But before that week was out I was getting calls, texts and emails from higher-ups and HR trying to tell me that I'm contractually obligated to help them transition and that if I didn't that they would sue me for breach of contract.
  • 09
    Font - Now the best part of this is that when I was hired I was simply an hourly employee with no special contract (besides the standard employee agreement for hourly workers) but since I had started doing management level work, everyone had ASSUMED that I was made to sign the management contract which had a clause in it that required management to work past their notice if the company requested it for handover training or anything the person was working on that couldn't be finished by anyone el
  • 10
    Font - So within a week they were frantically trying to get me to help them and I had already started working with my new company half a week early so I was ignoring their calls, texts and emails because I was diving head first into my new role. Well even after the threats I thought they would have figured out that I didn't sign that contract.
  • 11
    Font - About another week later I was served papers at my new office, and it shocked me honestly. I read over the paperwork and they were suing me for breach of contract and it listed a law firm on it obviously. So I decided to call them up and ask them if they had a signed contract and I was laughed off the phone by the law office clerk.
  • 12
    Font - (I realize I shouldn't have called them and should have gotten my own lawyer) just 3 days later I received a certified letter from the law firm with an official apology for being served and had official documentation showing they dropped the lawsuit, and apparently they dropped that company as a client for unethical practices.
  • 13
    Font - I never got another text, call or email from anyone at that company or law firm. It felt nice that I shut down a lawsuit with a single question.
  • 14
    Font - Blade_of_Onyx. 3 hr. ago Definitely wasn't a stupid idea for you to directly contact their lawyers. You saved yourself a little bit of money for something that you were easily able to handle. In fact, if you ask a lawyer about situations like this the first thing they will do is tell you to request a copy of the contract.
  • 15
    Balloon - junkyard_robot. 13 min. ago If OP did get a lawyer, they would have ended up with money. A lawyer would keep silent about the lack of contract, and take it as far as possible. Along with a countersuit for damages, lawyers fees, court fees, etc.
  • 16
    Rectangle - ItchyPolyps 1 min. ago It would have been an easy payday for any lawyer OP got. Literally just free billable hours, and then a suit for damages, and unnecessary lawyer fees. Maybe get the damages, but definitely get the lawyer fees covered.
  • 17
    Font - CreamFilledLlama 2 hr. ago I'm betting it took the company 3 days to admit no one could find the contract they were suing against. Presumably though, before sending out the "we are suing you" paperwork, the first thing they should have done is review the contract which is the basis of the lawsuit.
  • 18
    Font - dsdvbguutres +2. 2 hr. ago Putting the cart before the horse, shooting from the hip, playing fast and loose, and many other fun idioms to describe this behavior.
  • 19
    Font - beerswillinidiot - 2 hr. ago You got it shut down without costing yourself any money, big W.
  • 20
    Rectangle - whiteknives 2 hr. ago A lawyer's job is to act on behalf of their client. If the lawyer is being stupid it's 99.999% because of their client.
  • 21
    Rectangle - Oakcamp 3 hr. ago You could have counter sued for ton if you claimed they a were trying to sabotage you by getting you served in the office/trying to get you off work after they released you early etc
  • 22
    Font - Hot-Wallaby-6402 If it had caused issues I probably would have out of spite but the server didn't make any kind of scene and was very professional so it didn't raise any eyebrows (I think). The new boss was very understanding when I informed him of the situation and he had a good laugh with me after I received the certified letter. OP 3 hr. ago
  • 23
    Font - Lavatis 22 min. ago no, it honestly sounds like the clerk was laughing at the client's idiocy...
  • 24
    Organism - Fast Fee517 +2.5 hr. ago Good for you to use the experience you gained to get a better job. BS in their part to make assumptions that you signed a contract

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