'[My boss] was trying to throw me under the bus': Stellar employee asks for a $2/hour raise then gets fired for 'misconduct'; they're gaslit for a year before winning their case in front of the labor board

Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor

Nov 13, 2023 1:00 PM EST

We all get a little nervous to ask for a raise. Even when an employee is due a salary increase, it's still a strangely awkward encounter to try and negotiate an improved wage with the higher ups. It just feels illegal. No matter who you are, there's always a tiny voice in the back of your head that spreads doubt. I'm pretty sure that's called imposter syndrome, right?

For those of you who have ever battled your imposturous demons by asking for a raise, I salute you. However, not all of us are able to negotiate a merit-worthy pay increase in the heat of the moment. In fact, there are a lot of workers in the workforce who get gaslit into remaining at the same pay rate for months, even years past their due date! In this next story, one employee went head to head with his boss, taking him to the table over a $2/hour pay increase that resulted in an innocuous pink slip on his desk the next day. In an attempt to thwart more raise attempts, OP's boss fired him for 'misconduct'. Apparently it IS illegal to ask for a raise…

Scroll for the full story that ends with surprising triumph. Next up on the reading list here's a tale of an employee that gets quiet fired by her toxic boss, ending in another fruitful fail-win.