Artist gets fired when a shady studio director suspects they're a whistleblower for OSHA, 3 years later, they get their revenge through subsequent success: ‘I have $30k in savings and I’m booked through 2026'

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Oct 29, 2024 1:00 PM EDT

This artist let their colors fly after a shady boss wrongfully terminated them. 

Work takes up a lot of our time and when you're a starving artist in Los Angeles, spending 98% of your time in the studio working on your craft means that you don't have much time for anything else. So as artists are slaving away in the studio, they're likely not spending too they're time thinking about safety in the workplace–they're on a single-track thought process to create art.

When the stained glass painter in our next story started spending too much time in the studio, they started to notice that things were a little unsafe. Handling materials like acid, lead, and sharp glass, the artist realized their boss was largely unconcerned with everyone's well-being and was more focused on grinding out new art pieces. So when someone called OSHA on him, he (wrongfully) suspected it was the employee who had vocalized their safety concerns. As revenge against the alleged 'whistleblower', this shady boss fired them on-site, but that turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to this artist. 

Keep scrolling to read all of the details of the termination that set an artist free from the shackles of a sketchy studio environment, allowing them to become wildly successful in the span of a few years.

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  • 01
    "This firing was the best thing that could've happened for my career"
    via Tourism Australia

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Saw the boss who fired me yesterday and it's not going well for him...
    via sundresscomic
  • 03
    Three years ago, I was fired from a stained glass studio where I worked as an artist (glass painter and designer) for being vocal about company safety.
    via sundresscomic
  • 04
    The owner made me the safety person because I had come from a studio that took safety seriously. I read OSHA manuals and gave SO MANY suggestions about unsafe practices we had in the studio handling lead,
    via sundresscomic
  • 05
    acid, and order dangerous materials. After a few years of my suggestions being mostly ignored, SOMEONE (actually not me) called OSHA in 2020. The boss suspected it was me since I was the most vocal about
    via sundresscomic
  • 06
    safety and they re-hired my replacement shortly after, removed my safety person duties, and fired me after enough time had passed that it wouldn't look suspicious. They cited "lack of work" but had just hired
    via sundresscomic
  • 07
    someone and were firing me instead??? It doesn't add up... All in all, this was a place where my contributions and expertise were largely unacknowledged and unappreciated.
    via sundresscomic
  • 08
    At the time, I had been pursuing my own work as an artist. When I was fired, I had no idea how or if I would be able to make ends meet in Los Angeles... but I did. In fact, this firing was the best thing that could've happened for my career.
    via sundresscomic
  • 09
    Last night, I saw this boss/owner at an event. The studio is doing so poorly that he had to cut everyone's hours to TWO days a week. Many people are looking for new jobs.
    via sundresscomic
  • 10
    He said, "I heard you had a show," and yes, I actually have a solo show up with a major gallery, have more than $30k in savings, and so much work on the horizon I'm booked through 2026...
    via sundresscomic
  • 11
    I said, "Yes, things are going REALLY well" and flashed him a huge smile. Success is truly the best revenge. EDIT: obviously did not expect this post to go so crazy, thanks to everyone
    via sundresscomic
  • 12
    who is sharing their own stories of living well after being fired from a bad job / toxic workplace. The #1 comment I'm getting is "who tells someone how much they have in savings?" lol. I didn't. I only
    via sundresscomic
  • 13
    said the part in quotes. The other information is for you, the reader to know to help you understand where I'm coming from. Honestly I'm appalled at how many people lack basic reading comprehension skills but here we are.
    via sundresscomic
  • 14
    Also obviously this boss didn't tell me how bad the studio is doing, I learned that from former co- workers I saw at the event. The crazy thing is he literally cut hours THAT DAY so everyone was still quite upset.
    via sundresscomic
  • 15
    photodiveguy. Success is the best revenge, but if you wanna put a cherry on top, you can start hiring his guys away from him since they're only working two days a week
    via photodiveguy
  • 16
    ncslazar7 Your boss is dumb if he thinks you called OSHA. You were in charge of safety for 3 years and never called OSHA, then randomly change your mind? It was either a newish hire, or somebody whose family member was affected
    via ncslazar7
  • 17
    Tikki Taavi Doing things the safe way can be expensive and a lot of small business owners do not see anything but the money going out. They are a bit short sighted when it comes to money. It sounds like you tried to do the right thing. His failure to thrive is all on him.
    via Tikki_Taavi

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boss worker employee manager job revenge work coworkers artist working success petty revenge ceo employees petty supervisor workplace gallery company coworker business
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