Overworked startup employee gets ghosted by boss for weeks and then suddenly fired and blamed for the business's failures: 'They're using you as a scapegoat'

Startup culture isn't exactly for the faint of heart. Most folks who have started out in that world know all too well that when you make the commitment to work at a startup, you're already taking a risk. You are agreeing to spend far too many hours a week working and potentially taking on responsibilities that should, in theory, be shared by an entire team of people. What you are also agreeing to is the strong possibility that the business is going to run out of funding and that it will fail to get off the ground. 

It's a common reality that everyone who works in that small universe is likely to experience the effects of, at least tangentially, at some point in their professional careers. Unfortunately for this author, who joined his startup toward the very beginning of the business's gestation period as the company's third employee, he was also dealing with a flaky and manipulative CEO on top of all those other risks. 

Essentially, once the business started to be in jeopardy, the employee's boss disappeared and ghosted him for weeks on end. Clearly, that's not the type of leadership strategy that boosts morale or inspires confidence. When he resurfaced, the inevitable happened, although the CEO tried to frame the business's failures as a result of the author's actions. 

Like what you see? Follow our WhatsApp channel for more.

Author image for Ben Weiss Ben Weiss
Advertisement

Stay up to date by following us on Facebook!

Tags

workplace-stories startup employee fired work stories toxic-workplace job work ghosted overworked-employees Horrible Bosses company toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article

Also From FAIL Blog

22-year-old nepo hire Madison breezes into her father’s firm with zero skills and a many-zero salary, pushing marketing veterans to polish exit plans: ‘The worst part is how she treats the rest of us’

22-year-old nepo hire Madison breezes into her father’s firm with zero skills and a many-zero salary, pushing marketing veterans to polish exit plans: ‘The worst part is how she treats the rest of us’

Trending Now

18-year-old call center employee told by new supervisor to "just stick to the script" she does exactly as asked leading to her boss changing her mind: 'If you deviate even slightly, you’ll be written up'

18-year-old call center employee told by new supervisor to "just stick to the script" she does exactly as asked leading to her boss changing her mind: 'If you deviate even slightly, you’ll be written up'

01
'Uncle John was quite upset': Entitled Uncle discovers the inheritance from his mother was left to his 18-year-old nephew while the rest was donated to charity

'Uncle John was quite upset': Entitled Uncle discovers the inheritance from his mother was left to his 18-year-old nephew while the rest was donated to charity

02
Update: New employee refuses to work overtime, boss fires him to make an example, entire team suffers without employee's efforts: 'We didn’t need to work overtime!'

Update: New employee refuses to work overtime, boss fires him to make an example, entire team suffers without employee's efforts: 'We didn’t need to work overtime!'

03
Cashier forced to clock out late for lunch break after their cover fails to arrive on time, gets reprimanded by store manager, leading cashier to leave the register unattended: ‘They wanted me to skip my break’

Cashier forced to clock out late for lunch break after their cover fails to arrive on time, gets reprimanded by store manager, leading cashier to leave the register unattended: ‘They wanted me to skip my break’

04
'Boss can only blame herself': Boss makes employee miss two days of pay, so he quits for better job and warns new hires so the vacancy wouldn't get filled

'Boss can only blame herself': Boss makes employee miss two days of pay, so he quits for better job and warns new hires so the vacancy wouldn't get filled

05
UPDATE: Entitled neighbor plots to use resident's private driveway while they are on summer vacation, resident uses security cameras to stop her: ‘I'll have her cars towed’

UPDATE: Entitled neighbor plots to use resident's private driveway while they are on summer vacation, resident uses security cameras to stop her: ‘I'll have her cars towed’

06
Advertisement