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Nothing can ruin a job faster than getting a new manager who is terrible to work for.

What would you do if your new manager was abrasive and very mean to employees, and then, when you pushed back against her, she fired you immediately?

That is what happened to the young woman in this story, so now she is applying to other jobs in the area. When she is asked about why she left her previous job, she isn’t sure if she should tell the truth or leave it vague.

Personally, I think she should be vague if possible, but if the interviewer pushes, she can tell the truth. Read through the full story below and see what you think she should do.

WIBTA if I tell employers why I was fired?

I (24f) live in a smaller neighborhood within a medium-sized city.

They are living the dream.

My kids are in school here and husband have a good apartment that we can actually afford.

There are lots of local businesses, a great community, and lots of connections and interactions between groups of people/areas.

It is great when you have a job that you enjoy and that you are good at.

Until recently I worked for a local business which is a specialty store in a subject area where I have particular knowledge and skills.

I was hired two years ago by an awesome older lady – she trained us to do most of the store tasks: ordering, creating displays, social media, running events and community groups, etc on our own.

New owners can ruin a business.

This was great until she sold the business and retired.

The new owner is a retired government drone (I’ll call her Karen), WASP, micromanager, and in way over her head.

She can live with it.

She has a habit of changing how we do things impulsively , which causes issues, then sending passive-aggressive emails, misreading stuff and blowing up at people over these issues, and just generally not cool behavior sometimes.

She had high standards for us, but hey, her store, her prerogative. I didn’t work the same days as she was in, so not a big deal for me, and her outbursts usually blew over fast and I could avoid the worst of it.

This manager is very unprofessional.

However, a couple weeks ago there was an incident at the store Karen felt we didn’t handle well, and she sent multiple angry, accusatory, and passive-aggressive emails, texts, and a voicemail.

In one email, about 12 hours after this incident, Karen berated my shift parter and I for not apologizing immediately for our role.

Sometimes, you have to stand up for yourself.

I’d had enough and sent an email back saying, pretty politely and calmly (coworkers vouched for this) that, a) I was not ok with how she was handling this (way of accusing us, sending multiple emails and texts, her tone),

b) the one berating email particularly was not helpful for figuring out what happened in the incident and how to rectify it with my coworker and I.

The manager does not like it when people talk back.

And c) I was not going to engage with the angry behavior over email, and we could talk about it in person the next day.

She emailed back a really angry response immediately, at the end of which she fired me.

I am sure all the business owners talk to each other.

No warning, no acknowledgement of the issues I raised except to say I was being ridiculous. Ok, fine, good riddance, and I’m moving on. Maybe I deserved it for getting involved.

My question is this: I need to get another job in the same neighborhood, among business owners who know Karen and the store I used to work at.

This could end up backfiring.

Can I tell them the above, or the gist of it, or am I the AH for speaking ill of her and her management style?

I don’t want to spread stuff around, but at the same time, I was fired and I don’t want to lie about why I had to leave my last job, especially if people are going to check with her.

It is a hard situation, to be sure.

I’m worried if I avoid the question or answer neutrally, they’ll ask her and think I’m trouble.

WIBTA?

I wouldn’t push forward with sharing this information if it could be avoided, but if they asked for details in an interview or something, there is no need to lie.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this situation.

This commenter is exactly right.

Yup, try to be vague and professional whenever possible.

There is really no need to tell the new employer anything about it.

I agree with this commenter.

This is a professional way to handle it. If they push for an answer.

It is never a good idea to badmouth a previous employer during an interview. It shows the interviewer that you are willing to do this type of thing, which they won’t like.

Be as vague and professional as possible. The chances are, they won’t know or care about what happened.