Many jobs seem great at first, but one bad boss can ruin things almost overnight.

What would you do if you worked for someone who was great at first, but after several months, took a turn and was clearly trying to get rid of you?

That is what happened to the woman in this story, so she filed a huge complaint with HR. After HR reviewed the situation, however, they decided to offer her a severance package to end her employment. Now she is talking to an attorney, but isn’t sure what she should do next.

The boss does sound awful, but unless the attorney advises otherwise, I think she should take that severance and move on. Read through the full story below, and see if you agree.

Reported Nboss to HR, investigation concluded with my termination

Context: medium-sized tech company in the U.S.

I was there ~9 months (since April), terminated this past Friday.

I’m a mid-30s woman in a senior IC role.

Things started out very well.

I’m unfortunately very familiar with disordered personalities, mostly from my personal life, but I’d never encountered one this severe at work.

I’d also never gone to HR in my career until this experience.

My narcissist boss (Nboss) hired me and kept me on a pedestal for the first ~5 months.

The company is mostly remote, so I had limited informal contact with colleagues early on.

Apparently, things aren’t as good as they seem.

In late August, after a small restructure, a peer with the same title but a different manager was moved under Nboss. She immediately asked to meet privately and told me she was nervous, asking how to “stay on her good side.”

That was my first hint that a bad side existed.

Soon after, we had an in‑person offsite where I bonded with colleagues. Several warned me that Nboss had a reputation for blindsiding her direct reports with surprise 30‑day PIPs. The person I replaced had been treated like a punching bag, PIP’d, and fired on day 30.

I was shocked but grateful for the context.

The truth comes out.

Not long after, the mask came off.

During a stressful project retro, I gave calm, constructive feedback.

Nboss snapped and accused me of not being able to take feedback (pure projection).

From then on, she told others I was “difficult” and couldn’t handle feedback. I’ve never been described this way by any other colleague or past manager.

So there are two narcissists in her direct line of management?

Nboss is the insecure, sadistic type who picks a target and uses them as a punching bag.

Her boss (VP/my skip‑level) is a charismatic, grandiose narc.

I clocked the Cluster B from VP very early, and believe they functioned as a team, with VP shielding Nboss and enabling her behavior.

While my relationship with Nboss deteriorated, my peer assumed the role of punching bag. She was blindsided with a 30‑day PIP after 2 months under Nboss, following 6 years at the company with only positive reviews from her previous manager.

Why not say that she had done the dry run the day before?

The “issues” cited were absurd (e.g., typos). She was overloaded with impossible work and clearly set up to fail.

While this was happening, I was assigned a leadership presentation. I did exactly what Nboss asked, did a dry run with her the day before, and she approved it.

During the live presentation, she interrupted me in front of leadership and said, “You should have done a dry run with me first.”

If things were really this bad, why is she waiting until now to report it?

It was deeply humiliating and felt like a setup; others later corroborated this.

This was a “final straw” moment for me where I decided enough was enough.

That weekend, I documented everything: months of gaslighting, shifting expectations, isolation. I ended up submitting a 79‑page report, 70+ screenshots, and 60+ handbook violations.

Always remember, HR is there to protect the company, not the employees.

This timing coincided with a disastrous Team Health survey, where Nboss’s domain scored the worst by far on management‑related questions.

After my report and the alarming survey results, my peer on the flimsy PIP submitted a formal report to HR as well.

HR assigned a brand‑new HRBP who initially seemed supportive and launched a 3‑week investigation.

Meanwhile, I continued documenting: being excluded from meetings, underutilized, isolated, while the “golden child” with the same title had full access.

This is a difficult situation to be sure.

I raised concerns with VP about being excluded from meetings and feeling like I was being isolated.

She claimed it was a cost-cutting measure to keep headcount low, and that I could watch recordings of the Zoom calls at 1.5x speed to “save the company money”.

My work requires heavy collaboration and asking questions, so this excuse was ludicrous. I also requested a manager change.

She said yes and suggested revisiting after Thanksgiving.

Things aren’t going as well as she thinks.

I went on PTO the week after Thanksgiving, felt amazing, and knew HR was interviewing colleagues whose answers corroborated my report.

I felt cautiously optimistic.

I returned to work to radio silence: empty calendar, my work reassigned to someone else. Also, my role was listed online and I saw that VP was interviewing candidates.

Take that severance and run.

I documented further exclusion and disparate treatment.

When Friday morning rolled around, I emailed HR with a brief update and 13 pages of additional documentation showing retaliation and worsening isolation since filing my report.

Minutes later, I was pulled into a Zoom with HRBP and VP. Both were cold. HR said the investigation found nothing to substantiate my claims.

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I was given two options: 1. Stay at the company under a PIP overseen by Nboss 2. Mutual separation agreement with severance.

It is unlikely that the company is doing anything illegal here.

Given Nboss’s track record with PIPs, the choice was obvious.

I negotiated more severance, then was locked out of Slack, email, and systems while still on the call.

I haven’t signed the agreement yet (I have 7 days).

I’m talking to a lawyer to see if the ultimatum is either retaliation (option 1, the PIP) or constructive dismissal (option 2), though this is really not in my nature. I’m also wondering whether I can push for more severance in the eleventh hour.

Put this in the past and find a new job.

Immediately after my exit, my peer was fired outright — no severance — before her 30-day PIP even ended. They said her firing was based on performance and not her HR report.

I’m more at peace now than when I was in the holding pattern, but I’m shaken by how speaking up in good faith led to this outcome.

I’m more heartbroken for my peer, who gave six loyal years, than I am for myself.

She is lucky that she got a severance package. At this point, she should do what her lawyer recommends (which will likely be nothing), and try to move forward to a new position as soon as possible.

Read on to see what the people in the comments on Reddit have to say about it.

People often stay quiet and try to fly under the radar.

This person went through something similar.

Why do companies keep these people?

This person thinks she did the right thing by reporting it to HR.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an American who is confused about why they can’t use their American dollars at a Canadian grocery store.

It doesn’t make sense why companies keep these people.

Her career at this company is over; take the severance and move on. It is unfortunate that her manager was so awful, but at least she gets paid to walk away.

This is much better than what her coworker, or others before her, were able to get. The reality is, however, that there is nothing she can do to change the company, so it is best to just put it behind her.