Years After A Manager Fired Him For Seeking A Relocation Allowance, The Tables Turned And The Worker Finally Got His Revenge
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Treating an employee unfairly can become expensive when professional paths cross again.
What happens when the worker you fired later controls approval for your company’s largest payment?
Years after losing his job, this former employee found his old manager waiting on the other side of the desk.
See how a two-million-dollar bill turned into a lesson about proper paperwork.
He fired so he Fired !
This is the story of one of my former colleagues.
He wasn’t initially hired for a remote location, but due to financial constraints, he accepted the assignment. When he asked for the allowance he was rightfully due, the manager refused — and eventually fired him.
He didn’t fight it. He quietly moved on, took up multiple jobs over the years, and worked his way up. Eventually, he became the head of a document verification unit on the client side of a major project.
In an unexpected twist of fate, that same manager who fired him ended up working for a contractor — the contractor whose bills needed to be cleared by none other than… my ex-colleague.
The former employee got his former manager fired.
A $2 million invoice came in. The manager submitted it for approval.
Denied. Submitted again. Denied. This happened nearly a dozen times — each time with a valid technical reason.
The contractor company was on the verge of bankruptcy. In desperation, they sent a junior employee to try. My ex-colleague approved the bill and attached a short note:
“If a junior staff can understand the process, why couldn’t your manager?”
That was the end of the road. The manager was let go.
What a full circle moment.
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If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a professional cheesemaker who works for a family business, but isn’t sure about working for a 17yo boy.
And this one has something to say.
This former employee repeatedly rejected his old manager’s incorrect documents while the contractor waited desperately for a two-million-dollar payment.
When a lower-level worker finally followed the process correctly, the bill was approved and the manager was fired for his repeated failures.
He got trapped in his own paperwork.
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