We've all dreamed about getting sweet, sweet revenge on our rude boss, but let's be honest here, the universe rarely seems to punish the worst among us. That's why, every once in a while, when it does happen, when the worst get the worst of things, it feels so amazingly awesome.
This is the story of Mike, who set a revenge trap for his horrible boss and the boss, like the idiot he seemed to be, fell right in it.
Mike’s Trap Has Been Sprung On Bill
baranq/Shutterstock.com
Mike has set the trap and Bill and the company’s HR woman have sprung it. In his meeting with HR, Mike explained: “I don’t tear into her, I just politely made a few points – leave is ending in 10 months – not one – as per my request (I had the emails printed out ). Plus I’m on an old contract so severance is 6 months. And I’m on the old stock program, so I get bonuses as well.”
The HR woman is stunned. “She freezes. Then freaks out – ‘YOU HAVE 12 MONTHS LEAVE AND NEW SVP SENT ME TO FIRE YOU 2 MONTHS IN??’ She knows they are toast. I’m like, ‘Yeah, so see you in court.’ She scurries away, gets the HR SVP, whom I by chance know quite well, and HR SVP says – ‘let’s do a new meeting, we’ll get back to you.'”
This is working out exactly how Mike hoped.
Mike Milks It For All It’s Worth
baranq/Shutterstock.com
Now that he knows he is fired AND that the company has messed up, Mike goes for broke with almost nothing to lose. As he told the story: “Then I begin the scheduling game. They have no technical right to contact me while I’m on leave – so I drag the meeting planning out for months. ‘Oh, I’m sick, yes, I have time 2 months from now,’ etc…”
That is another piece of revenge. The Senior VP that fired him, Bill, cannot hire a replacement until Mike is officially fired. Stretching this whole thing out changes nothing for Mike as he is on paid leave and making things very hard on Bill, who desperately needs someone in the position. Besides, “hiring someone for my job, while I’m on leave, is the SECOND biggest no-no in my country’s employment laws,” according to Mike.
Mike now has all the leverage in his negotiations and he takes full advantage. “Eventually the HR director calls me up and is like, ‘ok, what do you want.’ Well, I ended up with 12 months full pay, fully vested stock options, full company bonus, full department performance bonus, free phone and internet for a year, two free laptops, a free phone and full insurance for a year. Altogether, more than $150k. And I was free to work again while they were paying my 1-year salary. I took the jump and opened my own consulting company, and I’m happier than ever.”
Mike Wins!
baranq/Shutterstock.com
Mike got everything he wanted and more. His trap worked perfectly and he got revenge on Bill, who must have been steamed when he heard the result of Mike’s negotiations. Mike even admitted Bill did it to himself. “In broad terms, this mainly worked because of the leave time. If Bill had just given me a formal warning for some nonsense and played it cool until a few months after the 3-month leave, he could easily have gotten rid of me with a 6 month severance – and that severance would be devalued as they could require me to use some of my own vacation pay on some of it. However, Bill was on so much of a psychotic rage trip that he didn’t think. His long tenure in the States probably made him forget local labor laws.”
Adding insult to injury for Bill, he was demoted within a few months of the incident and fired within a year. Even funnier is that Bill has applied for work TWICE in companies that Mike was working for as a freelancer. He commented: “I can’t say I was instrumental in him not getting those jobs.” It was all downhill there for Bill. “His career never recovered and he is now doing pathetic management consulting from his home office, making less in a year than I do in a month.”
Mike won this war if you can even call it that. Bill clearly stood no chance. For everyone that has ever been stuck with a prick for a boss and dreamed about milking a bad company for all you could in revenge, Mike is your new hero. Three cheers for Mike!