Nightmare coworker that got me fired just got hired at my new job
Complex situation. For context, I used to work for a company a couple of years ago that was poorly ran in an industry I was new to. I was excited for this job and stayed even after finding out how shady and awful they were to their employees, I dedicated myself to showing up and learning. This was where my distrust of coworkers and employers began.
Training was initially virtual as 1/2 of the owners and the two training managers were across the country; it was a “small but rapidly” growing company and I loved being apart of it. After training virtually, one of the hiring managers was supposed to come down to their newly acquired location(s) and teach me operation duties and day to day functions, but at no fault to the trainer, it was cut to 1 1/2 days. Then, on my day off, one of the owners invited me to a Zoom meeting for the entire company to announce that they had fired the two training managers and brought on a third party consulting team in their place. I was told my training would be finished. The consulting team said they would send 1/3 to my location or train me virtually. They didn’t, instead, I was told to drive an hour and a half away to train on my one weekday off with another trainer (which frustrated the other managers as they had enough on their plate and couldn’t get what they needed done AND teach me).
One of the owners was already critical of me and was passive aggressive towards me. The one time he flew down to see his newly acquired facility, we were in the office and while I was working my tushy off, he was on the phone with the other owner saying they need to vet who they hire and stop hiring young people, while looking right at me. I was 23, qualified and doing the best with what little I was given.
The consulting team were cruel - they cleaned house, terminating long time employees without cause and making cause if they had to (I’m in an at-will state) and blatantly lied. It wasn’t long until I was next. I kept meticulous track of all financial transactions and when they sent one of the consultants to “train me” (aka, take note of EVERY misstep). This was when they demoted me and hired another manager to “train me and provide me the tools needed to reprise your role”; this was a lie. The girl they hired bullied me and delegated all her tasks to me. I was also now told I had to drive half of the week to another location without my choice. I lived ten minutes away from my original location, the new girl they hired lived 30 minutes away.
The next week, the consultant asked where I kept the money deposits. I provided the key and documents and left for the day while she stayed behind. Then, the pouch with all of the money and paper trails went missing. She told me to find it, knowing I wouldn’t. Then accused me of mishandling the money. A baseless accusation since the location of the pouch was under surveillance and I made frequent trips to the bank. This was her gearing up for my termination, my “reason” rather than just saying I wasn’t performing well, which btw, I was. The customers loved me and stayed with the company’s services because of my attitude and service when they could & WANTED to go to cheaper companies in the city.
I started to discreetly record my termination conversation the first time the consultant implied I committed theft - it’s a one-party state so I can record the audio and protect myself from a possible bad situation. The new manager noticed and GRABBED my phone, saying “oh no, we’re not doing that”. I didn’t let go and she wrestled my phone out of my hand. I still have that on video, never deleted it. Because of her touching me, you can see her on the video, when I originally had it angled at the floor.
I was fired. I cried. It wasn’t fair. They tried to lie about me and it hurt. I worked hard for them. Life isn’t fair. Found a new job. Unsurprisingly, the new hire was let go shortly after me (not providing all instances of mistreatment due to already lengthy post) but had a hard time finding jobs that worked out, until recently.
I just started at a new company and I love it. I’m doing well. My desire to learn is appreciated, my drive is noticed. I get along with my boss and coworkers. But today I found out they hired another manager to work alongside me (the location is set to have 3 total, she’s the last of the 3) and years later, in a different city, it’s the same girl that bullied me and played a part in me losing my job.
I’ve been anxious and upset since. I don’t know when she’s set to start but our boss has already stated he likes her and was impressed with her interview. He likes me but does he like me enough to not let her sabotage me again/see through her fakeness? I don’t know.
what do I do? I need this job, it’s not easy to find good jobs or even a bad job in this job market. I’m sure she remembers me, I literally cried getting fired and she treated me like her b****. Advice appreciated, thank you.
TL;DR a nightmare coworker got me fired and treated me horribly and now, years later in a different location, I have to work with her again and I’m worried she will sabotage me again.