Government Contractor Wrongfully Terminated

Dec. 20, 2015

Dear Cathy:

I am an African American female and a contract worker for the federal government.  I was transferred into my new job from another state and have worked there for 5 years.  

I saw a job opening on another floor in my building where I still would have had the same manager so I asked him about the job opening.

Instead he tried to refer me to another job opening that I wasn’t interested in.  I just felt that particular job opening had more opportunities for me.

He had nothing but bad words to say about the supervisor over that particular job opening so when I personally asked her about the opening, my supervisor told me I was fired.

I wasn’t given a verbal or written warning before my termination.  I have a good work history and I don’t understand why I was fired simply for inquiring about another position.  What did I do wrong?  Confused in Charlotte

Dear Confused:

What you need to understand up front is that no job is secure nowadays, especially jobs in or with the federal government.  Working for the federal government as an employee or contractor is not a very nice place to land up in. 

The federal government has laws, rules and regulations for everything but no one, especially the managers or supervisors, reads them. 

No… they did not have the right to fire you without any verbal or written warning but they are betting that you won’t fight back or won’t know how to fight back – but you should.

It seems that the manager had some type of conflict with the supervisor and did not want to see her succeed so he wasn’t interested in helping her fill her job openings. 

The fact that you got caught up in it was not right so by all means you should fight your termination.  He probably felt betrayed when you went to the supervisor and inquired about the position, especially after he tried to get you to take the other position.

Black women in the federal government or black female contract workers are viewed as uppity, militant, loud-mouth and other derogatory names.

You need to understand up front that you did not do anything wrong!  You don’t need a reason to get fired from the federal government.  If you look at them sideways they will try to fire you.

It doesn’t matter if you have a good work history.  If you do anything to get on their nerves, the managers, especially lower and upper management white men (and white females) will terminate you.

The EEOC.gov process will be a long and tedious one.  You don’t need an attorney until you receive your “Right To Sue Letter,” meanwhile you have to eat so go ahead and file for unemployment at www.DOL.gov and try to get another job or start your own business. 

Many people only have 2 to 3 weeks of rainy day funds saved, so think logically about your next move and view your situation wholeheartedly, while making some conscious decisions such as moving in with family members – even in other cities. 

I truly believe that everything in your life happens for a reason.  This termination could be a blessing in disguise.  You are an excellent writer/author so you should think about writing a book or even starting your publishing company like I did at http://www.AngelsPress.com, which will be very therapeutic -- so start thinking about starting your own business today.   

If you are successful in landing another job, then have a back-up plan and start a business on the side.  You should read all my books on workplace discrimination -- “Workplace Survival Guide: How To Fight Discrimination, Whistleblowing and the Workers’ Compensation System” and the two-part book “Discrimination 101: How To Recognize and Survive Discrimination in the Workplace (Volume I and Volume 2) -- all e-books only.