After four years of consistently exceeding expectations in my reviews, I was terminated “for cause” despite never having been on any kind of warning, performance plan, or investigation myself.
What triggered it was a situation where one of my direct reports had received a “needs improvement” rating. In full alignment with my manager and after consulting two levels of Employee Relations, I issued an informal performance warning. When no improvement occurred after eight weeks, I followed ER’s direction again and issued a formal warning.
Shortly after, that employee went back to ER claiming I was targeting her. Although I had documentation, approvals, and full ER guidance at each step, I was suddenly terminated “for cause.” My manager was blindsided and told me HR made the decision, not him.
Because the company is at-will, HR refused to document the reason in writing. I asked very specifically for the policy provision that I broke, and they said that it had to do with conduct, but they would not give me the exact provision . There had never been any counseling from my manager, no incidents around anything that would have caused this type of result. The “for cause” designation had devastating consequences — I lost all insurance benefits within three days, leaving both myself and my fully disabled child without coverage. It also meant forfeiting my restricted share rights and other earned benefits.
I’ve since learned from credible insiders that the company has increased “for cause” terminations to avoid severance payouts.
For any manager reading this: even when you follow the handbook, document everything, and align every decision with HR, you can still find yourself on the wrong side of a political or cost-driven decision. Protect yourself — document, back up every file externally, and understand the financial implications before trusting HR’s “guidance.”