After much deliberation, I have decided to sue my manager and Fannie Mae, both. I fought hard with myself over this, and I seriously considered taking the severance money and staying quiet. After all, I need the money. But I have decided to move forward for the following reasons:
- I am established in my field, and it is wrong for me to be laid off from my full-time position while Fannie Mae continues to hire contractors an full-timers.
- My manager is a bully. Over the last year, he has forced four "senior" managers out of the organization. He did the same thing over the previous five years, shrinking his organization from 100 people to 10. He got away with all these.
- I reported my manager’s erratic behavior to him directly and to his manager, a senior vice president, on two occasions. No action was taken.
- I kept a detailed log of his bullying, name-calling, and erratic behavior.
- I applied for internal positions and was close to receiving an offer. My manager could not accept the idea of me moving to another team with a promotion, and he was afraid others would learn more about his behavior.
Signing the severance agreement would prevent me from suing my manager or Fannie Mae. I want change. I want common sense to prevail, and I want others to benefit from my doing the right thing.