Do you want to learn how to get revenge from an older employer who fired you? Then read on!
In this mercenary day and age, it’s every person for themselves. Companies are no longer loyal to employees. Therefore, employees should be more greedy for themselves.
To get revenge from an employer who fired you, you must think deeper. Suing your employer after getting laid off is generally not going to work out. Instead, there is a more strategic way to get revenge from an employer who fired you.
Planting A Virus At Your Old Firm
“What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient… highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed – fully understood – that sticks; right in there somewhere.” – Dominick Cobb, Inception
One of the benefits of sitting in my seat is that I continually receive amazing perspectives from readers who hail from all over the world. Sometimes I share these insights with you, and sometimes I greedily just keep them to myself. One reader wrote in from New York City and shared a job revenge strategy that I had never heard of.
Scenario: Let’s say you feel your employer wronged you by letting you go without cause. You’re pissed because you gave up a great job opportunity to work for them.
To lure you in, they showered you with expectations of a big bonus and fancy title. But after 11 months, they kicked you to the curb because they could. Employment is at will, and they had the will to cut you loose a month before paying your promised bonus!
You’re livid and want REVENGE! Here’s how to do it. Careful your boss doesn’t see you reading this post.
How To Get Revenge From An Employer Who Fired You
The smartest way to seek revenge on a company is to plant a virus, a human virus that spreads uncontrollably until departments shut down.
Here’s how you embed the virus:
1) Pretend like you are not pissed off at your old employer for throwing you out with the trash.
2) Maintain relationships with your old managers and HR. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer as they say.
3) Suggest the worst possible employee for them to interview and hire as your replacement or for some existing open position. Definitely vouch for this person and sing her praises.
4) Coach your human virus the ins and outs of the company. Your coaching will include the personality profiles of the key interviewers, the company’s main issues and goals, and the things she should say to win them over. After all, you’ve gone through the process before.
5) Once the virus is imbedded, distance yourself by going radio silent. Do not talk to any former colleagues over text, e-mail, or phone. This way, your old employers will not really suspect that you were the company terrorist.
Here’s What An Employee Virus Does
If you give an employee a grenade, she probably won’t do too much damage. She might blow up a couple limbs nearby, but not the entire department. If you are able to plant a virus deep within the belly of the organization, watch out!
This is what an employee virus may do:
1) She will reinvent the wheel.
2) She will tell people what to do as a micromanager, but not do anything productive on her own.
3) She will command a huge compensation package because she will say all the right things and promise the world.
4) She may act much slower than the normal company pace.
5) She will cause conflict everywhere she goes because colleagues will get frustrated by her unproductivity and weirdness.
6) She will cause other employees to become less productive or quit.
7) She will cause employees to lose faith in the management who hired her.
8) She will cause company morale to sink to levels of despair as employees quiet quit and bring down productivity.
9) She will cause HR and senior management to spend many hours trying to figure out how to diffuse the bomb.
10) Depending on when senior management realizes they hired a virus, months to years worth of productivity may be lost. Meanwhile, other people will be hesitant to join the company due to poor perception.
A good virus causes so much unrest that company growth may slow, investors may flee, layoffs could ensue, and the entire firm may eventually shut down!
Silently Killing The Company
My reader from New York City said he successfully planted a virus at his old employer who let him go the week of Christmas. He knew something was up for months, so as the department head, he purposefully hired an incompetent person to do a job.
His old employer paid the virus a fortune to join, which engendered a lot of envy. Then the company fired the virus six months after hiring. By then, plenty of people had already left to competitors and the company lost tremendous ground.
I’ve never heard of this nefarious strategy to get back at one’s old employer. But, now that I look back upon my career, I can see how some people did successfully plant viruses out of revenge. The productivity loss of constantly selling yourself to new management really is the worst.
A Better Way To Get Back At An Employer
The more admirable way to get back at your old employer is to get a new job at a competitor and take away their business. Complaining to the public about how you’ve being mistreated only hurts your own reputation.
Who in their right mind would hire a complainer when there are plenty of other excellent candidates? And the best way to seek revenge is to start your own thriving business and never have to work for anybody again!
The next best way to get revenge is to negotiate a severance and laugh all the way to the bank like I did.
My severance covered six years of living expenses when I left my old employer in 2012. Since you got laid off, you’re also eligible for up to 27 weeks of unemployment benefits. Having a financial runway is huge during your transition period.
Conversely, if you quit your job you get nothing. Check out, How To Engineer Your Layoff: Make A Small Fortune By Saying Goodbye, on how to negotiate a severance. Literally thousands of readers have negotiated severance packages worth in the tens of millions since the book was published.
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Hello Everybody,
I read all your ideas about how to revenge…
Of course most of the ideas sound fine …. but none of them really relax me!
I am thinking about shaving my Boss head (He is an old man who think he is the best and he think he is center of the world!) So shaving his head will totally destroy his dignity and is veary hard for him to come to comlany with shaved hair (he laid me off and ruined my dignity so he deserve to be treated same way)
I am rhinking about using a wireless shaving machine and approach him from behind when he is walking outside of company and shave his head from back and run away very fast.
Please let me know about your comments about this idea.
Thanks,
Sounds like a great idea. Make sure to wear a mask and gloves to not leave any evidence.
Dude, I survived cancer and got the boot for it. I COMPLETELY ADVOCATE FOR KICKING YOUR EMPLOYER’S ASS for doing such a horrible thing. I still have ANGER ISSUES today. IF NO ONE STANDS UP AS AN EMPLOYEE, WE LOSE!!!!! here is my story, Employers beware: An exercise in real life legal “chess” follows. I decided to capture it on my lunch break. Wacky but very true:
Oct 2003, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, unable to fly, per FAA, during treatment (I was a professional corporate pilot at the time).
Notified employer/CEO in person of my circumstance (fyi, this is a family owned business).
CEO told me to take disability, get better during treatment. CEO told me they’d get a temporary ‘contractor’ during my absence. CEO assured me I could return to my employment after treatment ended and FAA medical clearance was obtained. Employer/CEO did not offer any work alternatives.
I notified employer/CEO approximately 1x per month of treatment updates, and expected treatment finish date with return-to-work plan.
In June 2004 I received FAA medical clearance to return to work. I notified employer.
CEO invited me to meet in person, 1 day after my notification of intent to return to work.
During meeting, I was told that employer would be using ‘contractors’, and that I would no longer be employed, because the ‘full time employee’ position was eliminated. I was offered 3 months of remaining on the payroll as ‘severance’.
Through some investigation of my own, I discovered that the ‘contractor’ (per IRS rules), was classified as an ‘employee’ who was being paid ‘under the table’ (illegal tax avoidance).
I asked for and received a signed, company letterheaded, letter of recommendation detailing my excellent performance on the job and the company’s elimination of the pilot position.
I contacted the IRS in person and discussed the employer’s tax avoidance scheme.
I discussed ‘contractor’ vs. ‘employee’ and tax implications with employer/CEO, and my concerns about discrimination with regards to my employment. CEO dismissed my concerns and told me “You’re lucky you’re still on the payroll. Most people would have been let go immediately” – This is verbatim from the CEO of the company at the time.
I filed a charge of discrimination under the laws of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
I also consulted with an employment law attorney. The attorney advised of the At-Will employment law, and the challenge of overcoming the ‘burden of proof’ that rests with the employee in this circumstance.
Through the ‘grapevine’, I discovered that the ‘contractor’ was fired. This occurred at about the same time the discrimination charges were delivered. This was still during my 3 month ‘severance’ window of which I was ‘technically’ an employee.
I filed for, and received, unemployment benefits after the ‘severance’ ended.
I discovered that the employer truly did eliminate the pilot position, even though they now had a multi-million-dollar airplane that sat without a pilot for about a month.
I was notified of an opportunity, via certified mail, to interview for a pilot position with the employer (the same position I held prior). EEOC advised me to interview (in sum, unemployment benefits law dictates that you cannot turn down employment).
I applied, interviewed, and was turned down for the job. I was told that the company decided to hire a more qualified applicant. EEOC advised me that the company could likely offer me a different (non-pilot, possibly minimum wage) position, and I would HAVE to take it or lose unemployment benefits due to unemployment law.
I elected to voluntarily cease unemployment benefits for myself (yes, it is getting expensive at this point with no income, having to pay for COBRA insurance on top of that, medical deductibles, you name it….). With a pre-existing condition prior to the ACA, there is NO other feasible alternative to COBRA.
I was also interviewing with other companies at the time, trying to find employment during this entire process.
By voluntarily ceasing unemployment benefits after I had interviewed, the company HAD to avoid true discrimination (a retaliation charge, technically) by either: 1. Employing me or 2. Employing no one, for the pilot position.
The employer elected once again to employ no one and let their airplane sit. I had to laugh about that a bit, just imagining the other (more qualified) pilot that had been offered the job but was never paid and had his job offer rescinded. The absurdity… LOL…… BUT still legal.
After some time again, around January or February of 2005, I was invited to discuss the matter with my former employer’s attorney at the EEOC office. I accepted the invitation.
I was offered the job. Coincidentally, I was already employed at a new employer. Therefore, I declined the job offer. Besides, who would want to work for an employer that hires and fires several times over per year. They could now legally justify that as ‘normal, non-discriminatory behavior’ for the position since they did it to 2 other pilots also. I could just see it now, taking that job back and getting fired again the next day….
*P.S. Here’s how the conversation went in the EEOC office with the Attorney:
Attorney and I talked a bit (I have the notes somewhere I’m sure) then it came to this:
“We would like to offer you the job in exchange for release of the charges”
My response:
“I would consider it. I would like to speak with him first (CEO)”
Attorney’s response:
“I’ll see if he’s available”
That was the end of the logical part.
After a week had passed, I had heard through the grapevine again that “some pilot interviewed but didn’t want the job”
The unspoken logic from above is:
1. CEO was “not available”.
2. I didn’t release the charges for another week because I didn’t want the job (and didn’t want it advertised to my new employer that I had accepted the old job again).
3. I did release the charges after I heard about “the pilot that didn’t want the job” (ME, of course), because they were worthless at this point anyway.
Notes:
Always get a letter of recommendation first. THAT was the essential catch to all of the rest.
I couldn’t just “go away”. That is ‘immoral’ in my book.
Final thoughts:
Scary experience for me at the time, but on the other hand…….
IRS audit of a 2000 employee company + legal defense + letting a company airplane worth 5 million sit for 6 months + Listening to former co-workers, friends, etc. use descriptive language about (CEO) such as “Dirtbag”, “Worthless”, “A-hole”, “Jackass”, “What is wrong with (CEO) lately?”…… priceless.
The take away I get from this pilot’s well articulated post is “don’t get sick”. I tested positive for Covid last month and spent 2 weeks on my back deathly ill. I found out who’s in my court, and it’s sure not my employer!
I had something similar happen to me. I had emergency heart surgery. I was out for 3 weeks. When I was in ICU, my (stupid) boss visited me to ask the number of contracts I was bringing in that week. I was on medical leave=leave me alone.
When I came back, I jumped right back in the saddle. They were then on a mission to get rid of me. My boss refunded and cancelled many contracts right in my face. I was berated constantly for no reason and gaslighted. It took me two full years to get sick of it. I was never intimidated. They were angry because I did find a new opportunity. The moral of the story is: “All’s Well That Ends Well”
Sorry you went through the indignity they tried to pull on you in the hospital. I was once fired for being in the ER. They too made a demand of me while I was in the Emergency Room. IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM. You handled things well.
I agree, ive been trying to get a septoplasty for 5 years(before covid waiting lists then covid hit and it delayed it even further) when they finally called me with news someone had canceled and since i had just happened to call the previous day about list status i jumped on the slot since ive been told it would greatly impact my quality of life and help my sleep and energy levels. I let my employer know 6 months in advance that i would be out for a minimum of 2 weeks and maximum of 2 months. They assured me it would not be a problem and my job would still be there when i came back. 2 weeks later i went in for a trial shift to see if i was fit for work. And my nose visibly swole up to make me look like mr potato head. My supervisor advised me to go home and he would find someone to take my 2 other shifts for the week (part time 5 hour shifts to test if i was ok to go back to work)
Well now its 2 weeks later and i have been ghosted since the day i was sent home. Also, i was already a relatively new hire before my surgery so i did not have hr email since i hadn’t needed HR at all since i started i had never asked for it; im young and dumb should have had this on day1. So now im racking debt trying to job search with a nose that swells when i walk for more than 10 minutes. Its been a month and nobody wants to hire me when i say id need to take it slow for a few months before working at full speed.
I had a supra i had spent my life savings on i had to sell and buy a car to drive for ubereats or doordash and its not covering the bills.
Before this job i lost another job due to a protest not allowing me to cross provincial lines to get to my job so that ended sort of amicably in the sense that i understood that my problem was not my employers problem and that i lost that job myself, i took responsibility for that and kept rolling but i dont understand this one.
Offering you a job so that you release charges is coersion.
I once faced coersion like that. I once had a doctor who said she would only write my employer a pneumonia verification note if I withdrew my complaint that she was unprofessional (for having refused to write a pneumonia verification letter to my employer). I accepted the coersion and later re-filed my complaint.
I had the sick leave available no problem, but my employer demands doctor’s notes no matter what after the 3rd day sick.
Dark and angry, what horrible advice. There are 2 sides to every story, we always give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. Take what you’ve learned and start your own business instead of letting the festering hate eat you up. I was let go after 5 years of hard work and horrible manager after horrible manager, now I own my own company and treat people the way I wanted to be treated. I realized that and it has kept me sane and happy. Too many revengeful people in this world
You’re kinda right, but never forget the people who come after you. I was tricked into being fired after surviving invasive Cancer. I gave that fucking employer the whole 9 yards, because FUCK THEM! YES I have anger issues, and YES that CEO deserved every goddamned IRS audit and EEOC investigation he got. Cost that motherfucker Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Because at the end of the day, Humanity fights for what is right. ME included. Never forget the impression you make, so that others who come after you may be treated with respect.
I disagree with the popular notion you’re proposing of starting a business as a cure all or therapy for getting over a dirty deal from employers. A few years ago it was everyone needs to go back to school when shenanigans are played out on them, and they’re suddenly unemployed.
Not everyone is an entrepreneur, nor do many people have capital or investors to bankroll some dubious created “consulting“ business someone dreamed up.
Yeah, there are two sides to every story; however, this pilot has well articulated his account, and I’d wager his ex-employer would be hard pressed to do the same!
I worked for a company and was extremely successful taking them to new heights , I was the best they have ever seen, but things weren’t right there , put my resignation in 3 times , the first two times I resigned because of repeated fraud being committed by the management with regards to my commissions not being paid in full to me, I went to the CEO of the company and he literally begged me not leave , he said he would take it up with management…………nothing ever happened .
So the third time I resigned with effect.
I found a job in another industry and was happy at the new company and then I got the phone call, The new owner of the company I resigned from …………..
He headhunted me back and said it was a new company and the wrongs of stealing my commissions would not be repeated etc, so I joined the company again , Only thing was I started noticing a distinct disrespect towards me and my colleagues. He also started manipulating sales that were meant for a lady in the office , he also did not entertain the employment contract and was in breech. He fired me and I laid a case against him and won . He still hasn’t paid me as per legal instruction !
He has made life unbearable for the other staff and another three people have been forced to leave. so that is 4 people in 5 months.
Old customers have expressed their concerns and have asked me to supply to them!
So we are thinking about starting a new opposition company ……………..us 4 …………
The Chinese have a saying , “When seeking out revenge, dig 2 graves”
So we aren’t looking for revenge , we are looking to put food on the table with skills we have honed and let Karma do its thing.
Put your efforts in building you and your team up !
It’s a big motivator!
Don’t even think of the wrongs your previous employer has done to you and your team, it saps your energy which could be put into securing a multimillion company that no longer wants to deal with your ex employer.
Actually, I did an alternative on the virus. I planted a “virus” with the head of an account we had been “smoozing” with when I was fired without cause. When the account found out what was going on company-wise with regards to ethics, (and were on the fence anyway about putting all their eggs in one basket with my old company), they decided not to contract after all with my old company, but to go with someone else. This cost my old company well over a billion dollars in business, stock value and customers. SWEET REVENGE.
Wow! Nice.
Our client relationships are what really matter at the end of the day.
SWEEEET!
Reminds me of what Germany did to Russia in WWI (will give credit to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History Podcast).
The Germans gave a Russian political exile nicknamed Lenin a free ticket back home. We all know how that turned out for Russia!
I was just fired this morning. My (former) boss, is the CEO (Or Trust/Estate Manager) of a 10 BILLION trust. When I interviewed with my boss, we got along so well that I KNEW I would be offered the job. Indeed, I was offered the position and accepted it. I started working exactly one week ago today. That Monday, I had a new employee orientation meeting. Once that was finished (around 12:00-1:00) I went straight to my office to start the job I knew I was going to love. I worked my butt off. I hit the ground running on day one. I worked OFF the clock because I wasn’t authorized to do overtime. However, I wasn’t told NOT to do any overtime. But all this is beside the point…circumstances change. I decided to email HR and and give them the dates I worked and how many hours I put in. Had I not been fired, I would not have added the extra hours I worked on my own time. I worked those extra hours as a way to prove my reliability, dedication, work ethic, etc. Besides, I cannot stand leaving my office with an unfinished project/task.
I did every single thing she asked me to do, including sharpening pencils. The bottom line? I worked with my boss (she and I shared an office) as follows:
– [ ] 1st day (Monday) I worked with my boss for 4 – 4.5
– [ ] 2nd day (Tuesday) She had meetings outside the office and spent about five hours with her.
– [ ] 3rd day (Wednesday) I worked 5 hours with her as again, she was in a meeting outside of the office and left around 1:30 – 2:00.
– [ ] 4th day (Thursday) I worked with her all day.
– [ ] 5th day (Friday) I did not work with her at all as she was at a conference and won’t be back until tomorrow.
So, I worked WITH her for about 22-22.5 hours. Calculating those hours doesn’t even add up to two full days of the two of us working together. I was unceremoniously fired by two of her minions for the reason, “[bosses name] said that we did not “click”. I wasn’t even given the time to prove myself and certainly not enough time had passed for either one of us to say for certain that we didn’t “click” or whatever.
My abrupt termination was like a slap in the face. I truly loved the work I was doing. She never, as far as I can tell, had ANY problem with me. I had even told her that if I did or said something in a way she didn’t like, to please let me know.
I quit a lucrative career for this job, now I have NOTHING! I want answers. I don’t think her reasons for letting me go were actually reasons, but simply an excuse. And she’s a coward. She sent her minions to fire me. So yeah…I want revenge.
These suggestions are so “lay-in-wait” revenge, I mean seriously who has the patience and/or time? Color me uninspired by your suggestions and ideas.
No problem. Feel free to do what you want. Revenge is best done patiently. I’m assuming you arrived at this post b/c your employer is pissing you off. If so, negotiate your severance at least.
I am fairly passive aggressive. Six years ago, I quit a job I absolutely hated and it was torturous working there. I gave my 4 weeks notice (turns out I only needed to give two), and started leaving at 5pm. If this sounds rebellious, trust me, it was at this company in that department. No one left until 6. Second thing I did was to assure everyone who kept asking me to do things, that they were done. For some reason, no one checked any of this. When I left, I am sure they weren’t happy when they found out how much didn’t get done.
This is a long term sabotage operation. I would just focus on getting back on my feet, landing a better opportunity, and laughing at my previous employer for losing moi!
On a different note, what’s up with the repetition of “She”? Are viruses Feminine or the story teller used a female employee for this twisted plot? :)
I learned in writing, it’s best to choose a gender and stay consistent in the entire story!
Women are poison.
My revenge was walking away with big package and not looking back. I didn’t call or talk to anyone back at the company (indifference) and but over the years through people I bumped into let it be known how well I was doing (successful, happy, FIRE). Another thing was how my very successful department, highest rated by our customers for products and service, fell apart totally with the “new way” of doing things. Now, through lucky investments I am way better off than I would have been taking abuse for that pension. Sam, your post on not letting people walk over me hit home, I used to let that happen way too often.