My best "work friend" was promoted 6 months ago, and I was just terminated.

She is young, about 32 yrs old. This is her first management job. We had shared an office for 2 yrs. She never indicated to me that she was unsatisfied with my performance, in fact she hadn’t spoken with me much at all in the six months prior to the firing. I have been at this company for 22 yrs, and have always received good reviews.

When we shared an office, and we were “friends,” she shared personal information with me that, in retrospect, she probably wished she had not. I am not a gossip, and i would never have repeated anything she told me in confidence. I was genuinely happy for her when she was promoted, and I treated her with respect. I was never in consideration for the job, as I do not possess the level of education required for a management position, and I lack the desire to be a manager. I LOVED my job, and I was good at it.

I recently missed about 3 weeks of work because my mother, who lives in another state, was hospitalized, but this absence should have been protected under FMLA, and many employees have taken much more time off, and are still there. So I don’t think that was a factor.

I am bewildered. The reason she gave me is that I violated a company policy. I did NOT violate said policy, at least as it is written, but according to her interpretation, I did. That notwithstanding, this policy has been violated by at least a dozen people that I know of, and these people are all still there. Is it possible that she would fire me because she was worried that I might share her information?

Is it possible that a 32 yr old could not understand the devastating effect that being fired “for cause” would have on the life of a 52 yr old woman with a mortgage, and 2 kids in college? I don’t even qualify for unemployment. Unless I get another job immediately, I will lose my house. Why wouldn’t she just have asked me to transfer to another office if she simply didn’t want to see me? In the 2 yrs we spent in the same office, I never sensed that she was mean, or cold hearted, but when I asked her to explain the factors which she took into consideration she simply told me that the only factor she considered was “did you violate the policy or not.”