I have an acquaintance who was a high performer and left after enduring a toxic environment & unsupportive manager who retaliated behind the scenes, setting them up for an eventual layoff. No PIP, etc, no write ups, just making it look like they were "under utilized". My friend resigned with 2 week notice. The former manager said a good reference could be counted on when asked. Technically, anything contrary to this would be a breach of or-l agreement. Afterwards they applied for a job as an external candidate here at WF & the hiring manager was very interested then suddenly went cold. My friend is convinced they reached out to the old manager & got an unfavorable soft internal reference. Technically this is against bank policy & the State law where they reside/work in. Not to mention, the former manager is not a seasoned manager & pretty "green" when it comes to managing people. My friend now has no desire to come & work here again, but wants to let the bank know what they believe their former manager is doing, to prevent it occurring again & put the former manager on notice. They want to reach out to their former manager's manager, who they interacted with during their tenure, per phone & let them know so it goes directly to a person of authority, or contact HR/ethicsline. Which of these (or both) do you think is best?
7 replies (most recent on top)
I have an acquaintance who is a performer that suggests that you quit with the acquaintance hypothetical and have that person actually post instead of you. Bet the story changes.
All managers do this. It's super common. Policy doesn't seem to be very effective. Probably because it isn't enforced.
Nothing your friend does will make any difference. WF is all about protecting toxic managers.
That said, forget HR. Your friend’s manager went outside the lines to make them look bad, so they should take their cue from that.
Write an email to the manager’s entire chain of command outlining what happened and threatening to sue. If you (sorry, your friend), know a lawyer have them do it.
The point is to let the manager’s higher-ups know that the manager put the bank at risk. It’s really all you can do.
Job leads go cold all the time, even after the hiring manager says “we’re going to make you an offer”. The job could have been pulled, the hiring manager might have found out their own position is being re-orged, another candidate emerged that’s a better fit, etc… a gazillion reasons. You/your friend are reading too much into the circumstances. What does the recruiter say about why the job has gone quiet?
In terms of “reporting” the manager - there’s nothing that can be proven and all it will do is create ill will with the former manager when they get questioned about it. So if your friend wants to work here again they should inquire with the recruiter and then move on. If they don’t - then they still should move on because there’s nothing that will come of it, and it will just be a waste of their time that they could spend on their job hunt.
Happened to me, but virtually impossible to prove.
@dhm+1tpWSTvc. Thanks. Good luck to you. - OP
I would definitely try to prove retaliation, that is a big scary word for corporation and they make us do the training, they are doing this to me saying I did not meet RTO when I was sick even though they told me to stay at home and work. The Company is a rat, not ethics whatsoever, I know many that are being bullied. Toxic