Boys Club

There were 3 rounds of lay offs at the office. Somehow all the men at the top were unaffected, however the one woman in that circle was shockingly cut. Shocking not only because she was great but also because she was such a fine leader.

Within one team, a hardworking, well-liked, intelligent, team player who put in the extra hours and had a great attitude was laid off (she is a woman), but the lazy, bigoted, man who bullies young women in the office, is not productive, and constantly makes excuses for not showing up or doing work was protected.

This man has said disgusting things about women and gay men, retaliated against women who stand up to him, raised his voice to women, physically gotten in people’s faces, etc. When someone asked the boss why he protected this bully, he said that he felt bad for this man. The boss did not feel bad for the many women who had to deal with the harassment nor the woman who lost her job although she had all the qualifications: the boss felt bad for the man who was committing the offences for over a year… partly because the bigot’s wife wanted a divorce. I wonder why.

Bonus: if a woman had made a similar decision not based on skills but based on unrelated “sympathy”, she would be crucified for it and people would wonder whether she was hormonal or could keep her emotions in check.