"She was entitled to and earned her right as the head of the business.”
Even in today's day and time, there is a huge gender disparity in the working sector. Women have been and are still considered to be weak and incapable as compared to their male peers.
This is why women have to work doubly hard to prove their mettle in a male-dominated professional world. It is no surprise to any woman that their male colleagues take all the credit for all their hard work.
However, there are women who refuse to be treated unfairly. One woman has a similar story to share. She refused to sit back and let her boss take advantage of decades worth of her efforts and labor.
Her husband shared the story on Reddit, citing why people mustn't take advantage of loyal employees.
"My spouse was the second person hired at a consulting company in a very specialized industry. In her 15 years with the firm, it grew to a respectable three offices," Reddit user CallMeSwellington shared on the r/ProRevenge online community.
"She and the owner grew the business on the contacts, expertise, and presentation of my wife. To the extent that my wife's abilities and education were the main reason, new business came through the door. Over the years her scope of responsibility grew so that the owner was basically 75% absent and mostly unaware of day-to-day activity. As he got more and more removed from the business, he would make overtures that he would eventually retire and sell her the business."
But, oddly, during a meeting, the owner introduced the OP's wife as "My girl Friday," which means to be a secretary.
For years, the woman tried to buy the firm, but in vain. "I told her "this guy doesn't respect you or your contribution, he will never sell you the business because there is no reason to, he can make more money by stringing you along, and essentially: You are the business, why would he sell it to you?" "
She suddenly received an NDA that blocked her from joining another firm for several years. She soon found out the owner was selling the company without informing her and without asking her if she wanted to buy the firm. "My wife is extremely loyal, she has missed so many special days working for this guy, stuck around when they were wobbly, even skipped paychecks when there were tough financial times. She was furious, the absolute maddest I've ever seen her."
The woman told her husband that most of the business there was because of her. She then took three weeks off from the unused time she had and started setting up her own office in the same building as her previous one. "She called her clients and said 'I'm leaving, if you want to look into relocating your account with my new company, you'll need to quit the old one before we can discuss it' most understood the implication."
The panicked owner called and told her that businesses were leaving, which is when she told him that she was, too.
"The new firm took basically 90% the business and seamlessly transitioned into the same company as it was before, but with a new owner. Even most of the office staff would come aboard." In a year's time, the old office closed, "except for the small office her old boss ran, she sees him once in a while and he just scowls at her."
The author told Bored Panda this had happened some time ago: “It’s been more than a decade, and my wife’s company is doing quite well.” The woman certainly proved to her previous boss that she can't be taken for granted. “She has good trade contacts and even with COVID-19, she continues to have a very successful enterprise,” the husband shared.
Also, the previous boss never confronted her. “To his credit, he never openly lashed out at her. He took his lumps,” he said. Hopefully, the owner has learned his lesson and acknowledged “that she was entitled to and earned her right as the head of the business.”
References:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProRevenge/comments/g21fnd/the_girl_friday_with_the_phd_takes_over_the/
Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Luis Alvarez
