Chapter 4: Locked Out

That afternoon, I found myself kicked out of all the company’s Slack channels.

I opened my laptop, expecting to see the endless stream of pings and DMs, but instead—nothing. My access had vanished like a magician’s trick. Not a single notification, no client chats, no project groups. Just silence.

I stared at the empty screen, a sick feeling settling in my gut. It was like being ghosted by your own job.

A lot of company work is arranged via Slack, and even remote client meetings on Zoom are all notified through Slack. Kicking me out so blatantly is basically making it impossible for me to work.

I asked Carl who did it. He said HR had just sent an email to all channel owners, ordering them to remove me from every company group.

Carl shrugged helplessly, hands up as if to say, “Don’t shoot the messenger.” The betrayal stung, but not as much as the cold efficiency with which HR moved.

I was furious and called Megan:

"Megan, what’s the meaning of this? Why did you kick me out of the company channels? How am I supposed to work? I can take you to the labor board for not providing necessary working conditions."

At this point, there’s no need to be polite—I had to confront her head-on.

I leaned back in my chair, the cord of my headset tangling around my fingers. It was time for a direct confrontation.

"Don’t try to scare me. Getting kicked out is your own fault."

"What fault?"

"You didn’t update your Slack display name according to company requirements."

My hands shook, and I squeezed the phone tighter, as if that would somehow make her words make sense.

"Update what? There are only a few dozen people in the company. Is there anyone who doesn’t know me?"

"Don’t shout. It’s a company rule. You didn’t change your display name to your real name plus contact info as required. How do I know you’re not a competitor’s spy? Of course I have the right to kick you out. If you go to arbitration, it’ll be because you broke company rules first."

I could barely stand her shamelessness.

I closed my eyes, picturing myself taking a sledgehammer to her entire rulebook. It was a fantasy, but it got me through the next few seconds.

But I knew this was all deliberate—just waiting for me to lose my temper and quit, or do something irrational so she could fire me for cause.

"Fine, then add me back now and I’ll update my name immediately."

"Okay, submit a request through Workday first. I’ll add you back after the process is done."

No need to look—I knew HR had already set up a whole process for joining company Slack channels.

Of course, this was just the start. More dirty tricks followed.