The timestamp on the photograph was 7:40 on a Sunday evening, and I had been at my daughter’s house that entire weekend. I checked my calendar, my phone records, and even the grocery receipt from that afternoon. I hadn’t been anywhere near the office. I asked security whether the building had cameras covering my floor, and they said the footage was still available. The camera showed someone entering my office at 7:36 p.m. using a temporary access badge. Four minutes later, they photographed my desk and left.
I requested the badge records and found the badge had been issued to a manager from another department. He told security he had been asked to “document the condition of my workspace.” I asked HR why anyone needed to photograph my desk on a Sunday, and they wouldn’t answer. My attorney requested the original complaint, the photograph metadata, and the emails authorizing the visit. The metadata showed the photograph had been uploaded to my personnel file two days before the complaint was officially filed. Then we found an email from my supervisor saying they needed “supporting evidence” before moving forward with my termination.
The company eventually admitted the photograph had been taken without my knowledge and that the complaint had been based partly on assumptions about what happened at my desk. They removed it from my file and withdrew the disciplinary action. I stayed until my retirement date, although I stopped laughing at the jokes after that birthday cake. My daughter still keeps the photograph of that cake, but she doesn’t show it to me anymore. They spent months trying to make me look like a problem, then sent someone into an empty office on a Sunday to photograph the evidence they needed.
