She fired her entire team for one minor mistake… But when the board reviewed her methods, they discovered something that ended her career.
Victoria Sterling had built her reputation on perfection. Zero tolerance. Zero exceptions.
“Pack your things,” she told Marcus, her head of marketing. “The Johnson presentation had a typo on slide twelve.”
“Victoria, it was one letter—”
“One letter that cost us credibility. You’re done.”
Marcus stared at her. “I’ve been here eight years.”
“And now you’re not.”
Within two weeks, she’d fired six more employees. A graphic designer for using the wrong shade of blue. An accountant for being three minutes late to a meeting. A secretary for forgetting to double-space a memo.
“This is insane,” whispered Jennifer from HR. “She’s destroying the department.”
But Victoria didn’t care. Rules were rules.
Then came the quarterly board meeting.
“Victoria,” Chairman Roberts began, “we need to discuss the mass terminations.”
“Each firing was justified,” she replied coldly. “I have documentation.”
“Yes, about that documentation…” Roberts slid a folder across the table. “We had IT review your computer activity.”
Victoria’s confidence flickered. “Excuse me?”
“Turns out you’ve been falsifying employee records. Creating fake violations. Backdating disciplinary actions that never happened.”
The room went silent.
“That’s ridiculous,” Victoria stammered.
“Marcus was never late to the Johnson meeting. In fact, our security footage shows you arriving twenty minutes after him. The typo on slide twelve? Our IT department confirmed you edited it yourself after the presentation.”
Victoria’s face went white.
“You’ve been manufacturing reasons to fire people,” Roberts continued. “The question is why.”
“I… I maintain high standards—”
“No, Victoria. You maintain a toxic environment. And now we know why.” He opened another file. “Your assistant came forward. She has recordings of you admitting you wanted to ‘clean house’ and hire cheaper, younger employees.”
Victoria’s hands trembled. “Sarah wouldn’t—”
“She did. Along with email evidence of your plan to replace senior staff with recent graduates at half the salary.”
The board members exchanged glances.
“You used your reputation for perfectionism as cover for age discrimination and cost-cutting,” Roberts said. “That’s not moral inflexibility. That’s fraud.”
Victoria tried to speak, but no words came.
“Effective immediately, you’re terminated. Security will escort you out. And Victoria?” Roberts smiled grimly. “We’re reinstating every employee you wrongfully fired. With back pay and bonuses.”
“You can’t do this to me!”
“Actually, we can. It’s in your contract. Section twelve, subsection B. The same clause you used to justify firing others.” Roberts stood. “Funny how that works.”
Two security guards appeared at the door.
Victoria grabbed her purse with shaking hands. “This company will fall apart without me.”
“We’ll take that risk,” Roberts replied. “Marcus will be taking your position. Effective Monday.”
As Victoria was escorted past the cubicles she’d emptied, she saw them filling again. Marcus sat at her old conference table, welcoming back the team she’d destroyed.
“Ma’am?” The security guard gestured toward the exit. “Time to go.”
Victoria walked through the lobby for the last time, her heels echoing in the silence. Outside, she saw Jennifer from HR posting a job listing on the company website.
“Executive Assistant position available,” it read. “Previous experience with difficult personalities preferred.”
Victoria’s phone buzzed. A text from her lawyer: “Board is pressing charges for fraud and discrimination. We need to talk.”
She stared at the building she’d ruled with an iron fist. Through the windows, she could see her former employees celebrating, Marcus shaking hands with the team she’d torn apart.
Her moral inflexibility had finally met its match: actual morality.
The company thrived without her. Marcus led with compassion instead of fear. The employees she’d fired not only returned but became the most loyal team the company had ever seen.
Victoria never found another executive position. Word travels fast in business circles, especially when it involves fraud.
She ended up working retail, following rules instead of making them, learning that perfection without humanity isn’t perfection at all—it’s just cruelty in a business suit.
