A woman who joined a mental health startup recently shared a chilling account of her experience, revealing a workplace that was anything but conducive to well-being. From a toxic manager and CEO to bizarre company rules and dynamics, the environment was so hostile that she found herself crying in the office bathroom on a regular basis. But what makes this story truly shocking is how she was ultimately fired.
The woman, who goes by “Ashiean” on Reddit, explained that she was let go because she liked a post about toxic workplaces on LinkedIn. She found the post “very, very relatable”, and as someone passionate about employee mental health, she didn’t see any harm in acknowledging it. However, her CEO saw things differently.
Ashiean described the startup’s toxic environment in detail. “Toxic manager, weird rules and dynamics,” she wrote. “The manager honestly made my life a living hell at work. She was an extremely hostile person and always used to play dumb when the CEO is talking.” She painted the CEO as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, whose “toxicity started affecting me so badly that people around me got to know about it.”
The CEO, upon discovering Ashiean’s “offense”, called her in and fired her, claiming she couldn’t work with someone who was “spreading wrong things about the company.”
This story begs the question: How can a mental health startup be so hypocritical? It speaks volumes about the disconnect between what these companies preach and how they actually operate. Ashiean’s experience highlights the critical need for open dialogue and accountability in addressing workplace issues.
She concludes her Reddit post by lamenting the societal pressure to remain silent even in the face of toxic environments. “The society preaches “so much about speaking up about workplace issues but the reality is if any one talks about such issues they are often get let go,” she wrote. “Is our fate to work by keeping our mouth shut regardless of how horrible things are?”
Her story is a stark reminder that promoting mental health doesn’t simply involve offering wellness programs or hiring a therapist. True commitment to mental health in the workplace requires creating a culture of respect, accountability, and open communication – something this startup clearly failed to achieve.
