Unfair Dismissal

by Ian Gaweda

King’s Church Mid-Sussex, UK

8am: a knock on my office door and into my office walks my Chief Executive. ‘Read this and I’ll be back in ten minutes.’ I did not have to open the envelope to know that this was something I had been half expecting for the last six months. I read the contents. Yes, this was my dismissal notice from the company for which I had been the Finance Director for the past three and a half years.

Six months previously an independent panel had been set up to investigate why a business deal had gone wrong. Internal control systems were examined. People’s roles in the deal had been looked at, including the external advisors. There was to be no witch-hunt the Chairman of the Board had promised, only an investigation into the events so that recommendations might be brought to ensure that it could never happen again. Seemed a perfectly reasonable thing to do, so why did my Chief Executive seem so agitated when it was announced? There was no doubt that individuals would be criticised, including me. But no one is perfect; mistakes are made in business every day.

No one is above criticism – that is, unless you are a Chief Executive who
believes himself beyond criticism; unless you are my Chief Executive! I had worked with him long enough to know that he would never be the fall guy if ever things went wrong. But this time it might be different; he could be in the firing line with me and others.

I read the letter. The business deal was not the reason for my dismissal! How could it be? The panel were not due to report until next week! Was this some attempt to bury the report? Would it ever see the light of day? I read further, ‘… no confidence that I could continue doing the job …‘ But wait a moment! Hadn’t I completed some very complex projects within the last six months? The new ten-year financial strategy; the new investment strategy; the closure of the old pension scheme, and the creation and implementation of the new scheme. Only recently I had received praise for these from the Board. Why had confidence in me suddenly disappeared?

The reasons outlined in the letter seemed vague and unreasonable. Recollection of events were totally different from my own and those of some of my colleagues. This was outrageous! The allegations would have to be answered. This was an injustice, unfair. My very career was at stake here! Who would employ a 55-year-old Finance Director who had been fired from his last job? I would set the record straight; I would be vindicated; everyone would be made to see that the Chief Executive was the one at fault; he was the bully making everyone’s life a misery; he would have to be brought to account and I would be the one to do it!

‘Lord, where are you?’

What about my wife and family? How could I break the news to them? My youngest son was about to commence university. How could we afford to pay for him? We would lose the house! ‘Lord, where are you?’
Then it came, deep within my soul, a peace, that peace which passes all understanding. Then the joy welling up, the joy of knowing that I am not alone, that my Lord is walking through this trial with me as He had promised!

I rang my wife, Lynnette. ‘I have been fired, sweetheart!’ Her reaction was as I had expected from a godly wife. ‘I have a peace Ian. The Lord has never let us down. Things will work out for our good.’ It was true. Over the 28 years since we had become Christians we had known a number of miracles in our lives and God had always provided. But here we both were facing a period in our lives that we had not known before. I had just lost my job! I was 55 years old! A moment of uncertainty suddenly hit me. Would He provide now? A similar question had been asked by the disciples just before the feeding of the four thousand (Mark 8:4) even though they had already witnessed the feeding of the five thousand. I was in good company. Just as Jesus had answered the disciples, so He answered me. That peace and joy once again overwhelmed me and drove away any doubt I had that God was with me in this trial.

Half an hour to clear my desk

My Chief Executive returned to my office and explained that I had half an hour to clear my desk. I looked at him but strangely I felt no animosity toward him. This man who had made my life so difficult over the last three and a half years, and that of so many other colleagues, was now using me as a scapegoat. I felt only a godly love toward him. Lynnette, being a protective wife, was initially inclined to be a little less charitable. But as we both prayed through the situation it became clear that he was the victim, not us. He needed our prayers!

I had shared with my community group the fact that I was facing a difficult time ahead and asked them to join me on my journey of faith to witness how God would not only provide for my family but also how He would vindicate me. I shared also with my pastor who had faced a similar situation when he had been in secular employment. I shared with the men’s prayer group and I suddenly became aware of how many other men had faced similar circumstances. I gained great comfort from knowing that my church was praying for me and my family.

But my main comfort came from the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the reading of God’s Word. So many Scriptures spoke to me at this time, particularly Psalm 37. ‘Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun’ (v5,6).

I would not speak ill of the company

I resolved that I would send no letter of complaint to the Chairman. I would attach no blame to my Chief Executive for the loss of my job. I would not speak ill of the company. I decided to leave my future and that of my family’s under God’s sovereign will. He would provide and He would vindicate me.

Four months later I was able to share with the church that I had received a letter from the company admitting wrongful and unfair dismissal, and that I could expect my salary for the period and payment of the top damages that I could potentially have been awarded by a court of law. I was also able to share that I had been appointed the Finance Director of another company.

God never promised a life of ease for His people but He did promise always to be with them even through life’s trials.

‘The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure for ever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty’ (Ps. 37:18–19).