the boss checked my computer history and saw AF

[drfuzzy]

And fired me.
Yeah.  I whined about her to you guys back at the end of February.  http://atheistforums.org/thread-41803.html   Despite having excellent attendance, attitude, work ethic, and all of the other stuff, she gave me a bad employee evaluation on Feb. 26.  Her attitude towards me had changed abruptly mid-February - - prior to that, I thought that we were friends and made a good team.
   March 31, we had another meeting, and she just said "I have a vision for this place, and you just don't fit."

I was stunned.  I have never been fired from any job - ever!  The HR Director had a meeting with us, and actually said to my boss then "you rated her as "excellent" on every point that we usually see: work ethic, attendance, attitude, accuracy, etc., and then you wrote that "she isn't a good fit for this office".  HR is not her boss - I'm not even sure she has a boss, and there is no employee handbook, no job description - nothing.  The HR people gave me a month's severance and are looking for another position in the organization for me, but they can't stop her.  They let me resign.

Yesterday was my last day, and the boss left early.  An IT guy (Adam) who has been a friend, came down to help me pack up and sign out.  We got to my car, and he said "I know why she fired you."  One day in mid-February, I was working in an upstairs office and had forgotten to lock my computer. Adam passed by the office door to hear my boss on the phone (probably talking to her husband) and heard "she had an ATHEIST website in her computer history! She has been posting atheist stuff when she should have been working!"  He said "I wanted to warn you, but I didn't know how it would help.  Be careful in your next job."  

This is Kansas.  There are no employee protections.  You can be fired for being gay (I originally wondered if she saw the rainbow stripe on my car) or for being atheist, or Muslim, or Jewish - - there is no recourse.  I just have to get busy applying for another job.  

Thanks for listening, and if you're surfing AF at work - in the US, at least - be careful.

[abaris]

That's not a problem where I live. When my editor in chief saw me browsing the boards he expressed his approval.

[paulpablo]

I'm already wary, I tried to access this site in work and it allowed me to come on but not onto a donald trump thread.  And I think if I was caught in the remote vicinity of one of mins threads called something like fuck the jews or screw the Muslims I'd probably be fired if someone saw that so I just use my phone to come on here in work now.
I do use youtube to watch some crazy stuff sometimes though but the managers in work seem to like me.  Everyone who I work with bends the rules and could probably be fired on the spot anytime but I tend to go out of my way to help people to the fullest when I can and then when there's no work to do I feel more justified in totally slacking off, watching top ten weirdest deaths on youtube while managers turn a blind eye.

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

Wow. Wtf, can't you file a report or something? I'm so sorry for you.

[KevinM1]

And fired me.
Yeah.  I whined about her to you guys back at the end of February.  http://atheistforums.org/thread-41803.html   Despite having excellent attendance, attitude, work ethic, and all of the other stuff, she gave me a bad employee evaluation on Feb. 26.  Her attitude towards me had changed abruptly mid-February - - prior to that, I thought that we were friends and made a good team.
   March 31, we had another meeting, and she just said "I have a vision for this place, and you just don't fit."

I was stunned.  I have never been fired from any job - ever!  The HR Director had a meeting with us, and actually said to my boss then "you rated her as "excellent" on every point that we usually see: work ethic, attendance, attitude, accuracy, etc., and then you wrote that "she isn't a good fit for this office".  HR is not her boss - I'm not even sure she has a boss, and there is no employee handbook, no job description - nothing.  The HR people gave me a month's severance and are looking for another position in the organization for me, but they can't stop her.  They let me resign.

Yesterday was my last day, and the boss left early.  An IT guy (Adam) who has been a friend, came down to help me pack up and sign out.  We got to my car, and he said "I know why she fired you."  One day in mid-February, I was working in an upstairs office and had forgotten to lock my computer. Adam passed by the office door to hear my boss on the phone (probably talking to her husband) and heard "she had an ATHEIST website in her computer history! She has been posting atheist stuff when she should have been working!"  He said "I wanted to warn you, but I didn't know how it would help.  Be careful in your next job."  

This is Kansas.  There are no employee protections.  You can be fired for being gay (I originally wondered if she saw the rainbow stripe on my car) or for being atheist, or Muslim, or Jewish - - there is no recourse.  I just have to get busy applying for another job.  

Thanks for listening, and if you're surfing AF at work - in the US, at least - be careful.

That sucks.  All hope isn't lost, though.  There are Federal laws that protect employees from discrimination as well (https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html).  It might be worthwhile to talk to a lawyer about what happened.

And, really, your boss opened herself up to a potential lawsuit without having anything legitimate to ding you on.  That's what HR was trying to tell her in an oblique way when they questioned her about it.

EDIT: in other words, your boss had a legit beef with you doing personal web browsing, but since they didn't mark that in your record, and since everything else in your record was spotless, and since the reason for firing was about not fitting in (despite, again, nothing in your record demonstrating that), she's on shaky ground IMO.

[zebo-the-fat]

The only issue I can see is using a work computer for private web browsing, the nature of the sites involved should not matter (unless it was something like child porn or terrorism) I don't know the employment rules in the usa but your treatment stinks.

[drfuzzy]

Thanks guys.  I have been e-mailing a lawyer friend of mine.  She's a member of a husband-wife law team here that is highly respected - she is currently serving as a judge, her husband is an ex-county attorney.  
   She says that yes, a lawsuit is a possibility.  However - it would be expensive.  And Kansas would be one of the worst states in the US to try it.  There are Federal protections, yes, but . . . in this situation, where they would have to locate WHO my boss would answer to, and in the absence of any written employee guidelines or procedures . . . this would take a lot of time and money.  It's not a good gamble.
   I don't want to fight to get the job back, it's a two-person office.  There is no better position in the organization that it's loosely attached to (that HR works for) that I would want.
   In any major company, a lawsuit would be well worth it.  But in this situation, I think it's better for me to just walk away and search for something that actually has protections and structure . . . and maybe isn't in Kansas.   

[Athene]

You probably have a fair shot at collecting unemployment, fuzzy; Especially if there wasn't a pattern of reprimands/write-ups. It wouldn't be much, but you wouldn't have to blow through your savings quite as fast or be without income at all. It definitely decreases the odds of any passive negativity directed towards you when prospective employers inquire into your job history. Plus, you'd just be sticking it to your former employer in general.

Best of luck to you. Hope something turns up soon.

[drfuzzy]

You probably have a fair shot at collecting unemployment, fuzzy; Especially if there wasn't a pattern of reprimands/write-ups. It wouldn't be much, but you wouldn't have to blow through your savings quite as fast or be without income at all. It definitely decreases the odds of any passive negativity directed towards you when prospective employers inquire into your job history. Plus, you'd just be sticking it to your former employer in general.

Best of luck to you. Hope something turns up soon.

Yeah, Thena . . . thanks . . . I'll get busy on that Monday.  The HR director promised me that if I applied for unemployment, she would approve it, despite the fact that I resigned.  (Sometimes a resignation will make you ineligible for unemployment.)  
   I'm busy sending out job applications and resumes.  I'll keep you guys updated!

[Mermaid]

This is precisely why I will never login from a work computer. I am sorry this happened, but unfortunately not surprised.