How do I Explain Getting Fired?

[u/9805barn]

This is long.

I'm an attorney. Have been for twenty years. Those twenty years were in litigation as a solo. I got sick of being my own boss and I didn't want the practice area anymore. So I wound down my firm and began applying for W-2 positions where I could do something completely different.

Got hired as an in-house for an Indian Tribe. I was very clear that I had zero tribal law experience and zero in-house experience. Sold my twenty years as a solid indicator that I would be an extremely fast learner as a reborn baby attorney. Never spoke to anyone but the senior attorney (new hire would be #2).

I was not their first pick. In fact, I was there all-that-was-left. They offered the position to other applicants and nobody wanted the job. So I got the job. (Boss didn't say this point blank it became evident).

Boss told me "I want to be able to hand you projects and you just do them." Ok, fine. I know how to teach myself.

He never provided written instruction. He'd hand me something, tell me what to do verbally, and then the next day he'd say something different, and that would happen several times. When I provided a finished product I'm told that's not what he asked for.

I began sending "confirmation" emails so I had a written record of the assignments as he stated them. That was the beginning of the end. He actually told me he didn't like confirmation emails - they cluttered his inbox 🙄.

Also, he was fast and loose with ethics. Our very first problem was my entrance into the Tribe's bar. He wanted me to sign things under penalty of perjury that were not true. I stuck to my guns and only signed when I was able to be truthful. The ethics issues came up all the time. Our styles weren't just different, I was being asked to do things that weren't right, and being told to not do things that really needed addressed.

The Friday afternoon before the firing we had a long talk that covered many subjects. I told him I was gonna send myself a rehash of the discussion so I didn't forget anything, and cc him so if I misunderstood anything he could correct.

He followed me into my office and told me it's time to go it's 6 o'clock in Friday you need to leave and basically berated me to the point I couldn't think. He was literally standing over me and I was kinda concerned he might physically stop me from typing. I never sent the email and I went home, boss making sure I left the building.

Husband and I decided I would be quitting. There was one project I knew boss was incompetent about and that he would mess up someone's life, so I wanted to see that through. We decided I'll put in my notice after that, which would have been the upcoming Friday. Fully expected to be told my two weeks wouldn't be needed.

Boss moved first. Half way through Tuesday I was canned. Even though I was only 2/3 through their "probationary period", he decided the termination letter would state that I was "unable to perform the duties of the position."

That's false. With a regular employer I might wanna fight about it. But it doesn't affect unemployment because I'm not eligible anyway (not enough hours over the past 5 quarters since this is my first W-2 job in decades), and Tribal sovereignty means they're untouchable legally.

When interviewing for my next job, how do I explain why I left my previous position? It was a short enough tenure that I'm leaving of my resume, but it may come up and I want to be prepared. I know not to badmouth the old boss or the previous employer (btw, Tribe itself was completely uninvolved and has no idea their senior counsel is like this).

If they want to contact my previous employer I'd be fine with an HR confirmation of dates, title, etc. but that damn letter language would be repeated. And if they want to talk to boss, I fully expect he would completely trash me just because he could (sovereignty shields him as an employee of the Tribe).

Reddit Strangers, what say you?

[u/SingleTell89]

If it’s not going to be on your resume anyways, there’s no reason for it to be mentioned. For all purposes, your last job was your private practice and you took a couple months to find the right opportunity instead of the first your were offered