Soo back in mid-January I was dismissed and I believe it was unfair.

I started working for my company, a creative agency on 5th of May 2021 (I’m UK based) as a Demand Generation Manager. The team was great and I really enjoyed the work. I was working as part of a very small team (10 full-time) and apart from myself and the CEO the office was very female dominated, which I find awesome and empowering.

We were welcoming a couple of new joiners M & F both in their mid 20s. As it was customary we went out for a drink to celebrate them joining the team. I hadn’t had the chance t talk to them 1-on-1 prior to that. The office was close so a few of us went.

Following that, everyone returned to the office for another drink. As we hung out in the office, the female new joiner singled me out and mentioned she was ‘very attracted’ to me and that she felt we had a very strong connection. I told her in return that although she was attractive, it wouldn’t be a good idea as we work together. I was already, dating someone and getting together with someone at work is never a great idea. I went home shortly after.

The following day in the office, I thought things were a bit cold, but didn’t think much of it. Towards the end of the day, I received a Slack mentioning she would like to clear a few things out, about what she meant, but thought I’d deal with it the following day.

On that week Friday at lunchtime, after a brief conversation with my CEO, I was dismissed. During the meeting a few things happened:

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  • It was explained to me that my behaviour was out of order - but wouldn’t say more and was prevented from saying any more.
  • He did mention that I was being let go because of the conversation I had with my new joiner colleague. He added that in such a female-dominated environment I have made our new joiner feel uncomfortable and that ‘in this day and age, that’s not right’ referring to the me2 movement. - At this point I can only assume she had a meeting with our CEO about the drinks 2 days prior.

I still don’t know what she said to our leadership team, but I believe she made a few things up. A few days after being dismissed they also remotely wiped my personal computer.

I’m distraught by what happened but would like to fight back. I believe not being allowed to put my case forward amounts to discrimination. There was also no investigation and I am assuming my colleague made up part of the story with devastating consequences for me, personally. What should I do?