Manager faces career dilemma after being told to ‘manage out’ 20-year employee who ‘exceeded expectations’ for 7 years because firing her could cost $200,000 in severance

Manager, by definition, is the one person in the organization to manage their team, but sometimes it’s the same person who can be helpless, stuck between the top’s decision and the bottom’s expectation. In Reddit, a manager shares his part of the plight in the modern workplace scenario, saying he has been put in an awkward position after company leadership asked him to push a veteran employee and a ‘Strong Performer’ of the business. The reason is that the company could not fire her, as it would have brought a huge severance bill. Instead, he was instructed to “manage out” her so that she could not perform.

The manager shared the dilemma on Reddit’s r/askmanagers, naming the employee as Susan, who has worked at the company for 20 years and reported directly to him for seven of those years. During that time, he says, Susan received “exceeds expectations” evaluations and was promoted twice because of her strong performance. Now, everything has changed.

New leadership wants the company to cut costs

According to the post, the company has brought in new leadership and is undergoing a major restructuring involving mass layoffs, downsizing, offshoring, and cost-cutting.

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Susan, however, is a high-salaried and highly tenured employee. The company operates in a jurisdiction with strong employee protections, where the standard severance for an employee terminated without cause is one month of pay for every year of service.

That could potentially leave Susan with a severance package worth more than $200,000.

He claims management instructed him to “manage out” Susan, with the preferred outcome being for her to quit voluntarily. So that the company can avoid the large severance payment.

There is another problem for the manager. He says his own promotion prospects, performance rating, bonus, and future at the company are tied to how he handles the situation.

But Susan is not giving him an obvious reason to push her out.

She continues to perform well, while other managers she works with are giving her positive feedback and publicly recognizing her work.

Redditor reacts

The manager who appears to be under pressure to make a strong employee leave because of what the company could owe her if it terminates her. He asked other managers on Reddit what they would do.

One commenter gave a blunt answer: “Do the right thing.” The commenter advised the manager to tell company leadership that it would be wrong to treat a good employee this way, even if doing so meant losing his bonus.

Another commenter, identifying themselves as a former employee who had apparently been in a similar position, warned that Susan may have the knowledge and resources to challenge the decision legally.

“Plus Susan isn’t your common employee, because she knows her rights, has resources to sue,” the commenter wrote, adding that the company could end up losing more in court.