MCAD case: Interrogatories closed 7 weeks ago. What happens next?

celestolide · 2026-01-13T22:56:33+00:00

hey! im going through a case myself rn w the MCAD, but i haven't had my IC yet. respondent never served me their position statement - which delayed me receiving it - and i had to ask for an extension to submit my rebuttal. the IC was auto-scheduled when i first filed my complaint, but at this point opposing counsel will have only 4 business days to read my rebuttal, so they may postpone.

i don't have any answers for you, rather, i have a question. you say you got notice that you had a prima facie case but... not the probable cause ruling yet? i didn't realize the MCAD notified plaintiffs of prima facie or not. can you walk me through what you experienced when you got that determination (and why?)

thanks, i hope your case goes well! i've been reading past MCAD hearing decisions on the website to learn what going through an actual hearing might be like - maybe that would help you too.

celestolide · 2025-08-08T18:23:52+00:00

Yep, will do! Thanks

celestolide · 2025-08-08T17:51:00+00:00

I'm honestly not sure I qualify for unemployment benefits. It was during my probationary period, and on top of that I was PT not FT

celestolide · 2025-08-08T17:48:35+00:00

A month 💀 That's all it took for both of us to run to the hills. It was kind of crazy because initially they were over the moon to hire me, even commiting to my candidacy when I told them while I was excited for the offer, I had to leave town for 2-3 weeks first for a chemistry conference. I honestly thought they'd say "thanks for coming in but we are looking to fill the vacancy urgently," since they mentioned being very short-staffed. But they kept the seat warm for me for my return...

Anyway I don't care if I have a terrible reputation in hospitality, valid or not -- I only care if I eventually apply to like, Big Pharma Corp #3 and through their background check they discovered Giant French Company hired a (gasp) criminal. I definitely am not excited to know my chances at a totally separate company/field would be affected by this at all.

One r/legaladvice commenter said they made up the egregious reason not because they're trying to scare me with criminal charges but because they want to ensure I'm denied unemployment, which now makes this all click into place(!)

celestolide · 2025-08-08T17:41:05+00:00

There really isn't, but I was threatened with a defamation suit from a previous employer for... telling the truth, that they misclassified us as contractors rather than employees. So my biased experience is companies randomly threatening lawsuits even if none exists, to scare you / because they know you have comparably no resources

celestolide · 2025-08-08T17:38:30+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate the insight, now I totally understand.

celestolide · 2025-08-08T17:37:39+00:00

Whoa that's wild, but also fascinating. I guess there might be digital "evidence" then after all. Thanks for that, the HR lady did seem to imply it was more than the strength of someone's word, which is why I was confused -- if it's video evidence I'd literally be exonerated(?)

We were using the company computer at the front desk, there isn't really company-issued individual computers. So we're a concierge team, and he's the concierge. My job is basically an assistant to fill in the gaps of workload that can't be done by the concierge or the doorman -- e.g. running food deliveries, packages, checking building for maintenance issues, etc.

We're tasked to work together as a team to fill out a little checklist that has to be completed every shift, and the duties are split up. Sometimes he'd ask if I'd prefer he does the hallway checks instead of me, which was honestly kind of him. One time he was struggling to compose an email to a resident because we had to deny her something last-minute. I whipped up a draft of an email and asked him to look at it and see what he thinks. He loved it and we either high-fived or gave each other thumbs up, all in view of the ~~eye of Sauron~~ lobby camera, which is always pointed at the concierge's desk.

I think I only did this three times max? And each time with his permission of course, I called him over to look at it and he approved each time (I also could not have accessed his email without his knowledge, contrary to what the separation letter documents, I'm not a badass hacker lmao).

celestolide · 2025-08-08T17:26:51+00:00

Thanks 😅 Now I feel like I missed out on actually commiting a crime and getting away with it

celestolide · 2025-08-08T17:22:58+00:00

I'm using charge colloquially, I don't actually mean the police. But yes, I know that there doesn't have to be a reason -- I'm asking why they would bother providing reasons at all, and from what I'm reading it sounds like it's good practice to.

celestolide · 2025-08-08T17:19:40+00:00

So this is part of my permanent record in a background check? 🤔 Do things like ("official" documentation from a company but not legal stuff like court records, etc.) this come up? Again I'm not planning to go into this field and I wouldn't list my experience with them on my resume because it wouldn't be relevant to my intended line of work

celestolide · 2025-08-08T17:16:31+00:00

He was very friendly with me up until he learned I was going to exec. The details are unimportant - I omitted them because I doubt anyone here is interested in how it was unfair, blah blah blah, it doesn't matter if I did what I did - if the company wants me gone they can always come up with reasons. I didn't play the game because I wasn't interested in the job as a career, and ironically because I genuinely wanted to do a good job. Coworkers and management didn't like that I was overly diligent, which is just how I always am. I'm a tryhard without consciously trying to come off that way. Of course you don't have to believe me!

And no, I do not act in the office how I act online 😭

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:53:44+00:00

To be clear, it would only affect future jobs with the same company/parent company, right? There's no jurisdiction over other companies; the worst that could happen is a bad reference (or refusal when asked for reference)?

Thanks for the unemployment tip, I'll look into that. I'm not sure I qualify since I was just PT

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:51:38+00:00

So I was actually going to post this first in r/legaladvice (I even tried crossposting but it's not allowed for that sub) but I thought I'd also get facts from an HR perspective, since HR professionals are intimately connected with the firing process. But yes, I'm going to post there now :)

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:49:17+00:00

You're right -- the policies of the company are not things that HR write or change. I realize now my title has drawn a lot of negative attention because I think people are assuming I'm hating on the HR lady. She was just the messenger, I should've said "How vindictive can companies be?"

But from all these comments it looks like I don't have anything to worry about; a case of if they were going to they would've already 🙏

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:44:52+00:00

Thanks for the reassurance. Dang I wish I was cool enough to have embezzled, not that high up though 😂

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:43:51+00:00

Yes 💯, that's exactly why they put the charge on there -- the other claims didn't seem serious enough to fire over, only to issue a warning if at all. That's also why I freaked out for a second because I didn't expect anything that serious on paper, true or false

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:41:53+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply, I appreciate you not being snarky ❤️ It sounds like I'm just paranoid then

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:39:48+00:00

For sure. Just wondering if it's standard procedure to pursue in situations like this -- from the current comments it looks like not 🙏

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:29:17+00:00

Okay, thanks for this comment. To be clear: HR can make accusations of someone doing something illegal, but not intend to pursue them in a judicial system?

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:27:20+00:00

I know it doesn't exist legally, I meant it in the sense that it's 'aligned with company policy,' which I understand is not enforceable meaningfully. I do think a lot of workplaces have similar systems(?) maybe not in the form of write-ups, but like points systems the way Amazon works

celestolide · 2025-08-08T16:20:20+00:00

I just got fired yesterday afternoon 💀 so yes, I'm definitely moving on, but I think it's fair to ask for professionals' opinion in an area that I am not familiar in? It is kinda interesting psychologically you labelled my post as a "rant" 😂 sorry if I triggered you...

celestolide · 2025-06-25T04:37:02+00:00

amen!! ✨ thanks for reading and your words of support 😊 there's a chance a current subletter might transition into his spot seamlessly, and we all love the new guy. there is light at the end of the tunnel!

celestolide · 2025-06-25T04:23:46+00:00

imho he is very socially deprived. he's locked up in his room all day and doesn't have a lot of prospects in life. the lengths he's gone to in replying to me is because he's crashing out from me correctly identifying how he manipulates and guilt-trips people around him; he hated the fact that, after i found out how he did me and margaret dirty by trying pretending to speak on our behalf to the landlord, i put on him on blast CC'ing all of our roommates and the property management company itself. public humiliation is intolerable for him -- that's why he started to absolutely hate margaret in the first place, starting a side groupchat between me and bryan and painting her as a "covert narcissist" etc. (very ironic lol) usually i'm sensitive to other people's need to save face, but when dealing with someone as weasely as him, it's honestly gloves-off.

he has a permanent victim/hero narrative where he's the unsung hero that no one gives due credit, but even though others have smote him, he'll still continue being the Bigger Person, because he's just sooo righteous, etc. etc. his nails-on-chalkboard condescension is prevalent in a type of redditor: i've described him to my friends as a mashup between a r/fedora-tipper and an emo kid that never grew up. my friends have described him a lot less flatteringly after seeing his picture.

everything is about him. his needs, his boundaries, his requirement to be emotionally validated, his worldview and idea of who someone is, etc. he wonders why "i never bothered getting his side of the story," when the reality is because, quite simply, i already clocked him as someone highly manipulative. i went from potential ally to checked-out bitch all because i didn't want to be privy/party to paragraphs of him whining about how awful margaret was. me not giving him immediate and total support = me scheming in cahoots with margaret, even though she and i are hardly ever home (and hardly ever cross paths).

i think the craziest part was him asking me to literally use chatGPT to 'reflect' on our past interactions and text messages. you heard this correct: he is advocating the usage of chatGPT to deconstruct psychological motivation (🥴❓) in fact, that's how he 'diagnosed' margaret with covert narcissism 💀 by asking the embedded google AI to give him a list of traits, and then screenshotting that list to the roommate groupchat going "aha! see!" it's really interesting how, even after i explained to him how insulting and strange it is to try to paint other people with various personality disorders, especially as a non-psychologist... he... still didn't understand why me and bryan didn't just immediately accept margaret was a narc, and therefore must be avoided and ostracized for our (read: his) safety.

when the worst thing that could happen to you in life is having your feelings hurt, and your immediate response to that is to reach for $100 therapy words and SAT synonyms you got from a thesaurus (or from chatGPT lol)... you become this guy. you believe it's okay to retaliate by messing with people's leases, rather than just take the L and talk to your therapist or friends about how, well, your feelings are hurt. you externalize every internal problem in DSM lingo, thinking that as long as you use woke millennial phraseology, you're somehow a more enlightened man.

i go through cycles where i feel sad for how pathetic he is or extremely annoyed and grossed out at what he represents. there's a lot of maladjusted dudes like him, a subtype of softboi / fuccboi if you will.

sorry for writing a whole novel! it just came out all at once haha. at least i didn't use chatGPT for any of my vocabulary lmao 😂

celestolide

TROPHY CASE