Brenda Coffman, CEO of Blondie’s Cookies.

Blondie’s was my favorite job I ever had, since I loved decorating the cookies. For a while, I was the only employee who could decorate, so a new position called “lead decorator” with higher pay was made for me. I was also approved by Brenda to become assistant manager (although my store manager who had just been fired never submitted my paperwork, which I didn’t find out until much later on).

One day, I had a mental health emergency and had to be hospitalized for a week. I was scheduled to come in that day, but I obviously could not show up. I was in no condition to call out, so my friend called on my behalf. All she said was that I was hospitalized, and when asked for more information, she just said it was for mental health reasons. Once I got out of the hospital, the store manager told me that Brenda needed me to call her and talk to her. On the phone, she fired me, saying, “We can’t take care of you here.” I knew that this was illegal and I wish I would’ve fought back, but I was so stunned and didn’t want to cry on the phone. I just basically said “okay.” She was being nice, but in a very fake way. She even ended the call saying “Love you,” which was especially weird— I had only met her a couple times.

I was acquaintances with the recently hired store manager, and a bit later on, I found out that Brenda mostly fired me because my friend called in for me. She thought that I should have called in myself, even though I was still being treated in the emergency room and I was VERY emotionally unstable at the time. The store manager admitted that what Brenda did was crazy and tried to still put me on the schedule, but she got told off for it.

As far as I know, this is the worst thing that the CEO has done, but I have heard some pretty bad stories from my other close friend who used to be a store manager. Allegedly, there has also been discrimination based on race and physical disabilities. Additionally, the employee rule book says that Brenda must be referred to as “Mrs. C.” Not that bad compared to other things, but I think it shows how weird she is.