Well, it is a job, after all, pennies into my account for long hours and hard work. Mostly unappreciated by the glum faces I see on Zoom. At least I get to work from my own cramped office and not have to listen to the juvenile banter that seems to be going on all day. The office is audible and visible from the daily team meeting. Ghastly. But I’ve had one month’s salary so far, and that is good.

My boss is obviously a bully, a bit racist and completely immune from any idea that there may be neurodivergence in her team, but here I am, in her team. She probably appreciates my turning up on time and being generally diligent but that’s it.

Today, though is tough.

She’s asked me to do a thing that is simply impossible, and I’ve seen this before. She’s taken against me for some reason. Perhaps it was that protracted argument where I tried to get her to explain something, and she got exasperated - until I showed her exactly what she wasn’t telling me. She then went quiet and told me and shut the Zoom down immediately - this happens a lot to me in general life, so not a biggie really. But it obviously is to her. So, today is where I decide if this outfit is where I want to stay or not. Probably not.

I’m on Zoom with the boss.

And she’s gone.

I Zoom Jack, who seems to be the most friendly face here, but a bit of a joker. I bite my tongue.

And Jack’s gone. I message him and get no reply. I get a message from the boss that my work is to be finished by the “close of play” today. Even if I had the extra info, that would be impossible. I now get a message from Sarah, asking me to do something that ‘won’t take a minute’. It will, and this is getting impossible. I’ve never spoken to Sarah before, no idea who she is. She could be my boss’s boss for all I know.

So that’s it, not staying here any longer. But I must do something about all this.

Speaking to HR would be an option, but I suspect it will make my situation worse, I’d be flagged as a troublemaker. What can I do? Revenge is probably not a good idea, but something that will make the boss and the other employees think a bit.

I’m buying a notebook, a webcam and a portable recorder. I could set record on Zoom but they would see that. I could download a video recorder app, but they won’t let me install anything on my computer without permission from IT. So, a web cam pointing at my screen and a notebook will do.

Today I am in a call on Zoom with the boss and this is how it is going:

And she’s gone, again.

It has just taken me three hours to do Sarah’s pointless task, which I know won’t be used and makes no sense (to me, anyway). I’m on Zoom to Sarah, to ask her some detail.

And she’s gone.

In my inbox now, staring at me is something from HR : “Personal Improvement Plan - next steps”. It looks very formal and was sent just after Sarah left the Zoom call. Plentiful uses of the word “mandatory”. After only 5 weeks at this joint I seem to be on some kind of disciplinary. And I’ve done nothing wrong.

Well, perhaps. I’ve also been sent an email from Jack with “You sly bugger” as the subject. I delivered the project for the boss, but without the information I required, so I just put in a box that said “need more info here, as requested” and didn’t allow the user to go any further - because, for God’s sake - I didn’t know how to, I wasn’t told. Jack thought this was funny but it would appear he’s dobbed me in to the boss, or Sarah (whatever position she holds, I still don't know).

I had a look at what I did for the project, and it seems that someone, Jack probably, has updated it, removing my “need more info …” with something I’ve not seen before, and would never have guessed at - he obviously had the spec I was asking for. But this is the development server, so the live server still has my “sly” message on it.

I’m in the office (urgh) and in a meeting room with Ahmed, the HR guy. He’s asking me some odd questions. I have my portable recorder in my pocket, recording.

This afternoon I am drafting a letter to Ahmed, Sarah, Jack and the boss. I’m not naming the boss yet, the others are not their real names. But I will, in time.

In the middle of drafting this letter, which is going to be printed and sent by post, not email, I get a phone call to my personal mobile. It’s the boss and she wants to know where I am. I put her on speaker and start recording.

And she hung up.

So, there you have it. I have recordings of all those contradictory conversations and have laid them out here, more or less. I’m going to look at some ‘constructive dismissal’ legalese and see my friend Rachel who is a lawyer. I can’t afford her, and I won’t pursue the claim, but what I can do is write all this down and publish it - I’ll ask Rachel to look at this ‘story’ and check it’s completely non-libellous (because it is all true) and publish it on my website and name names.

I won’t send the letter, I will just see if anyone from the company sees this and responds.

The company is called Play Twenty One and they do gambling apps and a crap website with the photos of Jenefer Bryonie (the boss) and Bishti Croft (Sarah), the founders - I didn’t think to look at the website for Sarah/Bishti, but there she is. Jack is not on it, nor is Ahmed but I don’t think I need to shame them, they were only doing their jobs.

Go to playtwentyone.com and have a look.

Equally, go to playtwentyone.com/safe/login1975 - the secret members’ login page I worked on.

This is going up on my personal webpage and my substack accounts and I await with bated breath, as they say, for any response from Jenefer or Bishti. Or their lawyers more like. The recordings are not yet public, but I’m keeping them for future use.

I shall let you know what happens.

Andy KJ Cragg, software developer, 24 May 2024.