Older Woman Is Fired from Job Due to Her Age, Becomes Boss a Few Months Later – Story of the Day

A passionate woman stayed loyal to a company her entire working life, only to be fired from the job decades later due to her age. She refused to go down without a fight and eventually became one of their top bosses a couple of months later.

Ever since she was a child, Grace already had her eyes set on becoming a lawyer. She enjoyed discourse and was a champion member of her school debate team for years.

After graduating with a law degree, her stellar record landed her a job at one of the city's top law firms. She had worked there for forty years, rising from being a paralegal to one of the best and most respected attorneys in the firm.

Even at 68, she had no plans of retiring for as long as she had clients wanting her services. "As long as you need me, I'll be here. Find me at my office any day," she'd tell them.

True enough, clients would line up to meet with her, hoping to get her advice and representation in their respective cases. She had a great record for winning cases, and she planned to keep this up for as long as she could.

While she was determined to stay a lawyer, one of the firm's managing partners, Attorney Williams, thought differently. During their meetings, he would always hint that the firm needed "fresh talent" and that maybe it was time for Grace to give up her seat for someone new.

Grace found this insulting and refused to retire. "Why do I have to give up my seat when we can just add more seats to the table?" she shot back.

Attorney Williams was determined to let Grace go, regardless of how she felt or what she wanted. He figured she had no choice but to obey him because he was in a higher position than she was. So he worked on trying to get rid of Grace.

One day, while Grace was getting ready to meet potential clients, she was given a notice on her desk that it was her last day on the job. The notice cited that the company was providing Grace with a full compensation retirement plan, which the managing director thought would entice Grace to leave.

However, Attorney Williams wasn't about to get Grace to leave that quickly. After all, she was one of their top lawyers, with many clients choosing to deal with her. She knew that she had the upper hand.

Furious, she decided to sue the law firm for discrimination. She postponed her client meetings and spent the entire day locked up in her office, preparing her case against the managing partner.

When she was done building the case, she slammed a copy on Attorney Williams' desk and said, "If you think you can let go of me just because you want to, then you're wrong. I'm not retiring until I say I'm retiring. I'll see you in court."

Attorney Williams scoffed at Grace, shaking his head. "You're wasting your time, you know. When did a lawyer ever win against an entire law firm?" he asked sarcastically.

He thought that scaring Grace would work, but when he realized she was serious about taking the case to court, he sighed. "If this is the route you want to go, then so be it," he told her. "I'll see you in court then!"

The other managing partners watched as Grace walked away from Attorney Williams' office. While they usually never intervened when it came to internal firm issues, they couldn't help but watch the case closely, especially since it involved a managing partner and one of their top employees.

At first, they asked Attorney Williams if it was worth going through a court case just to kick Grace out of the firm. "Even though she's getting old, she's still one of our top performing lawyers. Why don't we just keep her?" one of them asked.

Attorney Williams shook his head. "They're only going to her because we can't offer them younger lawyers with greater potential," he argued. "She's not going to win anyway. I'm a managing partner for a reason. She's only an employee," he told them.

Although the managing partners had their doubts about the necessity of the case, they realized that Grace couldn't possibly win against the firm. They watched the case closely and ended up stunned.

Grace won the case against Attorney Williams, and it landed on the front page of newspapers in town. People started losing confidence in the firm because of what Attorney Williams did, forcing him to step down.

With a new managing partner seat vacant, the firm appointed Grace to take his place. She slowly worked on rebuilding the firm's reputation, and her clients vouched for her skill, hard work, and great work ethic.

What can we learn from this story?

• Never be afraid to stand up for your rights. Grace knew that her firm's managing partner had no grounds to fire her, especially because she was a top-performing lawyer for them. After she was fired for no sound reason, she decided to sue the firm and eventually won, proving that when one stands up for their rights, good things can come out of it.
• Age should not be a hindrance in pursuing one's passion. Grace might have been 68 years old, but she was still a sharp-minded lawyer loved by her clients. She refused to retire, knowing that she was still capable of winning cases and representing clients in court, including herself.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a mother of four who was fired from her job without receiving her final pay, only to buy the company years later.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.