Life After McKesson: Still Traumatized
"I am a Black woman who worked as a supply chain diversity professional at McKesson for eight years. For 6 of those years, I worked in a hostile work environment. My manager, a white woman, maligned my character, made racists remarks, admitted to making racists remarks. Yet, I was the one who was placed on a PIP repeatedly for petty reasons on more than one occasion. Mind you, this was several years ago, but during that time that I worked at McKesson, I ended up taking disability leave for several weeks due to workplace stress.
I was later laid off and not allowed to apply for a department role that I could do blindfolded. I believe that this was an effort to get rid of me, even after every PIP proved that I was doing my job. I left the role exponentially better than I found it in terms of process, achievements, and a successful, highly regarded sustainable program, including a 5-inch thick end-to-end process manual.
To this day, I remain in high regard by existing and former McKesson colleagues. I was replaced by a Black, LGBTQ, Veteran male, and I'm proud that he could step in a role that I developed over the years. He is a fantastic individual that I respect.
However, years later, I'm still in therapy and struggle with the memories of the discrimination, disrespect, hostility, humiliation, and exclusion I experienced while working at McKesson. I loved my job and the ICARE culture that McKesson tried to promote. Unfortunately, I could not experience ICARE because I spend most of my time being hunted down and persecuted by my manager. The manager went as far as to report a false statement about me to HR. She blatantly complained that I had made an unprofessional remark at a business dinner by stating "that John Hammergrem (CEO at the time) was a slave and plantation owner."
Fortunately, a credible employee who attended the business dinner was willing to inform HR that I had not made the statement. But at that point, the manager had rung a bell that could not be unrung. My reputation and career were ruined. While the HR department removed her documented false statement from my file, the manager kept her job, and a few months later, I was laid off.
When I sought legal assistance, I was advised by most law firms that because there was a Black president in office, it was considered that we were in the post-racial period, and my case would not be taken seriously. So I had no choice but to accept the severance package that was offered. It has taken me years of depression and ongoing therapy. Yet, it still hurts.
Exclusion and racism hurt. With all that is going on in the world, maybe McKesson gets it now. I certainly hope so.