I worked for a call center as a stop gap when I was younger. The economy had shit itself and while this company was doing great, it was looking to save money because they knew they could squeeze desperate people. Annual raises were coming up. They were based on a system heavily influenced by disciplinary action, so many of my coworkers started getting verbal and written warnings for ridiculous things.

I finally got written up for not pulling up a reference before telling a customer about a past event. I didn't pull the reference up because I already had it and other common topics open for easy access, which my supervisor told us to do.

I disputed the write-up but the department manager denied it as "the information could have changed between calls, so you should have looked it up through our knowledge base". I asked how the past could have changed and was told it doesn't matter: it's policy. I asked to see the policy. The goalposts immediately changed: "disciplinary action is at management's discretion and this was a serious error in judgment". I told them that I was shocked anyone could say that and still expect to be taken seriously, even by themselves, and refused to sign my write-up. I was pulled into the HR manager's office and given a "Final Warning" write-up for my attitude and not signing my initial write-up. I signed that one and got on a PIP, so they were happy.

Annual reviews were that week. I had extraordinary performance stats but got a $0.04 per hour annual raise - $83.20 per year! I walked out once I got a new job.

I just checked: my old manager is now a "boss babe" who sells essential oils and scented candles for MLMs. Sometimes a life well lived really is the best revenge.