Bill's job saga the last 2 months

I have mentioned here recently that there has been a lot of stress in our home, especially concerning my husband's job. He was employed by our local newspaper as their sports editor. He held the job for over 8 years. Over the last year or so, his immediate boss has been making his life extremely difficult... accusing him of things he didn't do, hiding cameras and saying that Bill never turned them back in, searching through his computer when he wasn't there, etc. We both felt that she was trying to find anything in order to fire him. There was extreme lack of communication, etc. It got to the point, where there was workplace bullying going on and it was causing Bill to have mental and emotional stress. He was also being forced to work close to 70-75 hours a week on a small salary. (If he didn't cover something he would get written up, or told that this could cause him to be let go, etc.) This let to physical fatigue as well. 

All of this led to Bill having a breakdown a few months ago, where he ended up in the ER with heart racing episode and it was determined that it was not his heart but rather extreme stress and anxiety and fatigue. He was prescribed an anti-anxiety medication to go along with his anti-depressant that he was already on. His doctor also encouraged him to maybe look for a different job (he has been looking for a different media job for over a year; there is just nothing available that would be an increase in salary or would be a step up from his level). His doctor also wanted him to work less than 40 hours a week, however knowing the business Bill told his boss that he could work the agreed upon 45-50 hours. They also changed around his work schedule to where he was working at nights putting the paper together instead of in the morning when everyone else was working. 

Sounds like it should have worked out for everyone, right? Wrong. Instead, his boss started forcing him to come in during the morning at least 2 times a week for "meetings." Meaning he would work until 3AM, only to have to turn back around to be back in around 10AM for a meeting. He would also get texts at 6, 7, 8 in the morning with questions or ideas for stories, while he was supposed to be sleeping. If he didn't respond right away he would get lectured when he went into work that night for lack of communication, etc. 

The situation came to a head after a particularly bad night when he was yelled at for something completely out of his control (he hadn't covered a certain school's game and a parent was mad-- he had to cover another school's game at that same time and he was the only sports person available). He sent an email to his doctor telling her that if he had a gun, then he would end his life. At 7AM the next morning, I got a restricted phone call on my phone but didn't answer it. I instead got up and took my shower as normal. As I was getting out of the shower, Jacob was pounding on the bathroom door saying he had to go potty. I told him to go downstairs to the bathroom down there, and he responded that he couldn't because there was police in the living room and Daddy said to stay upstairs. I quickly dressed and went downstairs where I learned about the email to Bill's doctor and that she had tried to call and when she couldn't get a hold of us, she asked the local cops to do a well check. That was when I also learned he had thought about ending his life. 

That day, we spent time at his doctor's office and in the Emergency Room in their crisis room. He was evaluated and deemed okay to come home and not be admitted. They did decide to wean him off the anxiety meds that he was on. They also made him appointments to be evaluated a couple of weeks later. 

When Bill returned to work, nothing had changed. In fact, things got worse. Another co-worker came up to Bill one night and asked him if he was okay and that he didn't want to bother him but his boss had said that "Bill had serious mental health issues that didn't allow him to work during the day and also Bill was anti-social and didn't want to be around anyone". His boss also told Bill that any communication needed to be done through the publishers and not to her. 

At this point, I told Bill he could get jobs at McDonalds and I wouldn't care as long as it meant I would get my husband back. We would make whatever work. Around this same time, Bill reached out to a friend from church who has opened 2 restaurants in our town in the last few months. He asked him if there was any openings in his stores and he explained everything that had happened recently. This man graciously offered Bill a job in his new sub shop after talking to him that afternoon. It is out of the media business and is not quite the same money he was making at the paper but it would get him out of that toxic environment. So Bill put in his two week notice into the paper on a Friday. 

On the following Monday night, Bill went and covered a baseball game like normal and then went to the paper to put the sports pages together and write his story. While there, his boss came in and after an hour didn't appear to be doing anything. It was highly unusual for her to be in after 8pm. Bill texted me that a co-worker was getting ready to leave and he didn't want to be alone with her. I told him to come home if he was uncomfortable. So he decided to come home. When he got home, he said that he got a text from her saying that she needed him to come back because she wanted his keys.  When he got back, his boss told him that they were releasing him from his 2 week obligation due to the atmosphere and that they would still pay him for the 2 weeks and his accrued vacation time (3 weeks). So Bill handed over his keys and left, ending his career at the newspaper. 

So what now? Well, now Bill is working at the sub shop. He also will soon be working part-time at Kroger (he had orientation there last week). He is dealing with the loss of a salaried job and taking on an hourly job. He has his moments of being extremely down and his moments of thinking he has made a huge mistake. I will be honest and say that this has been an extremely hard transition. We are just in the beginnings of the transition and so hopefully we have hit the rock bottom and are climbing up.