[akg_67]

Don't say anything about the company publicly. Hire an employment lawyer, let him/her go after the company. Assuming your first batch of options were going to vest at one year anniversary, firing at 51 weeks seems suspicious.

Once lawyer has extracted what s/he can from the company and settlement doesn't prevent you from further pursuing, send complaints to department of labor and state attorney general. While DOL and AG office most probably will not do anything, The complaints will go on file at both offices. If the company is pulling similar stunts with other employees and DOL/AG office sees series of similar complaints, they may go after the company.

Privately bad-mouth the company to your network (not intentionally), word gets around and will warn others. Make sure you never work for another company connected to founders and senior executives of this company. Unethical management and investors at the top attract unethical people and breed unethical culture, they will never change their behavior.

[x0x0]

Or, if you're going to make a scene publicly, at least let the lawyer advise you on it. Better to leave that in his or her set of things to threaten the company with. ie maybe you can negotiate a vesting agreement in exchange for a nondisparagement agreement.

Having been to a lawyer in really stressful circumstances, here's what you should do: Write down what happened, in chronological order. Be brutally honest about everything you did. Revise this a couple times. This way, you won't get emotional during the recounting and leave out crucial details. Differentiate claims and claims with proof. eg did your boss give you feedback? Written? ie was that a "good job" in the hallway or an excellent written annual review? Do you have a copy?

Then get a free consultation (they all do it) with a couple employment lawyers. Bring this paper, let them read it, and let them lay out your options. Bring any papers you've signed -- employment agreement, reviews, employee handbook, etc.

ps -- forward critical emails from your boss/cto to your personal account for safekeeping. Reviews, promotions, even negative feedback. Keep your own copy.

good luck.

[Gibbon1]

Yes, OP should totally STFU and quietly go to an employment lawyer.

[jdenning]

This is the correct advice. 1 week before vesting is pretty suspicious, but you need to talk to a lawyer before you do anything else.

[M_Grey]

I would consider whether or not my record and life could stand up to the kind of public scrutiny that might bring, and be very very honest about it. If I had any skeletons, or even just a bone or two in my closet? I'd chalk it up to rough experience.

[jacquesm]

Why, it's not like you will be on trial, the company is the one engaging in misbehavior here.

What skeletons or bones could there be?

[restlessdesign]

Anything the company would want to share in retaliation—true or not. Look at the shit storm that came out of Julie Horvath’s treatment at Github. Or heck, why not extrapolate this and consider the situations of those such as Snowden or Manning? In a perfect world, of course those wronged would have the full backing of the community and the employer in question would own up to their wrongdoings. But the world isn’t perfect and sadly, in reality, whistleblowers often “get to” ride-a-long in the muck as well…

[bpchaps]

Issues where HR departments are actively non-accommodating to reported mental health issues, for one. You're practically screaming into a megaphone, "I'm not crazy!". It's social and career suicide.

[M_Grey]

In a perfect world only the person on trial is subject to that kind of scrutiny, but in reality that's often not how it works. If you can crush someone in the public sphere, that's what happens. I.E. The "Cosby" defense.

[nugget]

Give us a break. There's a world of difference between Cosby (rape accusations) and a tech worker who was fired at 51 weeks (1 week ahead of a vesting date), which almost everybody can read between the lines on (was likely a marginal fit and the company dropped the ball/took a long time deciding whether to keep them or not). The company might respond with ''they sucked, and deserved to be fired'' but that's hardly being ''crushed'' in the public sphere.

[maxlybbert]

I took the "Cosby defense" to refer to Cosby countersuing his accusers ( http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0TX2AG20151214 ). I haven't paid much attention to that trial, so it wouldn't surprise me if he or his legal team had also insulted the accusers.

[M_Grey]

Exactly... attacking people in public has an effect, even when it probably shouldn't. I thought the Cosby situation was a good, extreme example of that. I'm glad that someone got what I was trying to say, however ineptly I've been saying it.

[M_Grey]

The company might respond a little more aggressively, and again, it would all depend on whether or not someone has anything to hide. Accusing an accuser is an old and sadly, proven technique. That said, I'm tired of getting downvotes from people who can't imagine bad behavior of this type, so...