This isn’t fiction. It’s lived experience — of silence, retaliation, and the quiet strength it takes to document everything while wearing a red uniform and a smile.

If this story made your heart pound, subscribe. Part 3 is coming. And HR won’t like it.

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I hadn’t worked a minimum wage job since high school — and one surreal summer in 2018 at the Bohemian Grove, in the liminal space between teaching and tech. I never imagined I’d witness such clear minimum wage abuse — from unpaid breaks to pressure to cover register shortages out-of-pocket.

But when identity theft wiped out my digital life, I found myself clocking into a gas station store, wearing a red uniform stitched with a maritime emblem — hoping to rebuild everything from scratch.

Above the door, the store’s name was written in soft, rounded lowercase letters — the kind you’d expect from a juice bar or a hip co-working space. Two of the middle letters curled into each other like a never-ending cycle, branding the space as modern, friendly, harmless.

But inside, the smile didn’t last. Not for long.

What I walked into instead was a quiet war — one that punishes the people who pay attention.

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Rebuild Series (Parts 1-4)

Part 1: The Gas Station Was Safer Than the Internet | How digital chaos led me to an unexpected battlefield | Part 2: They Cut My Hours, Not My Voice | Retaliation and Resilience in a Red Uniform | Part 3: Retaliation Exposed | What Minimum Wage Abuse Looks like in California Workplaces | Part 4: Two Battles, One Soul | How Cyberattacks and Workplace Retaliation Mirror Each Other

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Linguistic Discrimination and Language as Gatekeeping in the Workplace

On my first day, there was no orientation. No handbook. No real walkthrough.

Just a crowded convenience store attached to a gas station — coworkers speaking rapid Spanish, and me trying to keep up while juggling customers.

When I politely asked for instructions in English — my strongest language — I was met with shrugs, sidesteps, or silence.

Most of the training was entirely verbal, informal, and rushed — delivered in a tone that sometimes bordered on mockery.

Like I was already supposed to know.

Like needing help made me weak.

I remember clutching the edge of the counter, smiling through the sting, trying not to look as lost as I felt.

When I attempted to speak Spanish — only because no one would explain in English — my manager dismissed it.

She told me my Spanish sounded “too academic… too educated.”

Still, I kept showing up. Open-hearted. Willing. Trying.

I taught myself the register, the food station, and the closing routine — not during training shifts, but in real time, while the store spun with noise and customers.

I didn’t just learn through observation.

I survived through it.

When Being a Computational Linguist Didn’t Protect Me from Workplace Abuse

I wasn’t mocked for mispronouncing Spanish — I was mocked for not recognizing slang, regionalisms, and Spanglish neologisms wielded like insider codes. It wasn’t about comprehension. It was about control.

I speak Spanish fluently. I’ve taught linguistics at the university level, published a best-selling healing guide in Spanish, and worked across multilingual, cross-cultural environments.

But my relationship with language goes far deeper.

I studied linguistics formally, completed graduate coursework, and later trained as a computational linguist and language engineer. I’ve built tools that process human speech — from semantic analysis and sentiment detection to natural language processing, understanding, and generation. I don’t just use language; I decode it at scale, in systems and in people.

So when I was told my Spanish was “too academic,” it wasn’t a language critique — it was a warning: Don’t speak with too much clarity. Don’t show too much knowledge. Don’t step out of place.

What I needed was clarity. What I got was linguistic gatekeeping disguised as humor — a deliberate power play meant to exclude and humiliate.

And that’s what shook me most.

If I — with fluency, credentials, and technical expertise — could be shamed and sidelined for asking questions and speaking clearly… what happens to workers without those tools?

This wasn’t just about performance. It was a clear case of workplace retaliation masked as performance management.

When Moving Up Wasn’t the Goal

When I was hired, my manager said, “This is a great place to move up the ladder.”

I nodded politely, but inside, I thought: I already have a BA. I’ve done my Master’s coursework. I’ve worked in big tech, in higher education, in the arts.

I didn’t take this job to climb anything.

I took it because I needed quiet. A clean slate. A simple life while I rebuilt the rest of mine from the ground up.

What I wanted was stability — not ambition.

What I needed was space — not a stepping stone.

Being a low-level employee wasn’t beneath me. It was a choice. A cover. A soft place to land while everything else felt like quicksand.

But what I didn’t expect… was how dangerous it would be just to be good at the job — and still want answers.

Navigating Multilingual Workers’ Rights on the Job

I’ve studied and taught languages for years. I did my Master’s coursework in linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin, and believe deeply that connection begins with communication. At work, I seamlessly helped customers in English, Mandarin, Spanish, and Portuguese — translating when needed, diffusing tension, and creating smoother service for everyone.

But that didn’t earn me appreciation.

Instead, it created discomfort. My ability to speak clearly and confidently in English — a skill I once considered my gift — was suddenly perceived as threatening.

I once commented (in a meeting meant to discuss retaliation) that I had the clearest English among the female on staff, and it may be why I was frequently told by customers “You made my day!”, “You have exceptional customer service” at the register. This was not arrogance — it was a fact based on customer feedback and workplace practice.

But management visibly bristled. And soon after, the retaliation escalated.

Day Two: Trusted to Fix English, Then Set Up to Fail

On just my second day, my manager told me I was “so useful” — especially after I helped with the launch of a new food item, spam musubi, which I happened to know how to make well. She told me I wouldn’t be floating to other stores after all, and that I’d stay at this location full-time. That same day, she asked me to rewrite three official reports she had to send to corporate — about employees chasing customers who stole items among others. Her original sentences needed clarification, so I helped clean up the English, line by line, on three separate emails.

She trusted me with internal documentation. She valued my fluency and initiative.

It’s hard to reconcile that trust — and how quickly it disappeared after I began asking questions about training, safety, and break policies.

That was the day I realized: when you’re multilingual, helpful, and visible — you’re valuable. But when you start asking questions — you become expendable.

They Cut My Hours — Then Blamed the Calendar

Before I filed my complaint to HR, I worked 5 days a week. After raising concerns, I was cut to 4. Then 3. Then 2.

They said, “Everyone’s hours are reduced.”

But the schedule — taped on the wall for all to see — showed otherwise. My colleagues’ shifts remained steady. Mine quietly vanished.

I was being frozen out.

At first, I wondered if I was being too sensitive. If maybe I’d made a mistake I didn’t realize. But each time I tried to give the benefit of the doubt, another door quietly shut — another shift removed, another cold stare, another “accident.”

That’s when I realized: this wasn’t about performance. It was about power.

The $25 That Became a Target

Then came the lottery ticket incident. A customer brought in multiple scratchers. I printed the receipts, tallied them using the calculator, and handed over the payout. Later, my manager claimed I was $25 off.

I was told if I withdrew money from the ATM, I wouldn’t be written up.

That day the ATM was empty.

During my lunch break, the manager pressured me again to go to my bank to get the $25 and slip it in my drawer during my shift. And before I could even go to lunch, she pulled out a write-up slip at the register, in front of customers, whited out her own signature mistake, and demanded I sign it.

The customer returned and voluntarily paid the $25, the followin week but it didn’t matter. The message was clear: I would be punished, regardless of context or fairness.

It wasn’t just unfair — it was part of a broader pattern of minimum wage abuse that relies on fear, confusion, and silence.

A Surveillance State Without Support

Nearly every mistake I made happened while I was working alone at the front in my first 28 days— while the manager sat in the back office, watching me through the camera. No backup. No intervention.

But the moment something went wrong?

Suddenly, she was there — not to help, but to reprimand.

Injured, Ignored, and Reprimanded

On July 2, I burned my hand while preparing hot food — following instructions to make a specific item with one industrial glove that went missing. No manager checked on me. No incident report was filed until I demanded it.

Instead, the next shift I worked, I was reprimanded again — for clocking in, for clocking out, for taking my legally protected breaks.

Every moment felt monitored, but never supported.

And just when I thought it couldn’t escalate further — it did.

No Time for Safety Training — Then Suspended Anyway

A few days before I was suspended, I told my manager — again — that I still hadn’t been given time or access to complete a mandatory LMS safety module.

I’d asked the week before. Each time, I explained:

• The training doesn’t work on mobile.

• The system clearly states it must be completed on the clock.

• I needed access to the store computer — which was never granted.

I was told, “Don’t worry, I promise I’ll give you time.”

But that time never came.

Instead, during a surprise meeting with a district-level manager — the one supposedly looking into my earlier complaint — I was told I should stop going to HR directly and follow the chain of command. Then, mid-meeting, she asked me:

“Can your phone receive texts?”

I didn’t think anything of it at the time.

The next day, I received a suspension message by text. No paperwork. No formal explanation. Just a sudden shutdown while the HR investigation was still open.

That same day, the LMS module I had repeatedly requested time for was marked overdue in the system.

And just like that, I was out — for not completing a training I’d been blocked from accessing for weeks.

Left in Limbo: A Timeline of Events

To help clarify the sequence and the emotional toll of these experiences, here is a brief timeline outlining key dates related to my formal complaint, HR investigation, and suspension:

• June 23, 2025: Submitted formal complaint to HR about retaliation, unequal treatment, safety concerns and hostile work environment.

• July 8, 2025: Participated in a recorded meeting with the District Manager to discuss concerns in back office. Was told to not contact HR.

• July 9, 2025: HR investigation officially began. Before it concluded, I received a text from the District Manager notifying me of suspension “until further notice” — no due process, no formal reason or documentation provided.

• July 11, 2025: HR investigation ended without a real investigation and a message stating management was not at fault. No clear explanation given for suspension or next steps. I was told not to report to work.

• July 19, 2025: After sending multiple emails requesting clarification about my employment status, I finally received a vague letter stating that I was being separated for “unable to perform basic duties.” They also told EDD that I was fired, which prevented me from receiving unemployment benefits.

HR Intimidation Tactics: How Asking Questions Led to Fewer Hours and More Trouble

On July 9, I was called into the back office without warning. Five managers and corporate staff were present. I was told to join a video call with HR and asked if the conversation could be recorded.

I agreed. But I was caught off guard — pulled mid-shift, mid-register duties, while others handled my drawer.

By the time I returned, the register was off — and surprise: another discrepancy.

This was not accidental. It was orchestrated.

This wasn’t a neutral HR meeting. It was a textbook example of HR intimidation tactics — a surprise group interrogation that created fear, not safety.

And Then — Silence

Later that same day, I got a text from the District Manager:

“You’re suspended until further notice.”

No formal notice. No explanation. Just a casual text message on my phone — before the HR investigation had even finished.

If You’re an Immigrant or English Isn’t Your First Language — Know This:

I’m a naturalized U.S. citizen. I immigrated to this country and built a life here — with hard work, multilingual skills, and professional credentials. And even I had to dig through labor law PDFs to understand what rights I had at this job.

Now imagine what it’s like for coworkers who:

• Speak limited English.

• Don’t understand break entitlements.

• Are told to pay out-of-pocket for register errors they didn’t make.

• Are forced to buy defective lottery tickets the system prints by mistake.

• Aren’t told that mandatory training must legally be completed on the clock, not after hours or on their personal phones.

This isn’t just about my experience.

It’s about the most vulnerable workers being exploited — simply because they’re less likely to speak up, or don’t yet know they can.

Quick Worker Rights in California

BREAKS

If you work over 5 hours, you’re entitled to:

• One 30-minute unpaid meal break

• Two 10-minute paid rest breaks during an 8-hour shift

If you don’t get them, your employer must pay you 1 extra hour per missed break.

Register Shortages

Your boss can’t force you to pay for shortages or customer theft unless they can prove you stole.

Training & Language

If you ask for training in English and are ignored, that may count as discrimination under California civil rights law.

Mandatory training (like safety modules) must be completed during paid work hours — not off-the-clock or at home.

Injuries at Work

You have the right to medical treatment and an incident report must be filed — no matter how small the injury.

Schedule Cuts After Complaints?

That’s likely retaliation, which is illegal. You can file a complaint without fear of being fired.

Where to File Complaints:

• Wage/Breach of Breaks: DLSE

• Discrimination: CRD

• Unsafe Work Conditions: Cal OSHA

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You’re Not Wrong for Asking Questions

I now believe I was being pushed to the brink — with the hope that I would quit.

They thought I’d stay silent.

That I’d burn out, give in, walk away like so many before me.

But I won’t.

Because my story doesn’t end with silence.

And if this is happening to you — if you’ve ever had your hours slashed, your voice dismissed, your injury ignored, your breaks denied, or your identity minimized — don’t walk away silently either.

We need to speak out, not just for ourselves — but for:

• Every immigrant afraid to lose their job.

• Every worker mocked for their accent.

• Every person too exhausted to fight but still showing up.

You have rights.

You are not crazy.

You are not too sensitive.

You’re just awake — and awakening others.

And that’s something no uniform, camera, or corporate memo can take from you.

A Final Word of Solidarity

I wore a red uniform with a maritime emblem on the chest — but the color that mattered most was the fire in my spirit.

It burned with justice, with dignity, and with the belief that work should not require your silence to keep your shift.

If you’ve lived through anything like this, or if you feel something is off at your own job — trust your instincts.

And if you’ve ever been punished for speaking up?

Please know: you are not alone.

Thinking of writing some blogs in Spanish! Should I do it?

¿Te gustaría leer mis blogs en español? ¡Comenta abajo!

Esta historia no es solo sobre leyes.

Es sobre heridas emocionales, silencios aprendidos y la necesidad de sanar.

Por eso escribí Sana a tu niño interior — un libro que acompaña tu proceso personal con compasión y claridad.

Si alguna vez te han hecho sentir pequeña, invisible o rota… este libro es para ti.

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I was told I speak “too academically” — as if clarity, intelligence, or having a formal register in Spanish made me less relatable. But the truth is, I published a book in Spanish. A healing guide. And it became a bestseller.

So maybe the problem wasn’t my Spanish — maybe it was the discomfort that came with a woman using her voice fully.

Because I don’t just speak Spanish.

I write it. I heal through it. I’ve helped others through it.

And no amount of workplace surveillance or side-eyes can erase that truth.

Author’s Note: This blog was originally written in real time on July 10, 2025, while I was still actively employed — though already facing reduced hours and increasing retaliation.

I was left in limbo for over nine days, told not to report to any of my previously scheduled shifts, with no formal explanation or paperwork. My official separation wasn’t communicated until July 19, 2025, citing “inability to perform basic duties.”

What you’re reading now — published in August 2025 — is not hindsight. It’s a firsthand account of what it feels like to be quietly pushed out.

This timeline and treatment raise serious concerns about constructive discharge and employer retaliation, which I am continuing to document in accordance with California labor law.

A Message Delivered by Einstein

We were just doing our usual — walking across the street to grab coffee. Einstein trotted along like always, tail up, ears alert. I had no intention of lingering near that building — the one where everything changed — but the universe had other plans.

Right in front of it, Einstein stopped. Looked around. And with perfect timing and zero hesitation… he pooped.

I didn’t have a bag. I didn’t even have time to react. He just dropped it like a mic.

All I could do was stare. It felt like the most fitting symbol I’d seen all year. He left something behind — something I wish I could have.

He literally left a 💩 where I used to leave my soul.

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Why My Blog Changed — And Why It Matters Now More Than Ever

This blog began as a space for healing, travel writing, and soulful brand storytelling. It was once filled with curated visuals, aligned content, and insights for personal transformation.

But then life changed — and so did the mission.

After surviving digital impersonation, data poisoning, and advanced cyberstalking, I began documenting what most people are too afraid (or unable) to say:

That systems meant to protect us often fail us,

That silence is often enforced, not chosen,

And that the people most likely to be erased — immigrants, creatives, women, hourly workers — are often the first to see the cracks in our so-called protections.

My platform evolved because it had to.

I still believe in healing. But now, I believe healing starts with truth.

This is no longer just a lifestyle blog.

It’s a digital archive. A witness statement. A survival tool.

For anyone fighting to be heard — online or off.

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Seeking Media and Legal Partners to Highlight Wage Theft and Linguistic Discrimination in Hourly Workplaces

If you are a labor attorney or journalist who covers wage theft, language discrimination, or retaliation against immigrant workers, I invite you to reach out.

I’m not just sharing my story to be heard — I’m sharing it so others can be protected.

This is about more than one store, one shift, or one red uniform. It’s about every worker who’s been silenced when they tried to speak.

About My Reach & Why This Series Will Keep Publishing

I share this story not just to be heard, but because I have the platform and responsibility to amplify these issues. With over 27.7 million indexed searches across my three Google Knowledge Panels—plus my established presence as a Mediavine blogger—my voice reaches far beyond a single blog.

This is a full, ongoing series — not a one-time post. All parts will be published and remain live, no matter what. My goal is to hold systems accountable, protect other workers, and ensure these stories can’t be erased or hidden.

To employers, HR departments, and management teams reading this: understand that silencing one voice no longer means the story disappears. It only amplifies the demand for justice. 

Author’s Note: On Language, Class, and Solidarity

If you’ve read this far, please know this:

I don’t share my credentials to prove I’m “better.”

I share them to show that even with privilege, I still wasn’t protected.

I still got mocked. Pushed out. Gaslit. Injured. Ignored.

I speak with — not over — those who never had the chance to study linguistics or publish a book.

I’ve seen firsthand how smart, hardworking people get dismissed simply because they speak a different dialect, or hesitate in English, or don’t know their rights.

If you’ve ever been made to feel less than because of your accent, your education, your status — please know:

I see you.

I believe you.

And part of why I’m speaking up now… is because I’ve had the words to name what others only feel in silence.

Real-Time Witnessing — Not Curated Nostalgia

I’m not writing memoirs.

I’m documenting my life as it unfolds — while navigating broken systems, corporate retaliation, and targeted erasure.

What I’m living isn’t rare.

It’s the reality for millions of people — most of whom don’t have a platform, language, or legal support to tell their story.

So I write as a bridge.

For the voiceless.

For the workers too scared to speak.

For the creators who were never believed.

For the people erased by silence.

This isn’t just a brand anymore.

It’s a record. A warning. A form of resistance.

And for many — it’s the only proof that someone saw what was happening when it happened.

This Is What Blogging Was Meant to Be

This isn’t AI fluff.

This isn’t SEO filler.

This is lived experience — raw, unfiltered, and real.

Blogging was never meant to be safe, polished content for algorithms.

It was meant to be voice.

To document what others overlook.

To make the invisible visible.

So if you’ve ever felt erased, unheard, or gaslit…

This blog is proof: You’re not alone.

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About the Author

Susye Weng-Reeder, known online as SincerelySusye™, is a Google-Verified Internet Personality, published author, and former tech industry insider with experience at Facebook, Apple, and Zoom.

She first gained recognition for her work in intuitive healing, travel writing, and personal transformation—but her online presence took a sharp turn after she became the target of a sophisticated identity theft and impersonation campaign.

Now, Susye uses her voice to expose the rising threat of digital impersonation, surveillance, and cyberattacks—especially those targeting creators, women, and small business owners. Her blog documents a real-world case currently being addressed by federal cybersecurity teams, and serves as both a warning and a resource for others navigating this emerging landscape.

Her site, SincerelySusye.com, is now a trusted resource for anyone navigating the invisible war on digital identity — offering truth, warning, and hope in equal measure.