I was hired as a designer March of 2007. Everything was great for the first year and a half. Multiple design awards, positive reinforcement and an all around good vibe and no one complaint from any of my superiors. After the other designer left, the Art Director hired a previous applicant that had been turned down due to lack of experience & low quality work. It wasn't 6 months until everytihng changed. I was treated like a second class citizen, I was talked down to, cursed at, harrased, threatened & conspired against just for the simple fact that I wasn't lazy, had a great education and did excellent work. It got worse after the Art Director gave notice she was leaving, she was doing no work, being belligerent, cursing me & threatening me over nothing. I never complained once, since I knew she was leaving anyway. The editor ended up telling her to leave 2 weeks early because she was being disruptive. All the while she and the other female designer had been conspiring to get me fired by lying to the editor on a daily basis. Due to their backhanded scheming they conspired to hide the concept of the largest issue of the year, the 2010 Annual Manual, where ad rates are raised since the issue has a much larger run & it's available all year. After the Art Director was fired early the other designer, who lacks many basic design & software skills, proceeded to mutilate the already bad concept and imagery. It was a mess and many of our advertising clients complained. At this point I had to go to the editor & express my shock at how bad the issue looked & how many complaints I had recieved personally. After this, the other designer (now the Editorial Art Director, which she cried & cried to get a title change) decided she would do and say anything to get me fired. While I was designing every single ad for the entire paper, she was going to the gym 3 times a week for an hour and a half. That's 4.5 hours a week she wasn't even in the office. I was putting in an average of 10-15 hours per week more that her & I had been documenting it. The ad reps were also complaining that she was uncooperative an it infuriated her. No once did she come to me like an adult & discuss any concerns with me, ever. She then started making up wild accusations and complaining to the editor that in turn had him bothering me with pointless meeting because I didn't say good morning every day, put my messenger bag down too loudly (how ever you do that) & I had opened a box with a knife. I found out later she lied and said the knife was a switchblade, which it was not, since they are illegal in the state of VA. There was never a meeting where both she & I were present. Finally she bothered the editor & the ad director until they called me in for another meeting and said they were condidering firing me beacuse of here constant complaining & the unbelievable reasons mentioned above. At this point I god mad that we were still discussing this juvinile behavior & the editor said "i didn't get it" and I was "being defensive". Yes, I was being defensive because I was being attacked with lies. He also said everyone in the entire company liked me except for her. Sounds to me like she needed to be fired. He also said it's important for people at work to like you (I somewhat agree) but I'm not going to kiss the ass of the person I know is talkng trash, telling lies & going out of her way to get me fired. He siad, "you can grab their ass as long as they like you", which I replied, "Nom that's sexual harrasment & just stupid." So, they forced a 2 week vacation on me & said to come back in 2 weeks & we would discuss. No mediation, nothing. Then, the editor continued to call me almost daily asking me to call him back, while I was supposed to be on vacation. I texted him & said I was leaving town for a week or so & would'n't be able to contact him until returned. The day before my supposed return meeting I was called by the editor & was told via voicemail "they (the Hook) had moved on". That's it no explanation, meeting nothing. After almost 4 years, 30 design awards, including a VA Press Association "Best in Show", the only one ever in the 8 year history of the company, I'm fired over a pack of lies & fake tears. Loyalty means nothing any longer. Within weeks clients started complaining about the paper & many people I had done work for had called/written the editor asking what had happened. This is what you get for going to a good college, getting a degree from one of the top schools in the nation offering such a degree and then dedicating yourself and you talents to company & product you believe in. Thanks everyone and your welcome for all the work I've done for you. I hope I get credit for any awards my ads win this year.