Is She a Bully or Did She Just Work for the New York 'Post'?

Michelle Gotthelf’s final day at the New York Post started like any other: an hour-long commute from New Jersey to the newspaper’s largely empty midtown high-rise; settling into the office she’d gussied up with bubblegum-pink walls, a unicorn mural, and a glass chandelier. Then, a Slack message from her boss: Could she come to HR immediately? As editor-in-chief of the Post’s digital operation, Gotthelf wondered if she would get pulled into an investigation or find out the paper had been hit with a lawsuit. Maybe someone had died. Instead, an HR manager told her the company wouldn’t be renewing her contract.

Shocked, she asked, “Is that your final decision?,” looking over at Keith Poole, who had recently been hired to run the Post. “Afraid so,” he said, then swiftly left the office.

By the time Gotthelf returned to the newsroom floor, her work badge had already been deactivated. After more than two decades at the company — this happened in mid-January — she suddenly had to wait “like a thief” to follow someone else inside. She sat in her office chair stunned before shoving a gray cashmere sweater in her purse and fleeing the building. This is retaliation, she thought. She had devoted her career to creating what she describes as “the most competitive newsroom in the country” without so much as a bad performance review. How dare they treat her this way?

TIL that Maine is the only state that doesn’t have public defenders (though that will soon change), and in Illinois, police issue fines to students who misbehave (like $200 to a kid who cut school and $450 to another for “disorderly conduct”). Got 11 minutes to spare? Check out just how many celebrities lied about their homes on MTV’s Cribs. A whistleblower warned the FDA about a formula plant months before babies’ deaths. More and more companies are considering providing period leave — yet some critics remain skeptical. How to stop freaking out. And let’s end on a treat: Wilco announced a new album, Cruel Country, out May 27, and you can listen to the first single off it.

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