When a senior corrections officer receives a phone call from the warden's office on an otherwise unremarkable Tuesday morning and is informed that he has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately, the ground shifts beneath his feet in ways he cannot yet fully comprehend. The voice on the other end of the line is measured and professional, explaining that he will continue to receive his full salary and benefits but that he must not attend the institution or contact any colleagues while an investigation proceeds into a complaint that has been received. When he asks what the complaint concerns, he is told only that it relates to alleged off-duty conduct that may have violated workplace policy regarding communications with current and former inmates. He is given no names, no dates, no specifics of any kind. He drives home in a state of bewilderment, replaying every interaction he has had over the past months and years, wondering which conversation or text message or casual encounter might have been misinterpreted or reported. For the next several weeks, he hears nothing at all. Then a letter arrives informing him that he is required to attend a formal interview at the offices of a law firm downtown, conducted by external counsel retained by the employer to investigate the matter. The letter states that management does not recommend that he bring union representation or legal counsel to the interview. He reads this sentence several times, uncertain whether it constitutes advice or instruction, and ultimately decides to comply with what he perceives as his employer's preference. He attends the interview alone. Several months later, he receives another letter summoning him to a second interview with the same lawyers. Again, the letter advises against representation. Again, he attends alone. Then silence descends once more. Fourteen months after he was first placed on leave, with no warning and no preliminary communication, he receives a termination letter. His employment is ended for cause. No reasons are provided. After more than two decades of service in a demanding and often dangerous profession, his career ends with a single page of text that offers him nothing resembling an explanation.