In his gripping memoir The Anatomy of a Corporate Lynching (now updated and available as an audiobook), Charles Ford reveals the retaliation he faced from his job Con Edison after he went to the media and pursued legal action over them pirating his slogan. As one may imagine, things became rocky at work, so much so that he began tape-recording his exchanges. He writes that he felt dissed, disregarded, and disrespected. How was he able to get through it and did he know it would be that bad?
“I didn’t care,” he tells So Booking Cool. “When you get to a point where you’re that mad about an injustice you won’t care what the outcome will be. You will just try to make the most strategic move possible…and that can be very fearful for a lot of employees in the middle of something like that, knowing that they’re [the job] campaigning to get you withdrawn or terminated. When people know or even fear that something like that could be going down, it kind of makes them back away from what they’re doing.”
Ford did not initially want to share his story about the public Ford v. Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. lawsuit. However, two attorneys suggested he do so, and he eventually agreed to write the book, hoping it would help others, especially those enduring a crisis akin to his. Since its original publication in 2019, many have told Ford that they went through something similar.
“Had I kept everything to myself,” the New York-based writer says, “I’d thought that I was the only one who had a negative experience to the degree that I did. It’s always surprising to me how people will come out of nowhere and begin telling me about their situation and how they can relate to what I have in the book.”
Check out the full conversation to learn more about Ford’s thoughts on The Anatomy of a Corporate Lynching and how it has grown, his thoughts on whether employees should remain unhappy at their job until they secure another one or choose peace of mind, the process of recording the audiobook version including how his artistic moniker Chäs Bronxson played a part, a film adaptation of the book, meeting the legendary Johnny Cochran who almost represented him, the books that strongly resonate with him, his upcoming debut novel, and more! For more information, visit Fourth Ford Books online and his instagram.