Back in 2015 my mom was the office manager at a catering company. She got me a summer job there during college doing delivery and setup for events. I ended up liking the work and stayed on part time through school. About six months in the owner and my mom got into it over something stupid I dont even remember what it was and he fired her on the spot.

No warning no severance nothing. She was devastated because shed been there for years and really cared about the place.

I have a different last name than my mom so nobody connected us. I stayed for another year or so because I needed the money but I had my own problems with how they ran things. Paychecks were late all the time and they kept promising benefits that never materialized. Eventually I left and got hired by an event venue that we had done some work for.

Fast forward to now and Ive worked my way up at the venue to where I handle vendor contracts. I decide which caterers get on our approved list and we do a lot of corporate events and weddings so being on that list is a big deal for these companies. Were talking six figures worth of business annually for the ones we use regularly.

A few months ago I get a call from someone wanting to set up a meeting about getting on our vendor list. The company name sounded familiar but I didnt think much of it. We scheduled lunch at a nice place downtown.

The guy shows up and its him. The same owner who fired my mom. Hes older now but I recognized him immediately. He clearly had no idea who I was. He did his whole pitch. Talked about his companys capabilities and how much he values his employees and treats them like family. Went on about quality and reliability and all that. I just sat there nodding and eating my food.

When he finished I asked if he remembered a woman who used to work for him as office manager about ten years back. He said yeah vaguely. I told him thats my mom.

He knew exactly who I was talking about and probably remembered how he treated her.

I thanked him for lunch and told him unfortunately our vendor list was full of more established partners but Id keep his company in mind if anything changed. Shook his hand and left.

He never followed up and I never reached out. My vendor list isnt actually full I just didnt want to give him a dime of our business after what he did.

AITJ for turning him down because of what he did to my mom?