Sounds like my previous employer, except replace "sneezing" with "suggesting process improvements and a reading list" and replace "not working" with "exploiting

Sounds like my previous employer, except replace "sneezing" with "suggesting process improvements and a reading list" and replace "not working" with "exploiting the current process to look busy without getting much actual work done". In that case, recognizing that I was a problem for office politics, the three seniors and the PM booted me off the project, and my employer then fired me in the next minute, for not being attached to a project. There are employers out there that pull this crap. You don't have to work if you know the right people. You can't make waves if you don't.