Posted on 08/19/2016 8:36:06 AM PDT by ConservativeMind
I have someone close to me who was let go from her job for reasons that were not valid (for what was given as that reason). She is in an At Will state. Her manager has been bullying her for quite a while, but she hadn't contacted HR.
She has a log of contacting other management with her concerns over the past months.
Should she contact HR now, an attorney, or let it go?
Can the case be made that she was fired in retaliation for complaining about work conditions? If so then the employer is in deep doo-doo.
Unless she is averse to litigating under any circumstances then he should at least talk to an employment law attorney to find out what recourse(s) she may have.
at will is tough to get around...
EEOC....last thing any business needs is someone going to the Feds.
If she was already let go, contacting HR would be worthless. If she has records of meeting with other managers regarding the situation, then she needs to hire a labor attorney immediately.
Being a right to work state doesn’t mean you can get let go without cause for anything.
Would I want to force an employer to retain me? Ah, no.
What is the best way to find a “good” lawyer? I know there’s a service that collects ratings:
http://www.martindale.com/Products_and_Services/Peer_Review_Ratings.aspx
Thoughts?
“At will” means they can let you go because it was sunny that day.
If you really think the employer straight-up broke a law then you might have a case. But that seems unlikely. Being unfair or unjustified won’t cut it.
Depends on the reason. At will means you can be fired for an infinite number of different reasons or no reason at all, but you can’t be fired for the wrong reason. The list of wrong reasons is fairly limited, but basically, age, gender, race, nationality, religion, etc.
I vote for “let it go”. Your friend will save herself further emotional upset pursuing an unlikely cause. Not a lawyer, but I worked in state government administering Unemployment claims for years. As I understand “employment at will”, you can be let go for any reason other than certain proscribed forms of discrimination. Or for no reason at all. The fact that the employer cites a BS reason is not relevant, IMO.
I agree with the EEOC thoughtline.
An ‘at will’ state is one that may also be fraught with many temp agencies, which are notorious for ‘at will’ practices.
Just mind, that temp agencies all network, so if there is a problem with an employee with one of them, they will all know it.
” The list of wrong reasons is fairly limited, but basically, age, gender, race, nationality, religion, etc.”
Also, retaliation for reporting a Hostile Work Environment is a BIG No No.
Talk to an attorney first, and soon.
HR is the overseer of companies.
Their job is to squeeze/$crew employees to the max and not get in trouble.
After I took early retirement from a large company, some minority and women employees still with the corporation found out that HR was never on their side.
Any or all of which may have been a factor in the firing, but none of which will be among the reasons HR documents for her firing. Companies know how to play the game.
Neither would I.
However, if I had been treated unfairly, in an unkind or high-handed fashion, and if there were reason to believe that legal recourse - or the threat thereof - might yield a positive outcome for me, then you can bet that I would strongly consider taking legal action, and would therefore seek the services of a lawyer.
Regards,
Your state’s Bar Association probably has practice area “sections” such as “Labor and Employment” law.
You might try contacting the bar to see which lawyers local to you are members of the Labor and Employment law section.
Preferably someone who does that kind of work primarily or exclusively. There may not be very many of those.
Find well-established firms that do both plaintiff and defense work, and ask for references.
This is a blot on her business reputation and they should be forced to correct the record.
In business all you have is your reputation.
If they want to let her go that is fine, that is what "at will" is all about. But they are not allowed to lie about the reason they let her go.
At Will- bye bye.
One persons perception of bullying is another’s attempt to give direction to an employee operating under expectations.
Notes of perceived issues are fine, but won’t go anywhere without a bunch of other employees because the employer will probably pull out a videos which store for at least a year if this ever went forward.
OTOH, if you have little or nothing to lose, make them pay. Even if it is some nuisance money to get you to go away. Too many good people are let go for horsecrap reasons whereas too many drones are retained because they are members of a favored group. The costs of political correctness need to be imposed, insofar as possible, upon those who practice it.
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