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I live in Washington State and was recently terminated by my employer for something that a subordinate was allegedly doing. She went out the door too and the allegations were that she was picking on people due to their race or age. A couple of employees came forward which set off a chain investigation where several employees were interviewed and in the end, the company felt they had just cause to term her and me, though I didn't know anything about this since no employees had ever approached me. To make matters worse, I had a bully of a boss and it never seemed to matter what I approached her with, she was still always nasty and unapproachable though in the end, she was unscathed in all of this.
My questions, do I have any recourse at all since WA is 'at will'?
Is my unemployement at risk? How about my pension or 401k? I've been there several years and had was vested in both programs.
Finally, I had no prior performance reviews that were negative to indicate I was a troublesome employee and it irks the heck out of me that they can just dump you for poor reasons with no apparent second chances.
Pension is protecetd.
401K is protected but they can ask you to roll it over to another qualifed plan like an IRA.
Unemployment is at risk since they will claim misconduct. Regardless, you still apply. You should make a new post in the Unemployment subforum and ask specifically about the unemployment issue or send a DM to the moderator and ask them to move this to that forum.
Do you have recourse? Under the At-Will doctrine, they can terminate you for any reason at anytime. However, if they terminate you for a reason, that reason has to be true. They can't say you were terminated for assaulting a manager (that is not true) if they really terminated you because they didn't like your hair color. You will need to speak to a qualifed employment legal advisor on this.
As an FYI, At-Will is a two way street. You have the exact same rights (and employees excercise these rights all the time) by quitting without notice and without telling the employer why. Wouldn't it suck to have to provide your employer with a written reason why you want to quit and have to give them a performance review and a second chance to treat you the way you want to be treated?
[quote=Rabrrita;33108621]Lets do the easy ones first.
Pension is protecetd.
401K is protected but they can ask you to roll it over to another qualifed plan like an IRA.
Unemployment is at risk since they will claim misconduct. Regardless, you still apply. You should make a new post in the Unemployment subforum and ask specifically about the unemployment issue or send a DM to the moderator and ask them to move this to that forum.
Do you have recourse? Under the At-Will doctrine, they can terminate you for any reason at anytime. However, if they terminate you for a reason, that reason has to be true. They can't say you were terminated for assaulting a manager (that is not true) if they really terminated you because they didn't like your hair color. You will need to speak to a qualifed employment legal advisor on this.
As an FYI, At-Will is a two way street. You have the exact same rights (and employees excercise these rights all the time) by quitting without notice and without telling the employer why. Wouldn't it suck to have to provide your employer with a written reason why you want to quit and have to give them a performance review and a second chance to treat you the way you want to be treated?[/quote]
I did exactly that at my last job. I see my ex boss now and then, am friendly to her but she has NEVER asked me why I walked out. I think she's afraid I might tell her. lol I would have LOVED to provide her with a written reason and give her a performance review! At the time, though, I was so angry I just didn't care. I don't believe I have ever worked for a worse boss and working there actually cost ME money. And that was the "last straw".
I've also been fired because of the "at will" laws here. I think my boss got up on the wrong side of the bed that day, had just found out his wife was having an affair and I did some little thing that set him off. Turned out it was the head cook she was fooling around with and the boss was complaining to HIM about it. Eventually he ended up coming to the next place I worked, as a customer, and apologized to me.
Talk to an attorney, if you have been fired without any real reason you might be able to pick up a couple months severance, uncontested unemployment and a letter of reference just from the threat of a lawsuit.
However if you were an active participant in bashing co-workers and they can get signed docs to this effect from your former co-workers you're out of luck.
Don't be afraid of contacting a labor attorney that's what they are there for.
Fill in the state (Washington) click the box next to 'wrongful termination,' along with any other of the 'values' that you think may apply, and you will get a list of lawyers, with a brief bio of education, experience, etc.
Don't give up; I have seen more than one case of guys getting fired at my job, and wind up getting their job back. It's not the norm, but it does happen. My job is union, so the process is different.
My questions, do I have any recourse at all since WA is 'at will'?
Is my unemployement at risk? How about my pension or 401k? I've been there several years and had was vested in both programs.
Finally, I had no prior performance reviews that were negative to indicate I was a troublesome employee and it irks the heck out of me that they can just dump you for poor reasons with no apparent second chances.
Any input or advice is appreciated.
TIA
You can get unemployment.
I took a job in January 2013 without knowing in advance that my small business owner boss was a prick and his business was week to week.
After 6 months I didn't get my paycheck on Friday... It was delayed till the following Tuesday. That Friday I was fired for being on my cell phone. In reality he couldn't meet payroll which is what I told WA ESD.
I had no warnings of any kind and there was nothing documented regarding cell phone usage either. WA ESD sided with me saying it wasn't disruptive to his business and my UI claim was approved. I only collected for 2 days because I found another job that same week... But yes it is definitely possible to get fired for some BS reason and get unemployment.
... the allegations were that she was picking on people due to their race or age. A couple of employees came forward which set off a chain investigation where several employees were interviewed and in the end, the company felt they had just cause to term her and me, though I didn't know anything about this since no employees had ever approached me.....
If you were her direct supervisor, it is your responsibility to know what your subordinates are doing.
mm_mary73 wrote: If you were her direct supervisor, it is your responsibility to know what your subordinates are doing.
I've thought a great deal about that but wonder if that logic holds, where does it start and where does it end, and who gets to decide?
Perhaps my own boss should have been fired too and his boss for something that took place downstream. If a supervisor had no reason to believe there were issues going on below and nobody had approached him, how many layers up should ultimately 'pay' when it turns out that indeed, there was something to be concerned about? I think the immediately supervisor should have been sacked and for the others, a very good learning experience that should not be repeated.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Harassment based on race or age is one of the most severe problems in terms of cost to employers in a lawsuit. For that reason any supervisor that is aware of it and does not respond immediately is going to be terminated. Whether you knew about it or not, your superiors may feel that you should have known, and there is some validity to that. All of us here in management have to take annual training to keep us up-to-date on harassment/hostile workplace/discrimination.
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Eventually he ended up coming to the next place I worked, as a customer, and apologized to me.
