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I haven't necessarily been unemployed, I'm still working freelance, it's just not enough to pay the bills.
I can't afford an attorney right now, nor do I have the time to call an attorney. Note my other comments, I do not have anyone to help me or support me here, so I can't sit around messing around with lawsuits. If I do sue, it'll be after I find a job, not before. Though the time for that has long passed... statute of limitations and everything.
#1. call a lawyer. Seriously, its BS, and as long as your lawyer is halfway competent they will settle before going to court. Most will do it on spec-ie they take a % and it costs you nothing but time.
#2. This post of yours answers the question. "I quit to pursue being a freelance contractor thinking I could do well. Business has been OK, but not regular enough for me to depend on".
If they ask for pay, give them your average hourly rate while doing it, or figure out a reason not to divulge, just say "I'd rather not say".
Personally, as a hiring manager I would be ok with you telling me the truth. As you can see from the knuckle-heads posting before me, the truth is risky in this case.
FB... Since you're a hiring manager, wouldn't saying he left to care for a sick relative be a detriment? I don't mean to sound insensitive, but if in the story the relative didn't pass, then couldn't an employer assume the employee might leave again, should the relative need further care or become ill again? Don't most large corps want to think employees put job before family? That's been my experience.
I was wondering if he could say his job/dept was being phased out/eliminated & he decided to leave for freelance work as it was in the same field, offered good pay, kept him employed & was rewarding work. But, now he'd like to seek FT employment again as he enjoys & misses the teamwork & can offer that newfound knowledge & experience to a new position & co's clients.
To the OP... Didn't you say you had a legal degree? What would you do if a client solicited your advice in a similar matter? Also, regarding a reference, is there a co-worker who would back up any story you'd like to offer on future interviews?
I understand wanting to leave it all behind & walking away & I realize that others don't believe these things happen, such as an employer saying "sue us or leave"... but, I do know of 2 others who had this happen, albeit many years ago. They were female... 1 being harassed by a male, the other a female... it does happen, even though it's probably not common & those who'd never behave in such a way are often the most stubborn in believing it exists.
As someone else said, you can take legal action later, if you desire. But, coming up against a Fortune 300 company would certainly be costly. I walked away from a similar lawsuit myself, but again, that was decades ago & times have changed.
The job at hand is to find a new job & get over this experience asap. I wish you good luck with it all. I'd love to hear FishBrains' take on it.
That tells the new employer that you are classy enough not to gossip about any problems regarding your employers - old or new employers.
Everyone in the working world knows some things are horrible enough that cause you to quit. If you just say something like, "it just wasn't a good fit," and you refuse to get specific, I think they'll like that.
Then, what they'll do is call your old employer who will probably only tell them the dates you worked there, with no other specifics, which is the going norm.
Then, they'll call your previous employer before the horrible employer, who will sing your praises. They'll look at your other qualifications, and most likely decide that whatever went wrong was probably some bad work environment.
They will probably ask for a drug test, though, to be sure it wasn't drug-related on your part.
But, I'd stick with "it just wasn't a good fit." That's not a lie, and it's a classy way of saying, "I don't spill dirt or gossip," which they should appreciate.
You're still young so a law suit under normal circumstances would be out of the question. If the homeless statement is not an exaggeration you have nothing to lose if the attorney agrees to take part of the settlement. However, if you get an attorney for advice only that is smart. The difference is that without a lawsuit, you will pay your attorney for sure.
You're not much of an attorney if you don't realize that they are in the ones in a disadvantaged position. There is nothing to stop you from reopening negotiations. You may want to negotiate a layoff for lack of work and get unemployment.
I can't understand how an attorney with at least seven years of experience wouldn't do something smarter. When they told you to quit or sue, you should have had a better come back than quitting with your tail between your legs.
FB... Since you're a hiring manager, wouldn't saying he left to care for a sick relative be a detriment? I don't mean to sound insensitive, but if in the story the relative didn't pass, then couldn't an employer assume the employee might leave again, should the relative need further care or become ill again? Don't most large corps want to think employees put job before family? That's been my experience.[
I was wondering if he could say his job/dept was being phased out/eliminated & he decided to leave for freelance work as it was in the same field, offered good pay, kept him employed & was rewarding work. But, now he'd like to seek FT employment again as he enjoys & misses the teamwork & can offer that newfound knowledge & experience to a new position & co's clients.
The problem is the big gap with nothing to show for it. Any minimal reference checking on the part of the hiring company is going to reveal any lies. Calling the last employer could show that the job/dept was not eliminated. Asking for a reference from one of the freelance clients shows that there was no freelance work.
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I understand wanting to leave it all behind & walking away & I realize that others don't believe these things happen, such as an employer saying "sue us or leave"... but, I do know of 2 others who had this happen, albeit many years ago. They were female... 1 being harassed by a male, the other a female... it does happen, even though it's probably not common & those who'd never behave in such a way are often the most stubborn in believing it exists.
It absolutely happens. I have seen harrassment, and intervened to prevent it. I myself have used the line "go ahead and sue, you are fired", although in my case I wasn't harassing an employee, I was firing a disruptive one.
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As someone else said, you can take legal action later, if you desire. But, coming up against a Fortune 300 company would certainly be costly. I walked away from a similar lawsuit myself, but again, that was decades ago & times have changed.
Statute of limitations is going to allow you to sue for many years. Proving your case, that is another matter entirely.
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The job at hand is to find a new job & get over this experience asap. I wish you good luck with it all. I'd love to hear FishBrains' take on it.
Agreed. I once left a job with nothing lined up. It took a few months to land another one. I was pretty honest with potential employers. I told them that the company I had worked for was undergoing revolutionary change due to economic stresses. I could not ethically agree with the direction they were taking and some corporate directives, and decided to pursue a career change.
It worked for me, but I am sure that I missed out on some opportunities because of my answer.
I was there for 4 years and got leadership responsibilities, I don't think those answers would make sense in my case.
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