new York city An employee did a no call no show to her job. As per company policy this means automatic termination, however we decided to give the employee a last chance and give her a final warning. During our meeting she refused to sign any documents and so we had 2 witnesses come in. We explained that she has a history of lying about these things and we will no longer accept this kind of behavior. A day later, the employee comes in and begins threatening her supervisor stating that we will pay for what we did to her and that she will make sure we lose our jobs and she will sue. She let the supervisor know that she had sued about 5 years ago and won and she will do it again. My question is does this employee have a case? We did not terminate but simply give her a final warning? Is it right for her to threaten her supervisor? What can be done in this situation
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employee threatening to sue over a write up
- Thread starter Eg111388
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Proserpina
Senior Member
She's free to sue you, but based purely on what you've said here nothing illegal has happened. Not one thing.
Frankly, you don't need an employee like that.
OHRoadwarrior
Senior Member
Frankly, I would have terminated her for threatening a supervisor in front of witnesses. That is almost a guarantee 100% she will not get UI.
cbg
I'm a Northern Girl
I'm with OH in this case. She can sue, because anyone with a filing fee can sue for anything. But she won't win the suit - she has no legal grounds on which to sue you.
You, on the other hand, have two very valid reasons to fire her; first, the no-call no show, and second, the refusal to sign/threats.
You, on the other hand, have two very valid reasons to fire her; first, the no-call no show, and second, the refusal to sign/threats.
commentator
Senior Member
Yes, it was probably unwise of you to violate your own policy and give her "one more chance." And then her cutting a shine after the warning/write up process was additional cheek on her part. She wasn't contritely appreciating you for giving her one more chance, she was being a butt and threatening you.
However, now, after this has already happened and you didn't fire her on the spot, unless you're interested in letting her draw unemployment insurance, you need to wait until there is another precipitating incident, and then at this point, you terminate her. Preferably something like the "no call no show" that you warned her about before. or perhaps another incident of insubordination or dishonest behavior. Keep it related to the same issues if you can.
But it sounds like this person has the bluff on you a bit here. It doesn't matter whether or not a person signs their own write up. You just keep records of the meeting and what was said, and note that the employee refused to sign. Then when you do actually terminate her, you have the documentation that she has received warnings and that this was in the company handbook (if you have one) or that it was company policy that everyone was aware of.
Threatening you could be considered "gross misconduct" in other words, you don't need a warning to figure out that threatening or being overly assertive with your supervisor is not appropriate behavior even if you haven't had a warning about it before. And her only recourse if she is terminated will be to file for unemployment benefits. She may have done this five years ago and been approved, and think she has successfully sued her employer. Or of course she just may be lying.
However, now, after this has already happened and you didn't fire her on the spot, unless you're interested in letting her draw unemployment insurance, you need to wait until there is another precipitating incident, and then at this point, you terminate her. Preferably something like the "no call no show" that you warned her about before. or perhaps another incident of insubordination or dishonest behavior. Keep it related to the same issues if you can.
But it sounds like this person has the bluff on you a bit here. It doesn't matter whether or not a person signs their own write up. You just keep records of the meeting and what was said, and note that the employee refused to sign. Then when you do actually terminate her, you have the documentation that she has received warnings and that this was in the company handbook (if you have one) or that it was company policy that everyone was aware of.
Threatening you could be considered "gross misconduct" in other words, you don't need a warning to figure out that threatening or being overly assertive with your supervisor is not appropriate behavior even if you haven't had a warning about it before. And her only recourse if she is terminated will be to file for unemployment benefits. She may have done this five years ago and been approved, and think she has successfully sued her employer. Or of course she just may be lying.