Ok so I'm hired on with this company for regular employment and including driving the company vehicle. The company vehicle buses people to and from work. There were two vehicles for day shift. Now there is one. I was terminated under the reason that there is no use for two day vehicles/buses. The vehicle that I was paid to drive was transferred over for night shift. Ok. Except when I ask to drive for nights I get a straight, solid no. She states the position for nights is filled. Now before then I had heard a rumor that I had made stops at a liquor store. Where did this rumor come from? The other driver: a 54 year old man. Apparently, he had heard about the plans or was lobbying for only one driver, so to save his own skin over me he had gone to the manager and said that I had stopped at a liquor store. I said to him that is untrue, that it sounds like someone can't tell the difference between a gas station and a liquor store and what does he say? "Who are they going to believe? A 54 year old or a 24 year old?". Was I fired over slander? What can I do?
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Fired over slander?
- Thread starter Jdpope08
- Start date
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quincy
Senior Member
What is the name of your state? Defamation (libel, slander) laws vary by state.
Do you know for a fact that it was the other driver who created the story about you stopping at a liquor store during your work shift? Do you know for a fact that he told this to the manager?
We have no way of knowing anything about this "rumor" beyond what you shared with us.
I'm confident that you can do a great many things, including seeking a new job. If, in fact, your former co-worker slandered you, you might be able to sue him successfully. It will be an expensive proposition, and it will be difficult to prove. Consult with a local attorney.
quincy
Senior Member
Here is a link to general information on defamation, published by the Digital Media Law Project (2014):
https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/defamation
Again, this is general information only. Defamation laws can vary in significant ways from state to state.
If you lost your job as a result of false statements made about you to your employer (and can make the connection between the job loss and false statements), and you have suffered severe reputational injury as a result, you could have a good basis for a defamation claim - and it could be worth a personal review by an attorney in your area who is well-versed in defamation law.
A problem you face is that the false statements could be covered by a qualified privilege, which protects from suit some statements made to employers by employees if this privilege is exercised properly.
It is important to know that defamation suits are notoriously costly legal actions to pursue.
https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/defamation
Again, this is general information only. Defamation laws can vary in significant ways from state to state.
If you lost your job as a result of false statements made about you to your employer (and can make the connection between the job loss and false statements), and you have suffered severe reputational injury as a result, you could have a good basis for a defamation claim - and it could be worth a personal review by an attorney in your area who is well-versed in defamation law.
A problem you face is that the false statements could be covered by a qualified privilege, which protects from suit some statements made to employers by employees if this privilege is exercised properly.
It is important to know that defamation suits are notoriously costly legal actions to pursue.
PayrollHRGuy
Senior Member
File for unemployment. Look for a new job.
quincy
Senior Member
That could be the best and cheapest route to take, as long as the job search is not adversely affected by the false statements.
PayrollHRGuy
Senior Member
At this point, we don't even know if there were any such statements. All we do know from the OP is that his position was eliminated.
quincy
Senior Member
True. And we don’t know the state. A lot of information is missing.
THS Warrior
Member
If you live in California you may have some rights here; but if you live in Florida, you have no rights. Why? Because Florida is an “at will” state, which means private employers are free to hire, transfer, promote, demote, suspend, reinstate, fire and rehire employees for any reason at any time, i.e., “at will.” The only thing employers cannot do is make any of these adverse employment decisions based upon the employee’s race, gender, age, handicap, disability, religion, marital status or national origin.
quincy
Senior Member
cbg
I'm a Northern Girl
So is California. And every other state except Montana. And even Montana in some situations.
THS Warrior
Member
As you might imagine, each of the 50 states has its own laws covering everything imaginable. I ignore all of them except Florida.Only Montana is not an “at will” state.
I like your new username.
quincy
Senior Member
On this forum, we ask posters for their state names and then provide legal information that is relevant to their state/their situation only.
For example, I live in Michigan but if someone from South Carolina comes to the forum, I would not respond to a legal issue they are facing in South Carolina with what the law is in Michigan. Michigan law would not only not be relevant, it would work to confuse the poster.
adjusterjack
Senior Member
I've been curious about that so I looked it up.
"In Montana, employees are protected under the Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act (WDEA), which provides that an employee's discharge from employment is wrongful if the discharge is not for good cause. One exception to the WDEA is that during an employee's probationary period of employment, the employee's employment may be terminated for any reason or no reason. While an employer can establish its own specific probationary period, if it does not, there is a six-month probationary period under the WDEA."
https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTo...ntana-At-Will-Employers-Seasonal-Workers.aspx
Jdpope has not been seen on the forum since November 4 ... so we may never learn the state name.
Likely not Montana as Jdpope's profile reveals Montgomery as his location. Montana does not appear to have a city named Montgomery.