I live in Iowa and I worked for Samsung Mobile, a third party vendor inside Best Buy. My job was to promote Samsung and make sure Samsung Mobile products such as phones, tablets, and smart watches sell and hit our goal of 100%. I work at one of the slowest Best Buy shopping areas in Iowa and Samsung Mobile sales are really slow because everyone is an Apple fanatic and that's OK. The guy that worked there before me allegedly had no idea on how to sell Samsung products and all he did was waste time and crack jokes with the computer team. I don't know if those allegations were true or not, I just knew the fact that he was Muslim and maybe the staff at Best Buy wasn't so fond of Muslims or anyone who looks Muslim, such as I. I am not Muslim, but I am of Indian decent and my broken nasal bone makes me look sort of Muslim, again I'm not sure if this was the reason. I've mentioned that the Best Buy I work at is one of the slower Best Buys in the area and Samsung Mobile products don't sell very well there because of the huge Apple influence. I was able to execute every step of my training and was able to sell over 100% for all three days of the weekend for the holiday season which hasn't been done at that store, ever! Now the busiest Best Buy in Iowa is on the other side of town and wasn't able to meet its expectations all three days of the weekend which was surprising and I do have solid proof. I don't if know my higher ups ever looked at those stats or looked and ignored it. Even though I kept to myself and focused solely on doing my job and promote Samsung that whole weekend, I had a complaint go out from a female coworker who was a big Apple fanatic saying that I was too "aggressive" with customers, which I wasn't (again, I have solid proof). I thought I was fine and felt accomplished that I was able to turn one of the slowest Samsung Mobile areas into one of the fastest in Iowa and went home after my shift on that Sunday night which was 2 days ago. The next morning I get a phone call from my Field Operations Manager saying that I was terminated because of a complaint that went out to my company from the assistant manager of Best Buy saying that I was too "aggressive" with customers and I was shocked. I know that he knows I wouldn't behave like that with customers and he knows my work ethic and how good of an employee I was and instead approaching me with this issue, he felt like he needed to complain to my vendor because of a complaint from an employee that had it out for me from the beginning. I would rarely ever pull the race card, but in this instance I didn't know what else was the problem and how could my employer terminate me so quickly without investigating the issue or ask for proof? I am beginning to believe that they have a hard on for brown people and if we show more talent than whites, they want to stop us from reaching higher positions and move up in society. I want to know what can be done now, what can I do to stand my ground against this wrongful termination. Do they want an employee that is easy to control and easy to fire? Or do they really look for talented, gifted, or passionate people, but only if they're white?
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I got fired for doing a good job
- Thread starter RealG
- Start date
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OHRoadwarrior
Senior Member
You are the one pulling the race card. You have no proof. She could likely have wanted you gone because a sale for you is a lost sale for her. I have had it happen. You do not appear to have proof of anything except that you are an aggressive salesperson. I suggest you try a different industry.
I don't know if you read the whole thread, but I clearly said I have solid proof that I wasn't aggressive. I am a good salesman and have received many compliments some of the customers went straight to the assistant manager and told him how helpful I was and have never once received a complaint from a customer, only that one employee. Another thing, we don't sell, we are mainly information service, and we give the sales away to the Best Buy employees and only they can ring people out. It is my job to influence the customers towards buying Samsung and if they show strong resilience, I just leave them alone. It's so easy to judge a person, but it takes heart to truly understand another human being. I've even read some books saying that some people aren't capable of empathy. I guess you are one who falls into that category, unless you wish to reread the whole thread? This time try to read between the lines and comprehend what I wrote.
eerelations
Senior Member
If you have good solid evidence that you were fired solely because of your race and/or religion, then you have a case for wrongful termination. If you don't have said evidence, then you don't have a case for wrongful termination.
eerelations
Senior Member
Pretty aggressive post, BTW!
You expect me to reply with a smiley face if someone misjudges me without realizing what it feels like to be in my shoes right now?
I don't have solid evidence that's why they fired me but I do have solid evidence of my goals, which I exceeded, compliments from customers and not one complaint from them, and a good work ethic, isn't that how it's supposed to be?
OHRoadwarrior
Senior Member
That means nothing. If anything the high sales volume indicates you were aggressive. It happens. Decades ago, I was fired because I did not allow 3, 6 foot plus certain ethnic males to shake down the guy I was working with for $10 he claimed he was shorted. The clerk about peed his pants when I braced them. When I was hired it was because the Regional Manager wanted someone who was not afraid of the customers. The clerk cried to the manager I almost got him beat up by them and I was fired. As I said it happens.
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Zigner
Senior Member, Non-Attorney
They are free to fire you for doing a good job.
TigerD
Senior Member
Dude. Stop acting like aggressiveness is a bad thing. It isn't. Be proud of being aggressive. Hell, you walk into many sales jobs and tell them you were canned for being too aggressive and it would be a positive factor for you.
That said - ever consider collections? Aggressive people (that stay just inside the lines) make a killing.
TD
eerelations
Senior Member
It's perfectly legal to fire someone who exceeds work goals, receives nothing but compliments from customers, and has a good work ethic. Google "at-will employment" for complete details. Ergo, you do not have a case for wrongful termination. Period.
eerelations
Senior Member
Even more aggressive! Yowza!
commentator
Senior Member
You say that they want employees who are compliant and "easy to fire." That is exactly the truth. And believe it or not, every employee in your state is easy to fire. They do not have to prove they had a good reason or that you were too aggressive, etc. They can say they fired you because they didn't like your nose, or they didn't like your sock color today. It's an "at will" state. Just because you were doing a good job (in your opinion, incidentally, not necessarily in theirs) does not mean you had the right to keep your job. They don't have to give you a good reason.
The only place the "valid misconduct reason to terminate " would be anything they might want to provide is their reason that they give when you file for unemployment benefits, if you were to do that. If you were a contractor, you won't qualify, but if you were a regular wages paid employee, you can file for unemployment benefits, which will be based on your wages everywhere you have worked in the past two years. At that time, your employer would be contacted about the reason for your termination, you would state the reason you were told you were being terminated, and the whole issue of whether the employer had a valid employment related misconduct reason to terminate you would be decided in relation to your being able to receive unemployment benefits. If you were sincerely doing your job to the best of your abilities, which it sounds like you were, and you had no opportunity to change your at work behavior and keep the job, had no idea they were unhappy with the way you were doing the job, then you'd probably be approved for benefits, no matter what the employer said. If they have video of you inappropriately grabbing and aggressively nabbing customers in a very aggressive way, you might not be approved. But they probably don't.
This is a whole separate issue from the issue of your employer being prejudiced against "brown people" or Muslims. I don't see one iota of evidence that you were being discriminated against because of religion or national origin. They can always maintain that you were terminated for performance issues, and there is no way in my opinion that you could prove any sort of discrimination that was illegal on their part. They are allowed to discriminate on the basis of almost everything in the world, except the EEOC protected things, and they can very easily come up with those reasons for your termination, no way you could legally protest that.
The only place the "valid misconduct reason to terminate " would be anything they might want to provide is their reason that they give when you file for unemployment benefits, if you were to do that. If you were a contractor, you won't qualify, but if you were a regular wages paid employee, you can file for unemployment benefits, which will be based on your wages everywhere you have worked in the past two years. At that time, your employer would be contacted about the reason for your termination, you would state the reason you were told you were being terminated, and the whole issue of whether the employer had a valid employment related misconduct reason to terminate you would be decided in relation to your being able to receive unemployment benefits. If you were sincerely doing your job to the best of your abilities, which it sounds like you were, and you had no opportunity to change your at work behavior and keep the job, had no idea they were unhappy with the way you were doing the job, then you'd probably be approved for benefits, no matter what the employer said. If they have video of you inappropriately grabbing and aggressively nabbing customers in a very aggressive way, you might not be approved. But they probably don't.
This is a whole separate issue from the issue of your employer being prejudiced against "brown people" or Muslims. I don't see one iota of evidence that you were being discriminated against because of religion or national origin. They can always maintain that you were terminated for performance issues, and there is no way in my opinion that you could prove any sort of discrimination that was illegal on their part. They are allowed to discriminate on the basis of almost everything in the world, except the EEOC protected things, and they can very easily come up with those reasons for your termination, no way you could legally protest that.
justalayman
Senior Member
Given the sales history of the product line at the particular best buy and the op's instant success at hitting the quotas, I don't see how it could be done without the op being aggressive. As tigerd said, aggression itself is not a bad thing. All good salesmen are aggressive or they wouldn't be good salesman.
With that said; how you present yourself and utilize that aggression can make a world of difference. A good aggressive salesman does not have to appear aggressive to his prospective customers. That is often called being pushy or even oppressive. Even those traits have their place in some types of sales jobs. TigerD gave a perfect example of one.
Maybe you fit better in that sort of occupation. In collections you are also shielded since most collections activities are done over the phone. That way your sensitivity of being middle eastern wouldnt be so apparent.
And yes, you are the one that appears to have a problem with your ethnic background. Nothing you have stated even suggests a basis for unlawful discrimination.
With that said; how you present yourself and utilize that aggression can make a world of difference. A good aggressive salesman does not have to appear aggressive to his prospective customers. That is often called being pushy or even oppressive. Even those traits have their place in some types of sales jobs. TigerD gave a perfect example of one.
Maybe you fit better in that sort of occupation. In collections you are also shielded since most collections activities are done over the phone. That way your sensitivity of being middle eastern wouldnt be so apparent.
And yes, you are the one that appears to have a problem with your ethnic background. Nothing you have stated even suggests a basis for unlawful discrimination.
Do you have ANY proof at all that you are being discriminated against, or is this just a guess? You're more or less accusing them of not being fond of Muslims, and I see no proof at all. You may not like their reasoning, but immediately pulling out the race card with no proof at all is ridiculous.