Made-up/false reasons for termination for poor performance - FMLA Retaliation?

[ben4277]

I was recently terminated by my employer, a privately held business in Michigan. They claim it was because of poor performance. However, in my eight years there I have had nothing but postive performance reviews and was recently promoted in January of 2015. As recently as June, I was told I was doing a great job. I then had an incident where I got into an argument with one of my company's directors, who is known for being dishonest and unethical but for some reason has the protection of the company president. Soon after, my work environment became extremely hostile for numerous reasons, but it seemed pre-meditated. I ended up going on FMLA leave for two weeks in November for a legitimate reason and was harassed about it by the same individuals who made the work environment hostile for me. I did go to Human Resources about this so that it was documented in case it continued. When we came back to work after the Christmas/New Year's shutdown, I was immediately fired for "poor performance", although the four specific reasons given were either completely false or a vague half truth at best.

Now, the director with whom I got into an argument has been involved with many people leaving the company, mostly involuntarily. He has on occasion bragged about getting people fired, threatened to get others fired and is also known for using bullying tactics to get what he wants. I believe he is the reason I was fired, although it seems like a case for FMLA retaliation also. Note that others still with the company can confirm these things about this director, as well as others no longer with company. I was also not given any severance, when the company was known for giving generous severance packages. This seemed like it was made very personal and malicious. I did check with a local employment attorney who did not think we'd have a strong enough case to justify the cost of me retaining him, but this just does not sit well with me. There is definitely much more to the story but these are the key points. It seems like this could be a breach of the implied coventant of good faith and dealing, as mentioned previously I have had all positive performance reviews, was recently promoted and verbally told I was doing a great job only six months prior. I had never been told anything negative about my performance and never been written up. lastly, my boss was visibly shaken and uncomfortable as she read off the reasons for my poor performance. I believe she was forced/coerced to do this and knew it was wrong/unethical. The whole situation was extremely bizarre. It seemed like certain individuals did not like me and wanted me gone, got HR to go along with it, and then had to push my boss to come up with reasons to fire me on a moment's notice. Is there any possible recourse here for me?

 

[justalayman]

There is no obligation to provide a severence package.

You apparently have no idea what a hostile work environment is. If you do and you really did have such, who did you address about the matter? And since apparently nothing was done, did you file a complaint with the EEOC?

Did you submit the proper documents for the leave? Did they request any proof from your medical provider?

In Michigan they need no reason to terminate you. Of course they cannot do it for a legally prohibited reason so explain the fmla situation and what makes you believe it was retaliatory?

 

[ben4277]

There is no obligation to provide a severence package.

You apparently have no idea what a hostile work environment is. If you do and you really did have such, who did you address about the matter? And since apparently nothing was done, did you file a complaint with the EEOC?

Did you submit the proper documents for the leave? Did they request any proof from your medical provider?

In Michigan they need no reason to terminate you. Of course they cannot do it for a legally prohibited reason so explain the fmla situation and what makes you believe it was retaliatory?

I know there is no obligation to provide a severance package. At no point did I say that I was owed a severance package. My point was that it was odd that I was not offered one when others who have been forced to resign over valid reasons were still offered one. Considering the context, I should have used a different adjective than hostile as I did not mean to refer to your textbook hostile work environment. I fully understand that Michigan is an at-will employment state. Yes I did submit all my FMLA documentation and my leave was approved. Thank you for your condescending attitude and for assuming I'm some uneducated moron. This wasn't worth the time to register on the site.

 

[Chyvan]

File for unemployment.

 

[justalayman]

Ok you whine about no severence but compare a situation where you were outright terminate to others where they resigned albeit a forced resignation. Gee, what's the difference there?


You speak of a hostile work environment and get miffed because I asked if you had acted legally proper regarding dealing with hostile work environments. You admit while there may have been actual hostility it was in fact not a situation legally defined as a hostile environment. Yet you are bothered by the fact I asked you about it?

Then you ask if there is any recourse so I ask about the one possibility since you have no details but a wildly speculative opinion that you wonder if it was retaliatory. Your response is; yes I did and thanks for being condescending. Huh? All I did was ask a most basic question be because you provided no information to know if you had acted properly. You do realize not everybody understands fmla and the requirements that go along with it, right?

You admit you know Michigan is at will employment but you whine because you weren't liked at work and that got you fired (gee, color me suprised...NOT)

So what we have is you whine a lot and are upset when a mind reader didn't respond to your post.

So using just what you gave;

No (that is the answer to your question)




So now you get my opinion as well; you whine. You might be paranoid. You are apparently not well liked (likely that shining personality you displayed here). I would put money on your treatment being very personal and possibilty malicious. Well, guess what; there is nothing illegal about their actions being personal or malicious.

But it really sounds like it was deserved


So your course (since there is no recourse) is to file for Unemplyoment and look for another job.

 

[cbg]

The ONLY option you have, other than filing for unemployment and looking for other work, would be for you to prove that you were fired in retaliation for taking FMLA. NOT because you got into an argument with a known jerk who has power, but solely because of the FMLA.

If you can't do that, then follow chyvan's advice.

 

[commentator]

The ONLY option you have, other than filing for unemployment and looking for other work, would be for you to prove that you were fired in retaliation for taking FMLA. NOT because you got into an argument with a known jerk who has power, but solely because of the FMLA.

If you can't do that, then follow chyvan's advice.

And when you were told this by an employment attorney, you refused to accept it and came here to argue. It just didn't sit well with you. Did you honestly think you were going to be told, in contrast to the attorney's advice, that you had a case, should pursue it, that there were some hidden labor laws that would protect you that the attorney wouldn't know about?

The only recourse you have for being fired unjustly for made up reasons is to file for unemployment benefits. If your employer cannot show that they had a valid, work related misconduct reason to terminate you, then you will be likely to be approved for unemployment benefits. That is what you get in our work system with our labor laws right now. The link between your FMLA and your firing is pretty thin, especially with this person having a history of getting others fired for poor reasons in this company. How would you show that your firing was solely in retaliation for your taking the FMLA?