Terminated Because wife owns a competing company

[Sales01]

My employment agreement was in the State of Georgia.

After almost four years of work for an employer I was terminated due to the fact the my wife opened a competing company 2 years ago. It was only 3 weeks ago I was made aware of the COI policy of the company. I disclosed the conflict after talking with a lawyer. The company provided me an ultimatum, force my wife to shutdown her company or face possible termination. I suggested we put a COI mitigation plan in place which is common, and they declined. Without any further discussions I was terminated two days later.

Additional supporting facts:
The company I was employed by is a $750M company
My wife's company though in the same industry had not yet generated any revenue since established
My wife's company was a part time venture for her
I had no financial interest in the company
I was not listed as a shareholder
I was not listed on the articles of incorporation
I am not an employee of the company

Though Georgia is a right to work state, I believe I was discriminated against.

Is the grounds for Wrongful termination?

 

[cbg]

This is neither a wrongful termination nor illegal discrimination. Nothing illegal took place and considering your clear conflict of interest (whose interests are you going to put first - your employer's or your wife's? Doesn't matter if you have a financial interest or not), I don't think there are very many employers who would have done differently.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Agreed this is neither wrongful termination nor illegal discrimination.

 

[adjusterjack]

Georgia is a right to work state,

All that means is that you don't have to join a union to get work.

What you're thinking of is "employment at will" which means that you can be fired for any reason or no reason as long as the termination doesn't violate any laws.

This termination didn't.

I'm surprised it took two years. Or is it that you concealed it for two years?

 

[xylene]

If your wife's solo venture has generated zero revenue in 2 years, perhaps her not voluntarily agreeing to shut down the business when continuing to operate threatened your livelihood was a bit of a mistake.

One option is to start working with your wife and make her business a success.

I'm sorry you are facing hardship, and good wishes for your future successes.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Though Georgia is a right to work state, I believe I was discriminated against.

Is the grounds for Wrongful termination?

The term “right to work” means that an employee cannot be compelled to join a union in order to work. All states but one are states where employment is “at will.” At common law, this meant that both employer and employee were free to terminate the employment relationship at any time for any reason. Federal, state, and local laws have enacted statutes that have imposed some restrictions on the ability of the employer to fire an employee, thus modifying the at will concept a bit. One of things an employer cannot do engage in ILLEGAL discrimination against an employee. You were indeed discriminated against, but discriminating against you because your wife runs a business competing with your employer is not illegal discrimination. Under federal law, it is illegal for private employers with at least 15 employees to discriminate against an employee because of that employees race, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, sex, age (if the employee is at least age 40), disability, or genetic test information. Georgia apparently makes it only illegal for a private employer with at least 15 employees to discriminate based on disability or discriminate in pay based on gender. As neither federal nor Georgia law makes it illegal to terminate you because your wife runs a competing business the termination was not illegal discrimination nor wrongful termination. And, indeed, as a prior response indicated, the termination is not all that surprising considering that the employer would suspect you would not give it your full loyalty when doing that might disadvantage your wife’s business.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

File for unemployment. In theory, you had no control over the situation, so will have an argument that you are eligible for unemployment compensation.

You may want to seek a consultation with an attorney. There's an argument to be made that this company is trying to force its competitors out of business. It's a stretch, but worth investigating.

 

[eerelations]

It's a big stretch, because even the OP admits his former employer fired him because his wife owns a competing business. He said nothing about his former employer trying to force her out of business. (And how firing him would do that, I don't know.)

 

[Taxing Matters]

You may want to seek a consultation with an attorney. There's an argument to be made that this company is trying to force its competitors out of business. It's a stretch, but worth investigating.

Understand that it is not illegal per se to try to put your competitors out of business. It not illegal to be monopoly. What matters is what methods the would-be monopolist uses to achieve that goal.

I don't see that the employer is trying to shut down the wife’s business. It is simply trying to rid itself of an employee with a perceived conflict of interest. There are just two ways to do that. The employee eliminates the conflict or the employee leaves the job. While the wife closing the business is one way to eliminate the conflict, it is not the only one. The wife could sell the business, too. In which case the employer has not eliminated competition at all. The competition is just now owned by someone not related to one of its employees. Also, the OP could divorce his spouse and eliminate the conflict, too. Again, no elimination of competition in that case. Given all this, it is very hard to say that the employer was trying to eliminate competition. Even if it was, doing what it did here would not be an illegal method to do it. Note that it would be the spouse that would have any claim regarding anti-competition claims here and frankly I’m not seeing any argument for it.

 

[Shadowbunny]

If your wife's solo venture has generated zero revenue in 2 years, perhaps her not voluntarily agreeing to shut down the business when continuing to operate threatened your livelihood was a bit of a mistake.

One option is to start working with your wife and make her business a success.

I'm sorry you are facing hardship, and good wishes for your future successes.

+1

It makes no sense to hold on to a business that is part-time and not profitable.