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Very upset! Injustices have been done

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Davidwedemayer

Junior Member
Wisconsin.

I lost my job today of three years. Allegations of sexual harassment (which never happened). There was no inappropriate behavior from me to an employee.

Do i potentially have a case if they fire me with NO evidence, apart from me admittedly hugging a very upset employee? I have done nothing wrong and my family's well-being is at stake.

It's hearsay, but I heard through the grapevine that this employee's boyfriend had seen that we were texting about non work related things. He was very upset, so she lied and said that she didn't want me texting her. There was also nothing inappropriate texted between us.

So basically I was fired to save an 18 year old's relationship. Doesn't sit too well with me.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Wisconsin.

I lost my job today of three years. Allegations of sexual harassment (which never happened). There was no inappropriate behavior from me to an employee.

Do i potentially have a case if they fire me with NO evidence, apart from me admittedly hugging a very upset employee? I have done nothing wrong and my family's well-being is at stake.

It's hearsay, but I heard through the grapevine that this employee's boyfriend had seen that we were texting about non work related things. He was very upset, so she lied and said that she didn't want me texting her. There was also nothing inappropriate texted between us.

So basically I was fired to save an 18 year old's relationship. Doesn't sit too well with me.

This is not a case of wrongful termination.
 

PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
Unless you have a contract that says otherwise you were working under the doctrine of "employment at will".

This means you can quit whenever you like and they can terminate you whenever they like with the exception of doing so for an illegal reason such as you being part of a protected class.

Go file for Unemployment. They will likely say the fired for cause and if you are denied, appeal. You will then get a chance to say your peace which I think is what you really want to do.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I would like to point out that hugging a coworker certainly can be seen as sexual harassment in certain cases.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
A wrongful termination does not mean you were fired for something you didn't do; it means you were fired for a reason prohibited by law.

Google, At-will employment.
 

Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
Wisconsin.

I lost my job today of three years. Allegations of sexual harassment (which never happened). There was no inappropriate behavior from me to an employee.

Do i potentially have a case if they fire me with NO evidence, apart from me admittedly hugging a very upset employee? I have done nothing wrong and my family's well-being is at stake.

It's hearsay, but I heard through the grapevine that this employee's boyfriend had seen that we were texting about non work related things. He was very upset, so she lied and said that she didn't want me texting her. There was also nothing inappropriate texted between us.

So basically I was fired to save an 18 year old's relationship. Doesn't sit too well with me.

Nothing you have stated indicates wrongful termination. In Wisconsin and most every other state employment is “at will”. This means that the employee is free to terminate his employment at any time for any reason and the employer is free to terminate the employment of an employee at any time for any reason except for a few reasons prohibited by law. The prohibited reasons include firing you because:
• of your race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, or genetic test information under federal law (some states/localities add a few more categories like sexual orientation);
• you make certain kinds of reports about the employer to the government or in limited circumstances to specified persons in the employing company itself (known as whistle-blower protection laws);
• you participate in union organizing activities;
• you use a right or benefit the law guarantees you (e.g. using leave under FMLA);
• you filed a bankruptcy petition;
• your pay was garnished by a single creditor; and
• you took time off work to attend jury duty (in most states).

The exact list of prohibited reasons will vary by state. The reason you were terminated does not fall within the sorts of things I listed above and thus is likely not wrongful. Note that, as cbg correctly stated, wrongful termination does not mean that you were fired for a reason that turned out not to be true. It simply means that you were fired for a reason prohibited by law, e.g. the sort of things I listed above.
 

commentator

Senior Member
After many years of working in the field, I have to say repeatedly, people believe they have so many more rights than they do, until it happens to them. They will yell "Get a job!" to the homeless, thinking THEY will never find themselves without, and then suddenly, zap, simply because we were in the mood. "Great injustice" the employer does not give a quarter of a care to, or whether your family can eat or not.

Your only recourse in this situation is to file immediately for unemployment insurance. If the employer has not fired you for a gross misconduct reason (something so bad you should've known it was absolutely wrong in the first place, like say for instance grabbing the 18 year old's person in some inappropriate way) then they have to show that they told you what you did was wrong, and that you were given warnings and chose to continue the behavior and thus give them a valid misconduct reason to terminate you, then you will be likely to qualify for unemployment insurance while looking for another job.

This is not much money, and it ends very sharply after about a maximum of six months, whether you are re employed or not. But it does provide a tiny stipend paid in by the employer to cover the employee and give them something if the employer has decided to fire them undeservedly. It is not income based and not needs based. It does require a covering of the events, and the employer will have to think long and hard about why exactly they decided to terminate you and what they might tell future prospective employers about your reasons for leaving.

You file a claim for benefits. You tell your story of what happened. You stress that you always did your job to the best of your abilities, you did NOT sexually harass anyone, and you had no idea that you were about to be terminated due to your workplace behavior. Then the unemployment system will contact the employer. What they say is weighed and what you say is weighed, with the assumption that one or both parties may be lying. They go with the story of who is more believable on whether or not to approve or deny benefits initially. Then, either you or the employer will have a chance to appeal the decision with a hearing (if you draw benefits, it costs the employer money, so they're usually not willing to simply give you the chance to draw them) But in some cases where someone is let go in this sort of situation, they do not even choose to fight against your approval, and all you have to do is deny any wrongdoing.

If they have video or witnesses of you doing something very inappropriate, or a pattern or reprimanding you for similar behaviors in the past, you're not so likely to be approved. It all depends. But it does give you a chance to work out the issues, see and discuss any proofs or documentation the employer may use, etc. And if approved, it would give you so much a week for so many weeks, in money, until your next job. Otherwise, they can and they have done what they did to you.

I would strongly strongly suggest that you not spend any time whatsoever discussing the reasons you were terminated with the next prospective employers you deal with, not mention the injustice of the whole situation, because all employers know good and well that if they want to, they can.
 

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