Welcome to TX!!!

[SAK2000]

cbg,

I like your approach and was wondering if I could get your thoughts.......

I had been interviewing with a construction company in TX (I came from the largest commercial builder in San Diego) for about a year when they finally decided they wanted to hire me as their office manager. They moved me from CA to TX. I did a lot of research on the company to check their stability, reputation, etc. However, they never checked any of my references. Not that I had anything to hide. Before I moved, I asked them to please call my previous employers so they would know that "I walk my talk". I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. It wasn't until later I found out they never called anyone.

4 months down the road after I moved I was told I wasn't what they thought they were getting and they asked me for my resignation and gave me two weeks severance.

Don't get me wrong, my family lives here in Texas and the free move was great but I don't have near the connections I did in San Diego and I would have never moved had I thought for one second something like this would happen. I am very familiar with the "At-Will" term. I haven't really made any decisions on how to handle this matter. My main focus right now is getting another job.

What do you think?!?!

There's so much more to this but what I detailed above is the "cliff notes". I won't even begin to tell you about all the nasty emails I collected during my four months.

Thanks for your time.

 

[JETX]

Interesting story, but you really aren't clear on what you are asking.

Are you asking whether you have any legal claim against the employer?? If so, the answer is no.
The fact that the employer did or didn't check out your references has nothing to do with your requested resignation.

Bottom line.... you interviewed and were offered a job. They relocated you to Texas. For some reason, they felt that you weren't suitable, didn't fit, couldn't hack it, whatever. It is not their fault.... they gambled on you, you gambled on them. Unless your termination was due to a violation of any of the 'protected classes' (religion, race, disability, etc.), they are under no further contractual or legal obligation to you. (And I have to feel that your reference to 'nasty emails' may have more to do with this than their not checking your references).

Chalk this one up as a job that didn't 'fit' and move on.

 

[SAK2000]

Looking for cbg

Halket,

I think I was quite clear. I was merely asking for "cbg's" thoughts because I have seen similar situations addressed in this forum. My inquiry was not necessarily with intentions to pursue a lawsuit although I will admit, I have thought about it. While I didn't misrepresent myself in any of the interviews, phonecalls, etc., after I moved here, I realized the company did. I came from a "team player", "do the right thing", "be the better person" environment. I thought that was what I was getting when I moved. However, some of the other employees didn't like "outsiders" and didn't hesitate to show me their dislike.

As far as the emails. I didn't WRITE the emails, I RECEIVED them.

 

[cbg]

Hi, I've been away all day and am just catching up.

I'm flattered that you want my opinion specifically. However, Halket is correct. There really wasn't anything illegal or even unusual that happened here. While it would have been preferable for them to check your references, it really wouldn't have made any difference in the long run. At worst, you wouldn't have gotten the job in the first place; at best, you'd be in the same situation now. It's unlikely that your references would have told them anything that would have changed the current situation.

 

[SAK2000]

cbg, It's good to hear from you.

First of all, I want to say thank you so much for your response. Your approach reminds me so much of my HR Director in San Diego. She was incredibile. My impression is not only do you use the law as your guideline to perform your job, but you also use the sense of "what is the right thing to do." Sometimes that's the judgement I have to use. (Although I may not like it at times, but that's what I have to do.)

Secondly, anyone who knows me knows that I am a research fanatic. I tend to check out and ask a lot of questions for information purposes ONLY. I do not do it in order to "create a case." If any of my friends or family want to find out something, they always call me because they know I will find out for them. As I indicated in my previous post, although I have thought about a "potential" lawsuit, I also am aware of what a valid or invalid lawsuit can do to one's future employment opportunities. I have seen it happen to others. Construction is a very large industry but a very small world and like most industries, everyone knows everyone. (I haven't come acrossed anything worth getting my dirty laundry aired. )

I thought I would wait to see if you responded before I laid this other issue on you. While I knew that I would have to make a couple of adjustments when moving to Texas, I thought the worst of those adjustments would be "smoking is allowed in bars and restaurants", the humidity, etc. However, during a couple of conversations with "Tom" before moving to Texas, he made comments with regards to TX vs. CA . After I started working, I figured the "differences" were that men decorated their offices with deer heads and used their trashcans as spittoons. However, it didn't take long for my boss to start making comments such as "you will never know true peace until you find the lord", what a difference it made in his life when he accepted Christ as his saviour, and "what a great church" so and so is.............. This happened on numerous occasions. One day my boss even made the comment that "he had been married before". As if that was going to affect my opinion of him. (The divorce rate in my family probably constitutes for 50% of the statistic information.) I am not a very religious person and I don't usually announce that, but I do go out with my friends on the weekends about once a month (I've never had to call from jail.) On the other hand, if you have the fear of God in you, great! I respect that. I am also very private about my personal life. I have learned the hard way to keep my personal life separate from my professional life. Not to mention, I had only worked there a short time so I didn't know anyone enought to spill my guts.

I know that Texas is much more into God, the Bible, Church and religion than CA appeared to be, but what do you think of this? At the company I came from in CA, I could probably only name 4 people that went to church and that company was 10 times the size of the one here in TX. I guess I am wondering if I will come upon this again in my employment search. (Kinda freaked me out.)

Well if you have made it to the end of this post, I guess you are still awake and I haven't bored you to death. As I stated before, I am really looking for your comments. I can appreciate that you are extremely busy but with me being an office manager (unemployed at the moment), I sometimes come across other HR issues and wonder what is the "right way to handle this situation." At times, this forum points me in the right direction.

Thanks again for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!!

 

[cbg]

The religious line is a very difficult one to draw. On the one hand, anyone is entitled to speak about their beliefs. If this is all that is happening, I think you'll just have to get used to it.

However, if you have reason to believe that your not having the same beliefs as your boss or upper management is having an adverse affect on your employment, that's a whole different story. From your post, I don't believe this is happening, but I could be mistaken. It's hard to get all the details in a post.

I guess the line would be drawn this way; speaking of religion is fine; making employment decisions based on it is not.

I'm happy to help with any HR issues. If you go to any search engine and type in "Employment Law" you'll find several more boards that do the same thing. I post on a lot of them (not always under the same name). But I'll be here, as well.