Wrongful Termination?

[Veldrane]

Less then a year ago I was terminated from Speedway. There I was an Assistant Manager who was next in line for Manager in Training(MIT) which is a two week training program in another store then I would have been off to my own store. I started in NJ and was transfered to PA when I moved. In NJ I was trained for asset protection because we kept cash on us do to the sales at the pumps. Once in PA at a very busy location I used my safe practice training to remove cash from the register and into my pocket till customers were out of sight so I could make a safe drop. The line was too long and I was all by myself and did not feel comfortable with customers being able to see it in the register. When the manager reviewed the cameras and saw me doing this she set me up to be terminated the next day by her and the district manager. Wouldn't let me see the camera footage, wouldn't discuss it with me, it was done and over before I could walk in the store. Regardless of the fact that I was never short, never over, always with $1. When I applied for unemployment (which had to be done threw NJ because I did not work in PA long enough) they declared that I wasn't terminated for even simple misconduct and gave me my benefits right away. I'm not one to seek legal help but it nearly made me lose everything and I have lots of people that keep telling me to at least talk to someone about it. So here I am reaching out for help.

 

[Proserpina]

Less then a year ago I was terminated from Speedway. There I was an Assistant Manager who was next in line for Manager in Training(MIT) which is a two week training program in another store then I would have been off to my own store. I started in NJ and was transfered to PA when I moved. In NJ I was trained for asset protection because we kept cash on us do to the sales at the pumps. Once in PA at a very busy location I used my safe practice training to remove cash from the register and into my pocket till customers were out of sight so I could make a safe drop. The line was too long and I was all by myself and did not feel comfortable with customers being able to see it in the register. When the manager reviewed the cameras and saw me doing this she set me up to be terminated the next day by her and the district manager. Wouldn't let me see the camera footage, wouldn't discuss it with me, it was done and over before I could walk in the store. Regardless of the fact that I was never short, never over, always with $1. When I applied for unemployment (which had to be done threw NJ because I did not work in PA long enough) they declared that I wasn't terminated for even simple misconduct and gave me my benefits right away. I'm not one to seek legal help but it nearly made me lose everything and I have lots of people that keep telling me to at least talk to someone about it. So here I am reaching out for help.

This is not a wrongful termination. It might seem unfair, but it's not a wrongful term.

 

[STEPHAN]

Write a nice letter to the CEO.

 

[commentator]

Why bother? Nothing illegal happened. There's no one you can sue and ask for help for "what you've gone through" as one of our t. v. lawyers is always saying. Its an at will state. They can fire you anytime, for any reason. Nearly made me lose everything I owned or nearly did make me lose everything I owned because they fired me is in no case, not even this one, is that ever an employer's fault. Remember in this country they could fire you any time, from any job for any reason. You need to plan your finances accordingly with the reality in this work world. And you did get approved for benefits, which should have served to tide you over, though they last less than a year for sure. It's only supposed to be for a maximum of 26 weeks, something to help until you can find a new job in New Jersey. And you do not, while looking for this new job, need to spend any time discussing this situation and this employer with another prospective employer if you want to get that other job.

Frankly, a loss prevention tactic like this sounds pretty odd to me too. If I were an employer and I saw an employee on camera at my business putting money in their pockets, I'd question it to the heavens too. Maybe you didn't come up short because you suddenly realized that they could see you on tape and decided to put the money back, but it would still raise a lot of questions. That you got approved for a New Mexico claim is nice, but even if you were approved, that does not mean that anything illegal or for which you could seek redress has happened with your termination. And your unemployment, even if fully approved is going to end very shortly if it hasn't already. So your concern should be to move on quickly to another job, not to sue the former employer.

Your friends who are telling you that you should "at least talk to someone" do not know about the "at will" thing, and you were not slandered by an employer who elected to fire you after a short term of employment there, even if you were blameless and they accused you of stealing. You got to draw unemployment benefits, of which some of them will be reflected in this employer's tax liabilities, so it cost them some money. But they could if they wished, fire you for NOT stealing candy from the candy boxes. Move on.

 

[cbg]

Being approved for unemployment does not mean the termination was wrongful. Unless there is a specific law that expressly prohibits the employer from firing you for the reason they did, the termination is legal.

No matter what "lots of people" say.

 

[Veldrane]

commentator, Thats if "at will" was still standing. The MIT position was offered right before termination which was a promise of extended employment. Which then makes termination for a false allegation illegal. This was not the first time I did it and it wasn't a short term with the company. In my entire stay I was never short and I was trained to do so. Different rules were also not discussed when switching states and have a binder that says otherwise.

 

[Chyvan]

Which then makes termination for a false allegation illegal.

I know you want to believe that "wrongful" conveys that meaning, but it doesn't. I wish the term was changed to "illegal termination." Maybe more people would understand it.

The courts have said that you can be fired for no reason, and therefore being fired for a wrong reason, made up reason, or even something that was later shown you didn't even do doesn't trump the "no reason" aspect. However, that's why you got UI benefits, and probably 99% of the time, UI benefits are your only recourse when you lose your job. Be thankful this happened in NJ that has a nice UI benefit formula. Imagine if you were in a state like mine that caps out at $240/wk. Then you'd have a whole lot more to be mad about.

 

[justalayman]

commentator, Thats if "at will" was still standing. The MIT position was offered right before termination which was a promise of extended employment. Which then makes termination for a false allegation illegal. This was not the first time I did it and it wasn't a short term with the company. In my entire stay I was never short and I was trained to do so. Different rules were also not discussed when switching states and have a binder that says otherwise.

No, that is not a promise of anything. Unless there was a contract employment at will remained in force. There was no obligation that either party continue the relationship.

You are also wrong about not being able to apply for UI in PA. You can file a claim is any state you have worked in. It is an interstate claim and your earnings in NJ would transfer to Pa

It's a game s lot of construction workers play. They used to file in (If I remember correctly) MA because they had about the highest UI benefit. Until the law was changed about 5 years ago you didn't even have to have worked in the state. All it took was filing in person. A few years ago they changed the law you had to have actuslly worked there for some very minimal amount of time.

 

[justalayman]

Why bother? Nothing illegal happened..

becasue op was following what they were taught was proper procedure and it actually has a logical basis behind it. If the op was following sop then she shouldn't have been fired for doing it. By writing the ceo she could find out s/he agrees with the op and op gets her job back.

It has nothing to do with the legal issue. It does have to do with not terminating a good employee for something they were taught to do.

 

[Proserpina]

I strongly doubt that this is the first time management has had a problem with the OP.

 

[justalayman]

I strongly doubt that this is the first time management has had a problem with the OP.

I'm trying to accept what I read without reading too much into it. I have discovered I have an alter ego that has been starting to show his presence. He's cynical, brash, kind of a jerk sometimes. Due to that I try to keep this "me" in check and trust









Quack quack

 

[Veldrane]

Not one write up. Not one verbal. Not one issue prior. This was a new store to me in a new district. I was at the store for maybe 2 weeks. I worked over 5 locations. Were they needed me I went. No questions. She called it a liability and it wasn't. The money never left the register area and was dropped before doing other things. Its just when you have over $1,000 in your register in a place like Allentown you do your best to hide it until you can make the drop. Most people would put it under the register but with their setup to do that the register could not be properly closed. I could stop and whip out all that cash in front of the customers but would have be shot and robbed. It was the best way to handle to current situation. If they had two people on at the busiest time of the day then it would have never happened. But I was alone dealing with 15+ customers at a time. I also managed a Radio Shack for over 8 years. My experience has been retail management for most of my life. On top of that I have to keep a roof over my kids head. I would not, nor ever have, stolen from where I work. You don't **** were you eat.

 

[Veldrane]

I was even robbed by Gun point back in Washington NJ and continued to stay and help the company. Didn't want to look down the barrel of a gun again.

 

[justalayman]

I was even robbed by Gun point back in Washington NJ and continued to stay and help the company. Didn't want to look down the barrel of a gun again.

You did better than I did. I couldn't go back after it happened to me.

 

[cbg]

Not one write up. Not one verbal. Not one issue prior. This was a new store to me in a new district. I was at the store for maybe 2 weeks. I worked over 5 locations. Were they needed me I went. No questions. She called it a liability and it wasn't. The money never left the register area and was dropped before doing other things. Its just when you have over $1,000 in your register in a place like Allentown you do your best to hide it until you can make the drop. Most people would put it under the register but with their setup to do that the register could not be properly closed. I could stop and whip out all that cash in front of the customers but would have be shot and robbed. It was the best way to handle to current situation. If they had two people on at the busiest time of the day then it would have never happened. But I was alone dealing with 15+ customers at a time. I also managed a Radio Shack for over 8 years. My experience has been retail management for most of my life. On top of that I have to keep a roof over my kids head. I would not, nor ever have, stolen from where I work. You don't **** were you eat.

None of which changes the fact that this was not a wrongful termination as defined by law. Unfair, possibly. Illegal, no.

Do you understand that the term, wrongful termination, does NOT mean being fired for something you didn't do?