Any Lawyers in the house?

"SCer in need of help"

I have this friend that got fired after 14 years at his job.
It was from a relationship with co worker it ended she did stuff to hurt him flowers at work from new boy friend doing things to piss him off.

He got one verble warning 2 years ago one written warning 4 months ago than fired they tryed to stick them in a room 5 feet from one another he said something got fired.

My question you should get two written warnings before getting fired right if so need to get a lawyer and take them to there knees on this its a private company non union
 
depends on company policy. have him pull out their code of conduct and check and see. if it says two written warnings then yes, otherwise once someone violates company policy they can get fired and not be eligable for unemployment. it all depends on their policies. if they have no stated warning porcedures, but do have a code of conduct as far as no co-workers having a "relationship" then he might be up the creek without a paddle. if they don't then it must be shown that the relationship was interfering with his ability to conduct his job, and it must be shown that he was the cause of the disruption, not the ex-girlfriend that was causing the actual disruptance. again though...it really depends on his companies policy, unless there are other local, or state laws governing process of dismissal. i don't know of any that exist in PA...not sure what CA has going for it, you guys have so many damn democrats out there that you can't take a step without crossing some piece of red tape (and i've always wondered why it is that all the products i buy are found to ONLY cause cancer in the state of Callie-forn-ya). I started off trying to do law in school, i only made it through a couple semesters and decided it wasn't worth it anymore. so i hope that helps. he might be able to take them to civil court and argue for unfair treatment and get damages on that, which could equate to his previous salary until he finds another job. have him do the research on company policy stuff himself before he consults a lawyer, otherwise he'll probally end up paying out the *** for someone who tells him he has a shot when there isn't a snow balls chance in hell. the only other thing i can recommend is that he ask for a severance pay for a few months. if the company is small enough, a lawsuit would cost them alot more then his severance pay, and so logically speaking they would both end up better off. to make that request, have that done by a lawyer. that will show them he means business and isn't messing around. but he has to have enough evidence to make a case otherwise his request will fall on deaf ears. if they know he has a case they will probally want to settle. again though, i'll stress the importance of company policy and local law. you could also check with the better business buruea(sp.?), because although ethically things would seem to require better logic and reason behind it, legally that won't matter. As an example, if you are a resident of NC or SC, i don't remember which one, you are legally allowed to beat your wife on the steps of the state courthouse, on sundays, with an open hand or nothing thicker then your thumb or longer then your arm. Believe it or not, that one has stood up in court.

if you or he has any questions my email is aguise@eastern.edu

again hope it helps, and sorry for the short essay and social commentary
 
First I am not a lawyer but I can tell you that in most cases that unenmployment will side with enpolyers in most cases. There is nothing to keep you from getting fired the first time. It is a matter of what a company may or may not have in writing. The big one that they can use is that what you did had a disruptive effect on the entire workplace. Most places are smart enough to document any verbal or written warnings. They realize that anyting they do opens them to law suits. Some companies have policies that forbid any type of romance in the work place. I used to work at a big company and there handbook was huge and it took a lawyer to understand it. I can say that they had all there bases covered. If you dont have a union to back you up your sol.
 
Devils Advocate

Someone has to play it... Your first post was a little confusing, what did he do exactly to get the warnings? Was he making a scene at the workplace, do you know exactly the unbiased version of what he said to her that finally got him fired? I seriously doubt it was an innocent comment that got him fired.

The company should not have to care weather or not they had a relationship and should be able to put two employees next to each other. How long had the girl been working there? Fourteen years is a long time to have invested in an employee and the company would need some serious ammunition (I.E. sexual harrasment, threats, etc) to fire somone after that period of time based on "human factors".

The only other reason I could think of that he got fired was that she batted her pretty blue eyes and shed a tear on the owners pillow and made it happen. (to any women reading this, again, I am playing the devils advocate here so no I don't think all women do this, but some do) It's a sad truth that women have that power and can make crappy things like this happen.

Someone is to blame and if the company (don't suppose you'd like to tell us who it is) is reputable, I am sure they weren't happy to have to fire a 14 year investment/employee.

So, is it worth it to hire a lawyer? I'd make sure he had all of his ducks in a row before he went slinging accusations and legal paperwork around. A company that has been around for at least fourteen years is bound to have seen this before and will be prepared.

Sorry to play the DA, I wish your friend the best of luck.
 
Jim Demmitt Jr said:
"SCer in need of help"
I have this friend that got fired after 14 years at his job.
14 years is a pretty good run these days. Encourage your friend to have 1 and only 1 massive toilet hugging drunk-out, and then get up the next day, clean up, move on and never look back. He'll be a lot better off for it and in his next job he should be wiser.
 
Hear Hear !!!

TbirdSCFan said:
14 years is a pretty good run these days. Encourage your friend to have 1 and only 1 massive toilet hugging drunk-out, and then get up the next day, clean up, move on and never look back. He'll be a lot better off for it and in his next job he should be wiser.

I'll second that opinion.
 
Each States work rules are different. Unless the person falls into a federally protected class, what recourse they will have depends on the State.

Minnesota is a At Will work state. Anyone can quit at any time for any reason, and anyone can be fired at any time for any reason. (Other than reasons that get companies sued of course)

It appears CA is the same, though I'm sure there are little issues. Your friend should really contact a Lawyer in their state to see what options may or may not be available.
 
Thanks for the info

Thanks guys very much.
I found out it a no go there non union they can fire you the first time if they want you get one virble warning one written warning and next the door with no unemployment :(
 
Jim Demmitt Jr said:
I found out it a no go there non union they can fire you the first time if they want you get one virble warning one written warning and next the door with no unemployment :(
Might still be able to claim unemployment, but cases where the company has documented what/why are harder to prevail on. My wife for example, was fired also, and the company tried to deny unemployment; only problem was they had no record of any warnings, so the workforce commision investigated, found no grounds for the termination and paid the claim. Its worth at least filing a claim anyway; worst thing that can happen is the claim is denied but be ready for a "no"... gotta play the game (I don't like the game, its full of holes, but dems the rules).. I could go on about the my opinion of the unemployment system, but that would hijack the thread. ;)

Thats why I recommend a "wake" period of mourning and sadness to get it out of his system (big drinking binge), but then get away from it. It helps a bunch to have someone to talk to frequently about it... time heals the shock/hurt (and yes.. it physically hurts) and talking flushes out the negative energy which always ends up hurting you no matter where it came from. Blame, bitterness, and replays will keep those bad vibes locked in. A punching bag helps. My old company that terminated me... I use their old Tshirts to work on my car with.. I'd wipe my crack with them too if I could.. its good therapy. However... I kept the stock.. afterall, I might have been angry, but I wasn't stupid :D I'm better off where I'm at now. Never would have believed it at the time, but the unwelcomed and unwanted change did me a lot of good.

I know, all easier said than done, but thats what friends are for, right? To provide emotional support? Cept guys don't do emotional support very well. That's why when you're down, you usually call mom first, dad second :rolleyes: [I have a hard time believing anyone who claims they don't] ;)
 
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TbirdSCfan

Thanks for the info

Its much appreciated!
unemployment was filed got a telephone interview.
they talked to employer got notice of Determination from EDD they do have records of only one written warning than fired.on the way out the door the company owner said its a good posability to get job back latter as time goes on things get forgotin.well two engineers could not figure out how to copy the work done.owner was called to get job back he said he would get back in couple days with answer.he calls and said cannot re enstate your job becouse of future relaps of same thing.what a run around its best to go on never look back there are some Optical assemblys that where never done by anyone els when they run into trouble well see what they do.none of the employes have gottin raises in two years.

If they where union this would have never happend.lesson well learned never get invalved with a co worker the one that gets hurt is the first to go
 
Jim,

Sorry you lost your job right before Christmas. I would suggest moving on and avoiding office romance/stalking at your next job. Most companies don't have much tolerance for that stuff because it's too easy to get sued for sexual harrasment.

David
 
Jim Demmitt Jr said:
....on the way out the door the company owner said its a good posability to get job back latter as time goes on things get forgotin....
That's just smoke up the @$$ to avoid the dreaded disgruntled employee with an AK47 and the 6 O'Clock news..
 
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