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Newly coined term, "internet fury"? A sad article...
kyrathaba:
There's a HUGE problem with companies knee-jerk firing people without just-cause, or at least without due-process.
wraith808:
There's a HUGE problem with companies knee-jerk firing people without just-cause, or at least without due-process.
-kyrathaba (March 25, 2013, 08:31 PM)
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That's an illusion in most states, as most are at-will work states. For any reason, or no reason at all, you can be fired. That's why I formerly preferred contract work. There was no such illusion, and it was more honest, IMO.
40hz:
There's a HUGE problem with companies knee-jerk firing people without just-cause, or at least without due-process.
-kyrathaba (March 25, 2013, 08:31 PM)
--- End quote ---
That's an illusion in most states, as most are at-will work states. For any reason, or no reason at all, you can be fired. That's why I formerly preferred contract work. There was no such illusion, and it was more honest, IMO.
-wraith808 (March 25, 2013, 09:46 PM)
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Bingo! Spot on the sugar. I've been both an employee and an employer in my state, so I know first hand. Where I am you can discharge, or be discharged, at any time - for any reason - or even no reason at all. About the only thing that may be up for discussion is whether or not the employer has to pay unemployment compensation. And FWIW, the answer is almost always yes - even if somebody was "terminated with cause." (Note: Last thing the government wants is to have somebody out on the street with zero income, and unable to get a job in the future, because they got fired for dishonesty or theft. Think about what that would do to the welfare rolls, and the collateral social problems that would cause, if such became too commonplace an occurrence.)
kyrathaba:
That's an illusion in most states, as most are at-will work states. For any reason, or no reason at all, you can be fired.
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You're right. Legally in most states, as is the case here in Kentucky where I work, companies can fire at will. However, in the company I work for, a community mental health provider serving ten counties in my region of the state, several employees who have, over the years, been terminated, have successfully sued my agency for settlements in the tens of thousands of dollars. How, I don't know. They have no legal basis, right? Yet, I assure you, several former employees have successfully done so. I assume my agency settled because they figured it would be less expensive than a drawn-out legal battle.
I still feel that, although most states give employers the legal right to fire at will, that morally-speaking there are many instances of wrongful-termination. On the other hand, I'm sure the laws have well-served some good employers, making it easier for them to run a business when they get a "bad egg" employee.
wraith808:
You're right. Legally in most states, as is the case here in Kentucky where I work, companies can fire at will. However, in the company I work for, a community mental health provider serving ten counties in my region of the state, several employees who have, over the years, been terminated, have successfully sued my agency for settlements in the tens of thousands of dollars. How, I don't know. They have no legal basis, right? Yet, I assure you, several former employees have successfully done so. I assume my agency settled because they figured it would be less expensive than a drawn-out legal battle.
-kyrathaba (March 26, 2013, 08:48 AM)
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You have to get it on some other ground other than that you were terminated, i.e. I was discriminated against, and that led to my firing, etc.
In this case, they can point to the good old company handbook, and unless you can get yourself on the other side of that, you've pretty much got no case, unless you have a lot of money.
I had a friend in this situation (for something else), and he got the company to come to his terms by (1) getting them to agree to arbitration and (2) then bringing a team of high powered attorneys, that then scared the company because they saw that he was serious. In the end, he won the case, but lost the war... he paid the attorneys all of the settlement, and *still* owed them money. Pyrrhic victory, anyone?
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