Is a breach of an unenforced company policy valid reason for termination?

[jill_lee]

What is the name of your state? WA

I was terminated for breaching a new policy that was unenforced, and for there is literally no mechanism for enforcement. Are company policies for which there is no method of enforcement, other than voluntary self-enforcement, valid? Can I sue for wrongful termination, or at least prove that this was motivated by something else, such as a desire to lay people off without severance and unemployment?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Yes, perfectly legal.

 

[Beth3]

Are company policies for which there is no method of enforcement, other than voluntary self-enforcement, valid? Yes. Many company policies don't have specific mechanisms for enforcement.

Can I sue for wrongful termination, or at least prove that this was motivated by something else, such as a desire to lay people off without severance and unemployment? No. Even if enforcement of the policy in your case was motivated by a desire to reduce the workforce, that's legal. Severance is ALWAYS a matter of company policy and is voluntary on the part of the employer. Whether you will be eligible for UC benefits depends on whether the policy violation constituted "willful misconduct" under your State's UC regulations.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Are you getting paid by the word again beth ???

 

[Beth3]

Exactly.

 

[jill_lee]

unequal enforcement?

Thanks for your replies. I voluntarily submitted that I had violated this new policy because it did not occur to me that such a policy would be in place, because no one had made any moves to put a mechanism to enforce it in place. The company has absolutely no way to determine if anyone has violated the policy, unless someone steps forward. I feel like I was penalized for being honest.

The company still has no intention of putting in mechanisms to enforce the policy (concerning personal trading - nothing illegal or unethical occurred), and for which there are obvious mechanisms), and they have not and do not intend to review other employees to see if anyone else has violated policy.

Can this be construed as unequal enforcement of policy? Is there any precedent that states that it impossible to enforce a rule, then that rule is not valid?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Can this be construed as unequal enforcement of policy? Is there any precedent that states that it impossible to enforce a rule, then that rule is not valid?

Sure it can. It can also be sonstrued as poor management. But that still gives you no LEGAL basis for a claim.

 

[Beth3]

Can this be construed as unequal enforcement of policy? Sure. But that does not make this a wrongful discharge.

Is there any precedent that states that it impossible to enforce a rule, then that rule is not valid? No. This is not a legal issue. Employers are free to make absurd rules, uneforceable rules, etc.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Employers are free to make absurd rules, uneforceable rules, etc.

You mean like the one I made stipulating that women were to wear bras to work and while representing my newspaper and then firing the COW the first time she refused ???