Do I have a case?

[jjd228]

I live in NY. I have been told by an attorney that wrongful termination in NY is a lost cause unless you were in a union, were discriminated against, or had an employment contract. He said this before I told him the details so I'm hoping that if not a wrongful termination suit that I must have SOMETHING here.

Short version of a VERY long story.

In 1999 I pleaded guilty to "failure to register as a telephone solicitor" on the advice of my attorney at the time. I was working as a sales guy for a company that was investigated and shut down for various white collar crimes. Problem for me is that my calls were being made to Ohio, where this ridiculous "crime" is actually a felony! So yes, now I have a felony record.

February 2008 - I have several interviews with a very large and well-known company based in NYC for a very high-level engineering position within the IT department. On the application I say "yes," I have been convicted of a crime and I attach a long letter explaining things. My recruiter, the HR dept. for this company, and members of the company's legal dept. all meet to discuss things. They decide that my "crimes" were not a concern so they clear me to be hired. I pass the 3rd party background check, drug test etc. and they make me an offer.

July 2009 - I am called into a meeting with my Director and am greeted by corporate security who tells me I am being suspended pending an investigation. He says he thinks I "slipped through the cracks" and "never should have been hired in the first place." A week later I get a call and they tell me they are terminating me for "violation of company policy."

Bottom line, what should I do? Is this perfectly legal? Would a judge side with me and award me some kind of compensation?

 

[cbg]

what should I do? Look for another job.

Is this perfectly legal? yes.


Would a judge side with me and award me some kind of compensation? No, very unlikely.

 

[jjd228]

what should I do? Look for another job.

Is this perfectly legal? yes.


Would a judge side with me and award me some kind of compensation? No, very unlikely.

Are you an attorney or just winging that? Seems to me that they should have decided this before they hired me, and I certainly didn't violate any company policy by simply showing up to work as I did for almost a year and a half. It took me 7 months to get the job and that was in a much better job market. I think I should be paid for THEIR mistake.

 

[pattytx]

Maybe they should have found it, maybe they shouldn't have. In any case, you sue when there is a LAW violated in your termination. What LAW do you think was violated? Google "at will employment".

 

[cbg]

You find me a law that says you can't be terminated for this reason and that if the employer makes a mistake they owe you money, and I'll agree with you.

In every state but Montana, and even sometimes in Montana, you can be terminated for any reason except one specifically prohibited by law. So, show me that law.

 

[jjd228]

Maybe they should have found it, maybe they shouldn't have. In any case, you sue when there is a LAW violated in your termination. What LAW do you think was violated? Google "at will employment".

That's why I'm not talking about wrongful termination, as noted in my original post. Certainly there are countless cases in court where no obvious laws were broken, but someone just feels they were wronged. And certainly some of those people win. So that is what I was asking.

 

[eerelations]

Judges don't make awards to people just because those people feel they were wronged by their former employers. Judges make awards to people whose former employers broke laws when firing them. There are no laws against firing someone because he/she has a criminal record, ergo a judge won't award you any compensation for this.

And before you get mad at me too, I (like the others here) didn't make this stuff up just to make you feel worse. We're just telling you - factually and accurately - how the system works. If you don't like how the system works, don't blame us.

 

[Andy0192]

... there are countless cases in court where no obvious laws were broken, but someone just feels they were wronged. And certainly some of those people win...

Here's your homework. Find one of those cases that you say must exist.

 

[jjd228]

Judges don't make awards to people just because those people feel they were wronged by their former employers. Judges make awards to people whose former employers broke laws when firing them. There are no laws against firing someone because he/she has a criminal record, ergo a judge won't award you any compensation for this.

And before you get mad at me too, I (like the others here) didn't make this stuff up just to make you feel worse. We're just telling you - factually and accurately - how the system works. If you don't like how the system works, don't blame us.

Not getting mad, but can we get creative (accurately)? What about a person that incurs "damages" due to the actions of others? What about psychological damages? What about stress and sleeplessness that comes from suddenly not being able to pay your mortgage? SURELY you have seen people sue for these things, and win, yes?

 

[cbg]

SURELY you have seen people sue for these things, and win, yes?

Surely I have seen people sue for these things and win, no.

 

[pattytx]

SURELY you have seen people sue for these things, and win, yes?

Surely I have seen people sue for these things and win, no.

You channelling Ricky Ricardo again?

 

[eerelations]

Doesn't happen. People sue for damages when they sustain said damages as a result of a law or laws being broken by other parties. Your former employer did not break any laws therefore you will not be awarded damages by a judge. Period.