Do I have a case to sue?

[fitzncompany]

What is the name of your state? Utah

My husband has been working with a company for 7 or 8 months. He was working on the forklift trying to load heavy pipe fittings for the refinery. As he was reading his parts log, a co worker came up from behind him, and grabbed him on the shoulders and screamed in his ear very loud to scare him. My husband was of course caught off guard and almost ran the forklift into the pilings. My husband as angry as he was, parked the lift safely, turned it off and ran after the co worker screaming at him, "I've warned you before, not to do that to me, I'm gonna kill you (screaming obscenities of course). My husband cornered the co worker near pallets, swung at the guy and missed him (my husband is a burly guy but the same build as the co worker). The co worker started screaming, sorry, sorry to my husband and started to cry. He ran to the office and proceeded to tell the managers that he was hit by my husband. My husband swears that he wanted to choke his neck, but didn't. My husband says that the co worker was against pallets and it was my husband that fell over the pallets because of the swing he took, he fell forward. (something like that). My husband says there were witnesses that the coworker had teased him and that this had been an on going thing for months, where this co worker would contantly taunt my husband on a daily basis, thinking what he says is funny, but it is not funny to my husband. My husband has told his superiors about this and they are aware of his inappropriate antics, it was unsafe and stupid. He would would yell things like" shut your piehole" or call someone an idiot or something like that..My husband did tell him at one time, "you can do that with the other guys in the warehouse, your age, but don't do it to me. My husband was told to leave for the day, but today he called in and they told him he was fired because he went after the co worker. Although he didn't hit the co worker, the co worker claims he was hit by my husband. He was not hit with a fist or anything. I want to know if my husband has some sort of case to sue. He was constantly confronted with racial jokes and inuendo's and has brought it up to management that they need to have meetings to let the workers know they cannot do that. But management never did anything. The company had just settled a case where a black temp worker sued them for racial statements made around him, not to him, just used in general. They settled out of court. My husband is polynesian and very big and burly. He can be intimidating when you see and hear him. He also has high blood pressure and when this coworker scared him, he says his heart was beating so fast, he thought he was going to have a heart attack.
Please let me know if he has anyway of pulling a case together. Thank you.

 

[pattytx]

Are you kidding me?

ran after the co worker screaming at him, "I've warned you before, not to do that to me, I'm gonna kill you (screaming obscenities of course). My husband cornered the co worker near pallets, swung at the guy

Besides, YOU don't have a case for anything.

I'd be firing the both of 'em. Yesterday.

 

[cbg]

I agree. He'll be lucky if he keeps his job, let alone having any cause to sue.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Utah

My husband has been working with a company for 7 or 8 months. He was working on the forklift trying to load heavy pipe fittings for the refinery. As he was reading his parts log, a co worker came up from behind him, and grabbed him on the shoulders and screamed in his ear very loud to scare him. My husband was of course caught off guard and almost ran the forklift into the pilings. My husband as angry as he was, parked the lift safely, turned it off and ran after the co worker screaming at him, "I've warned you before, not to do that to me, I'm gonna kill you (screaming obscenities of course). My husband cornered the co worker near pallets, swung at the guy and missed him (my husband is a burly guy but the same build as the co worker). The co worker started screaming, sorry, sorry to my husband and started to cry. He ran to the office and proceeded to tell the managers that he was hit by my husband. My husband swears that he wanted to choke his neck, but didn't. My husband says that the co worker was against pallets and it was my husband that fell over the pallets because of the swing he took, he fell forward. (something like that). My husband says there were witnesses that the coworker had teased him and that this had been an on going thing for months, where this co worker would contantly taunt my husband on a daily basis, thinking what he says is funny, but it is not funny to my husband. My husband has told his superiors about this and they are aware of his inappropriate antics, it was unsafe and stupid. He would would yell things like" shut your piehole" or call someone an idiot or something like that..My husband did tell him at one time, "you can do that with the other guys in the warehouse, your age, but don't do it to me. My husband was told to leave for the day, but today he called in and they told him he was fired because he went after the co worker. Although he didn't hit the co worker, the co worker claims he was hit by my husband. He was not hit with a fist or anything. I want to know if my husband has some sort of case to sue. He was constantly confronted with racial jokes and inuendo's and has brought it up to management that they need to have meetings to let the workers know they cannot do that. But management never did anything. The company had just settled a case where a black temp worker sued them for racial statements made around him, not to him, just used in general. They settled out of court. My husband is polynesian and very big and burly. He can be intimidating when you see and hear him. He also has high blood pressure and when this coworker scared him, he says his heart was beating so fast, he thought he was going to have a heart attack.
Please let me know if he has anyway of pulling a case together. Thank you.

**A: you're kidding right?

 

[fitzncompany]

So legally, my husband can't even sue to get his job back? It's okay to let the white guy stay and fire the brown guy, after he's brought this to the attention of the managers and the managers agreed that the coworker is out of line? It's okay that someone can play stupid jokes on someone like that? If my husband did have a heart attack, maybe then something would have been done.

Fine, fire my husband, but the other guy didn't get fired. Although this guy came up from behind and grabbed my husband and screamed in his ear to startle him, my husband reacted by going after this guy. He did not stike at the guy, he swung at him and fell over the pallets himself. The co worker lied and there were truck drivers standing there and saw that he did not get hit.

AND NO, I'M NOT KIDDING. I am not a lawyer, that's why i'm on this webisite, to ask questions. Don't treat me like I'm an idiot. Just answer my question. This is my husbands livelyhood. It's not a joke. He should not have gone after the guy, but now i just want to know if he has a case. If not, then just say so.

 

[Jacon89]

So legally, my husband can't even sue to get his job back? It's okay to let the white guy stay and fire the brown guy, after he's brought this to the attention of the managers and the managers agreed that the coworker is out of line? It's okay that someone can play stupid jokes on someone like that? If my husband did have a heart attack, maybe then something would have been done.

Fine, fire my husband, but the other guy didn't get fired. Although this guy came up from behind and grabbed my husband and screamed in his ear to startle him, my husband reacted by going after this guy. He did not stike at the guy, he swung at him and fell over the pallets himself. The co worker lied and there were truck drivers standing there and saw that he did not get hit.

AND NO, I'M NOT KIDDING. I am not a lawyer, that's why i'm on this webisite, to ask questions. Don't treat me like I'm an idiot. Just answer my question. This is my husbands livelyhood. It's not a joke. He should not have gone after the guy, but now i just want to know if he has a case. If not, then just say so.

Judging by your husband's actions, regardless of whether or not the other co-worker was struck, they have very valid reasons to fire him (and could fire him without giving very valid reasons to begin with). To my knowledge, no employer is ever legally obligated to fire one employee just because they fired another. What happened is unfortunate, and no, I don't think it's right that your husband get's fired and the other employee didn't (and others in this thread probably wouldn't disagree with me), but there's a huge difference between a personal opinion and a legality. Legally, there's nothing you can do. I'm sure you don't like that at all, and I don't blame you, but don't hate us for it.

 

[fitzncompany]

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate it.

 

[fitzncompany]

I do not hate anyone for this. I just wanted some information whether he can get his job back. He loved his job and was very good at it. We are parents of 6 kids and losing one's livelihood is not a joke. My husband made a major mistake and he has owned up to it. I only wanted to know if we have grounds to get his job back.
I appreciate the fact that there is a forum such as this to help people like me. Thank you very much for your help.

I think it's crappy that the other guy didn't get fired, even though he has constantly done this and has been told over and over to stop. Antics like that can cause damage or injury and my husband has told the managers about it for months.

I don't blame anyone for this, just my husband for his bad judgement. Thank you.

 

[cbg]

Unless he has a valid and supportable reason to believe that he was fired BECAUSE of his race and not because he assaulted another employee, no, he has no legal grounds to sue for his job back.

I'd have fired both of them but that's just me.

 

[mitousmom]

It doesn't appear that your husband and his co-worker engaged in similar misconduct, so there is no expectation that they would be disciplined similarly. However, if your husband is aware of an employee not of his race or national origin who was accused of assaulting, threatening or fighting and was not terminated, he can discuss filing a charge of discrimination with EEOC or your state's human rights commission.