• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Do I have a wrongful termination case?

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

AGrayson84

Junior Member
Hello, I was a government sub-contractor, working in Washington D.C. for a Department of Justice agency. My direct employer is located in Virginia, and I live in Maryland.

I came aboard this company, sub-contracting for this DoJ agency in Dec 2011. I was hired as a Windows Systems Administrator and was doing great, I have managerial references to attest to this. Another employee on the contract, working for the prime contract holder, was not performing so well and her employment was now at risk. My contract lead, who also worked for the prime contract holder, asked if I could temporarily swap positions with this other employee, since I was know to be a good worker. I was told by the contract lead that I would be over on this other team for maybe 2 months or so, until a new employee could be hired to replace me so that I could return to my original duties. I obliged, to help out a fellow contractor, and went to the other team for what I expected to be the roughly 2 months that I was told.

Seven months later, and after several times of politely asking when I could be transferred back to my original duties, nothing was happening. I finally spoke with the program manager of my company, and politely let him know that I would be looking for employment elsewhere if no one was going to do anything to get me back to what I was originally hired for. I could understand if it was me that wasn't performing well, but everyone was always mentioning how happy they were with my work. Speaking with my program manager lit a fire under a lot of peoples' butts, and a new employee was now going to be hired, under my company, to fill my spot so I could return to my duties. The government supervisor finally got word from the contract leads that this new employee would be replacing me so that I could return, and she did not seem too thrilled about that. I had always previously had, I feel, a very good relationship with this supervisor, always staying in communication with her to please her, and doing anything she requested without hesitation. In Dec 2012, for my annual review, she had nothing but great things to say about me and my performance in an e-mail to my program manager.

Later in the month of Dec 2012, the new employee came aboard and I was asked to train him. After his second week of training, his admin account had been created but were having issues. We were nearing his last few days of training before I was to move back to the other team and he was to be on his own, so I supervised him as he created some user accounts on my workstation, under my admin login. The new employee was cleared, now trained, and had his own admin account... but again, the account simply was not working. After a couple of days of allowing him to create some user accounts under my credentials, on 01/09/2013, I had stepped away, 2 cubicles over (I didn't leave the office or his sight), to get something from the refrigerator. I was away for a total 15-20 seconds, and the government supervisor noticed that he was still on my login. She had me removed from the building, and my company had to put me on administrative leave for a few days until a security officer at this agency returned, so that it could be decided if I should be terminated for this incident.

The meeting took place on 01/14/2013, involving two security officers from this agency, the project manager of the prime contracting company, the government supervisor, and the government supervisor's "higher-up". The security officers advised that the incident was not grounds for termination and should be able to be resolved with some training. The government supervisor then stated that she was no longer happy with my performance (after she said otherwise on my annual review the month prior) and did not want me to return. The project manager reminded the supervisor of the great things she had to say about me all last year (2012), but the government supervisor continued to state that she didn't want me to return. I was supposed to have returned to my original team that week, and would have no longer been working under this government supervisor.

My program manager called me after this meeting, and advised me that he had no other contract to place me under, so he would have to let me go. He offered to be a reference for me to speak about how great my work was and how he would have hired me again in a heartbeat, but there was just simply no other work they had under other contracts that I could fill. A few weeks later, I found that the FSO (Facility Security Officer) of my company submitted an incident report on my JPAS record on 01/10/2013, before the meeting took place about whether the incident was deemed terminable or not. I had the security officers at the agency, as well as the project manager of the prime contract company speak with the FSO that entered the record, and the FSO refused to remove the incident from JPAS even though the government supervisor argued that my performance was why she wanted me gone once she found out that the security incident wasn't a reason for termination. The new employee that was still working under my login for the 20 seconds that I went to the refrigerator was never brought up by the agency nor my employer, even though he was just as guilty as me. His name was never even mentioned in the meeting on 01/14/2013, regarding the incident. He also does not have a security incident on his JPAS record, I'm quite sure, due to this incident.

Having this open security incident in my JPAS record is causing new prospective employers to not be able to hire me. Lawyers apparently cannot do anything about getting the security incident resolve until it is in the adjudication process.

So, considering I was a sub-contractor for this agency in Washington, D.C., and my direct employer only had to let me go because there was no other position I could fill, do I have any case against the agency or anything regarding my termination?? I'd hugely appreciate any advice that anyone can give me regarding this situation.

Regards,
Andrew
 


TheGeekess

Keeper of the Kraken
Hello, I was a government sub-contractor, working in Washington D.C. for a Department of Justice agency. My direct employer is located in Virginia, and I live in Maryland.

I came aboard this company, sub-contracting for this DoJ agency in Dec 2011. I was hired as a Windows Systems Administrator and was doing great, I have managerial references to attest to this. Another employee on the contract, working for the prime contract holder, was not performing so well and her employment was now at risk. My contract lead, who also worked for the prime contract holder, asked if I could temporarily swap positions with this other employee, since I was know to be a good worker. I was told by the contract lead that I would be over on this other team for maybe 2 months or so, until a new employee could be hired to replace me so that I could return to my original duties. I obliged, to help out a fellow contractor, and went to the other team for what I expected to be the roughly 2 months that I was told.

Seven months later, and after several times of politely asking when I could be transferred back to my original duties, nothing was happening. I finally spoke with the program manager of my company, and politely let him know that I would be looking for employment elsewhere if no one was going to do anything to get me back to what I was originally hired for. I could understand if it was me that wasn't performing well, but everyone was always mentioning how happy they were with my work. Speaking with my program manager lit a fire under a lot of peoples' butts, and a new employee was now going to be hired, under my company, to fill my spot so I could return to my duties. The government supervisor finally got word from the contract leads that this new employee would be replacing me so that I could return, and she did not seem too thrilled about that. I had always previously had, I feel, a very good relationship with this supervisor, always staying in communication with her to please her, and doing anything she requested without hesitation. In Dec 2012, for my annual review, she had nothing but great things to say about me and my performance in an e-mail to my program manager.

Later in the month of Dec 2012, the new employee came aboard and I was asked to train him. After his second week of training, his admin account had been created but were having issues. We were nearing his last few days of training before I was to move back to the other team and he was to be on his own, so I supervised him as he created some user accounts on my workstation, under my admin login. The new employee was cleared, now trained, and had his own admin account... but again, the account simply was not working. After a couple of days of allowing him to create some user accounts under my credentials, on 01/09/2013, I had stepped away, 2 cubicles over (I didn't leave the office or his sight), to get something from the refrigerator. I was away for a total 15-20 seconds, and the government supervisor noticed that he was still on my login. She had me removed from the building, and my company had to put me on administrative leave for a few days until a security officer at this agency returned, so that it could be decided if I should be terminated for this incident.

The meeting took place on 01/14/2013, involving two security officers from this agency, the project manager of the prime contracting company, the government supervisor, and the government supervisor's "higher-up". The security officers advised that the incident was not grounds for termination and should be able to be resolved with some training. The government supervisor then stated that she was no longer happy with my performance (after she said otherwise on my annual review the month prior) and did not want me to return. The project manager reminded the supervisor of the great things she had to say about me all last year (2012), but the government supervisor continued to state that she didn't want me to return. I was supposed to have returned to my original team that week, and would have no longer been working under this government supervisor.

My program manager called me after this meeting, and advised me that he had no other contract to place me under, so he would have to let me go. He offered to be a reference for me to speak about how great my work was and how he would have hired me again in a heartbeat, but there was just simply no other work they had under other contracts that I could fill. A few weeks later, I found that the FSO (Facility Security Officer) of my company submitted an incident report on my JPAS record on 01/10/2013, before the meeting took place about whether the incident was deemed terminable or not. I had the security officers at the agency, as well as the project manager of the prime contract company speak with the FSO that entered the record, and the FSO refused to remove the incident from JPAS even though the government supervisor argued that my performance was why she wanted me gone once she found out that the security incident wasn't a reason for termination. The new employee that was still working under my login for the 20 seconds that I went to the refrigerator was never brought up by the agency nor my employer, even though he was just as guilty as me. His name was never even mentioned in the meeting on 01/14/2013, regarding the incident. He also does not have a security incident on his JPAS record, I'm quite sure, due to this incident.

Having this open security incident in my JPAS record is causing new prospective employers to not be able to hire me. Lawyers apparently cannot do anything about getting the security incident resolve until it is in the adjudication process.

So, considering I was a sub-contractor for this agency in Washington, D.C., and my direct employer only had to let me go because there was no other position I could fill, do I have any case against the agency or anything regarding my termination?? I'd hugely appreciate any advice that anyone can give me regarding this situation.

Regards,
Andrew
Short answer: No. :cool:
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
A little longer answer:
Absent an enforceable employment contract or union protections, no.
 

swalsh411

Senior Member
You should have a record in JPAS for this. What you did was clearly a security breach.

File for unemployment while you look for a new job.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top