What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Hello all. I'm posting this on behalf of a friend of mine. He was recently terminated from his job due to an incident that occured about a week ago. He and his crew were doing some electrical work in a public area, and accidentally cut into a "hot cable" (line that still had electricity going though it) and caused a minor explosion. The entire crew was drug tested (which my friend passed), with the exception of the foreman who quit on the spot because he was drunk. Since the crew was acting on the go-ahead of the foreman, my friend thought that he was in the clear once he learned he had passed his urine test.
Unfortunately, this is not the case, or I wouldn't be posting this. It seems that his boss was looking for a reason to fire him, as he constantly insulted and put-down my friend, both to his face and to other employees. My friend never said anything about it, because he was raised as the "grin and bear it, words can't hurt you" type, and it never really affected him before.
I know that under California law, employment is considered "at-will," and any employer can fire any employee at any time for any reason (just about). However, can an employer fire an employee for misconduct, when the misconduct was not on the part of the terminated party, but on the part of his supervisor (who quit on the spot, remember)? And does the harassment on the part of the boss play into this in any way? Any advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated by both myself and my friend. Thank you kindly.
Hello all. I'm posting this on behalf of a friend of mine. He was recently terminated from his job due to an incident that occured about a week ago. He and his crew were doing some electrical work in a public area, and accidentally cut into a "hot cable" (line that still had electricity going though it) and caused a minor explosion. The entire crew was drug tested (which my friend passed), with the exception of the foreman who quit on the spot because he was drunk. Since the crew was acting on the go-ahead of the foreman, my friend thought that he was in the clear once he learned he had passed his urine test.
Unfortunately, this is not the case, or I wouldn't be posting this. It seems that his boss was looking for a reason to fire him, as he constantly insulted and put-down my friend, both to his face and to other employees. My friend never said anything about it, because he was raised as the "grin and bear it, words can't hurt you" type, and it never really affected him before.
I know that under California law, employment is considered "at-will," and any employer can fire any employee at any time for any reason (just about). However, can an employer fire an employee for misconduct, when the misconduct was not on the part of the terminated party, but on the part of his supervisor (who quit on the spot, remember)? And does the harassment on the part of the boss play into this in any way? Any advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated by both myself and my friend. Thank you kindly.
