Entitlement to Profit Sharing and ? about Whistleblower

[snakewoman71]

What is the name of your state? - VA

My husband worked at Geico and was fired on 2/8/06. He was fired for _gross misconduct_ and was denied unemployment. He contested this and the VA Employment Commission is investigating.

We have 2 issues:

1. As a Geico employee, he is entitled to a share the profits from the previous year (Profit Sharing). HR advised my husband that it is just _company policy_ that if you are not actively employed when the checks are handed out (on the last Friday in Feb, this year 2/24), you don_t get your profit sharing check, which for my husband, would have been approximately $3,000.00, after taxes. He is not aware when or where this policy was explained to him and he didn_t sign anything to this effect. An active employee friend was asking questions about this and was told that Geico just refuses to give former employees the Profit Sharing because no one has made a big enough issue of it. Is he entitled to the Profit Sharing or does this somehow fall under _bonus_ income and is subject to different rules that govern regular income?

2. My husband was recently (July last year) written up for not following Geico_s call _maps_. On one particular map, my husband felt that he was being asked to do something unethical, possibly illegal. After he was fired, we called the VA Insurance Commission and found that the practice is called _sliding_ and is illegal. Does this fall under _Whistleblower_ or not?

Do we have any legal recourse in either of these situations?

Thanks for your time.

Jen

What is the name of your state? - VA

 

[Beth3]

1. Many employers who have a profit sharing bonus plan require that employees still be actively employed at the time the checks are distributed. If your husband's former employer has such a policy, that's not surprising.

2. There is no one whistleblower law. Some laws that make certain acts on the part of the employer prohibited include protections for the employer retaliating against an employee who reports the violation or their concern, although more often than not only when the alleged violation is reported to a government agency. It's impossible to tell from your post whether (a) the company was actually doing anything prohibited by your State's Insurance Commission, (b) whether he reported those concerns, and (c) whether that had anything to do with the termination of his employment.

FYI, even if the UC Division reverses their decision and determines that your husband is eligible for UC benefits, that has no bearing on whether your husband's termination was unlawful.

 

[snakewoman71]

More Detail

1. I was dreading that answer. I have no idea what Geico's policy is and I don't know how I would find out.

2. Each type of call has a "map" that the agent has to follow, or face consequences, (bad call rating which can lead to termination, or outright termination.) On the map in question, this his what happens:

Policyholder (PH) calls to add/replace a vehicle. Agent gets the info, adds the new vehicle/removes the old vehicle. While doing this, the agent is required to look over the coverages the PH has, and if the PH doesn't have rental reimbursement or roadside assistance, to add these coverages. The PH is not told that these coverages are added. At the close of the call, the agent advises that the vehicle has been added, other vehicle removed and the agent runs down the list of coverages the PH has, with the "new" ones in the list and asks the PH "do you have any questions about these coverages?" 99% of the time, the PHs think they had the "new" coverages to begin with. Most call back after they get a new bill and they see the premium increase.

My husband received a bad score on a call review because he didn't follow the map exactly, but advised the PH that these coverages had been added. He voiced his disagreement with this policy and was formally written up by the supervisor that later fired him. (PIP)

He was fired for a different reason (of course!)