fired because spouse works for competitor

[cs192]

What is the name of your state? virginia


I recently accepted a job with a communications company. My husband works for a different company, which is a major competitor of the one that I became employed with.

During my second day of initial training, I casually mentioned that my husband worked for this company. I'd read the policy on conflict of interests and competition, which states absolutely nothing about having a spouse employed by a competing company. So, I didn't have a problem sharing that with the training class. The next day, I get called down to human resources, and they told me that they could not continue an employment relationship with me because of my husband's employer. They admitted that this situation had never come up before, and they realized that I hadn't had any opportunity to discuss my husband's employment during the interview process. I am wondering if there's any point in pursuing something with this.

I'd quit another job to take this position, and if my husband's employer were a factor in determining my eligibility for employment, I think that it should have been a question that was asked of me before I quit that other job. I've re-read the corporate policy regarding conflicts of interests, and again, I find nothing about this...

 

[Beth3]

And your question is...? I presume whether it was legal of them to fire you for this reason. The answer is yes.

It's very unfortuante that this didn't come up during the interview process (they could have asked or you could have volunteered the info) but many employers would feel it is a conflict of interest for an employee's spouse or a close family member to be working for a major competitor. Regardless of whether or not they even had a policy, they could terminate your employment.

FYI - if I were being interviewed by Hewlett Packard and my spouse worked for IBM, I'd certainly mention that early-on in the interview process to make sure we weren't all wasting our time.

 

[cs192]

Ok, I got your point.

I guess the reason that I felt comfortable discussing my husband's job was because the trainer told us that the Customer Service manager of this company lived with her significant other, a man in upper-level management for yet another major competitor of theirs. Needless to say, I thought I was safe.

Because I've never been fired in my life, I just have two more questions: First, might I be eligible for unemployment benefits? Second, they are required to pay me for the 2 days that I worked there, correct?

 

[cbg]

1. Yes, you might, and probably will, but it will depend on your state laws.

2. Yes, they are obligated to pay you for the time you actually worked for them.