Fired for NOT pressing charges

[kimmiekerr]

I am in Arkansas. My father and i got into a small argument after i got off work one afternoon in the parking lot. It was nothing big just loud talking back and forth briefly. The following Monday i was called into the office and was told if i pressed charges against my dad (for what i dont know) then i will just be put on probation. I told them i wasnt going to press charges against him so they fired me. Can they do that?

 

[LdiJ]

I am in Arkansas. My father and i got into a small argument after i got off work one afternoon in the parking lot. It was nothing big just loud talking back and forth briefly. The following Monday i was called into the office and was told if i pressed charges against my dad (for what i dont know) then i will just be put on probation. I told them i wasnt going to press charges against him so they fired me. Can they do that?

Sure they can do that. It seems a bit over the top to me, but yes, they can do that.

 

[Proserpina]

I am in Arkansas. My father and i got into a small argument after i got off work one afternoon in the parking lot. It was nothing big just loud talking back and forth briefly. The following Monday i was called into the office and was told if i pressed charges against my dad (for what i dont know) then i will just be put on probation. I told them i wasnt going to press charges against him so they fired me. Can they do that?

Yeap, they can do that.

(Largely because there is nothing in the law saying they can't)

They can fire you for refusing to watch this week's game, they can fire you for wearing green socks, they can fire you simply because the boss had an argument with his spouse and is in a bad mood. Or for liking Pepsi better than Coke.

 

[cbg]

Agree with both of the above. It's not necessarily a smart move, but it is a legal move.

 

[sandyclaus]

There's GOT to be much more to this story than what you're telling.

Employers generally don't involve themselves in personal conflicts unless it occurs between employees. They certainly don't tell you that you have to file a police report for a simple verbal altercation, or threaten you with termination if you don't do so.

So, what's the REST of the story that you've conveniently left out?

 

[swalsh411]

Your father cost you your job by bringing this drama to your workplace. Your employer doesn't want to deal with it or see/hear it.

 

[kimmiekerr]

There's GOT to be much more to this story than what you're telling.

Employers generally don't involve themselves in personal conflicts unless it occurs between employees. They certainly don't tell you that you have to file a police report for a simple verbal altercation, or threaten you with termination if you don't do so.

So, what's the REST of the story that you've conveniently left out?

I haven't left anything out. Wouldnt make much sense for me to ask if I didnt give all of the details now would it??

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

You would be surprised what people do to slant answers they receive. That said it does not appear your termination was illegal.

I haven't left anything out. Wouldnt make much sense for me to ask if I didnt give all of the details now would it??

 

[sandyclaus]

I haven't left anything out. Wouldnt make much sense for me to ask if I didnt give all of the details now would it??

What doesn't make sense is that your employer is insisting that you file charges for a verbal altercation, and threatened termination if you didn't comply.

I'm speculating here, but it sounds more like there was more than the verbal argument that occurred, and there was a direct threat to you/your property or company property during the altercation. Or perhaps the kind of position you hold requires you to file police reports for incidents on the company premises. Now THAT makes sense as to why your employer would insist that charges be filed.

We volunteers have heard it all, and are pretty good at filling in those blanks that people intentionally leave in order to guide our responses to what they want to hear. That goes especially when the information the members provide just doesn't make sense as presented.

 

[kimmiekerr]

What doesn't make sense is that your employer is insisting that you file charges for a verbal altercation, and threatened termination if you didn't comply.

I'm speculating here, but it sounds more like there was more than the verbal argument that occurred, and there was a direct threat to you/your property or company property during the altercation. Or perhaps the kind of position you hold requires you to file police reports for incidents on the company premises. Now THAT makes sense as to why your employer would insist that charges be filed.

We volunteers have heard it all, and are pretty good at filling in those blanks that people intentionally leave in order to guide our responses to what they want to hear. That goes especially when the information the members provide just doesn't make sense as presented.

There really wasn't anything else to it. My dad came up there to catch me before i left work because he wanted to talk about a personal matter. He said he knew that if he didnt catch me at work then he would never catch me to talk. Thats true. Lol! Anyway, i got a little aggrivated because i had stuff to do and didnt feel like talking so i was getting a little snippy with him. That made him mad so he got mouthy right back. There was never any yelling, we were there maybe 5 minutes, and there definitely was no threat to me or my property. Supposedly another coworker went in and said there was a fight going on in the parking lot which was a total over exaggeration. Im sure that person didnt realize it was just my dad and thought maybe i was being harrassed or something but when i tried to explain the situation to my bosses monday morning they werent interested and thats when they told me i had to press charges to keep my job. I dont have a special position there. Just a regular employee. I had only been there a few months. I am honestly not leaving anything out. I want the answers i get to be true whether i like it or not.

 

[Proserpina]

There really wasn't anything else to it. My dad came up there to catch me before i left work because he wanted to talk about a personal matter. He said he knew that if he didnt catch me at work then he would never catch me to talk. Thats true. Lol! Anyway, i got a little aggrivated because i had stuff to do and didnt feel like talking so i was getting a little snippy with him. That made him mad so he got mouthy right back. There was never any yelling, we were there maybe 5 minutes, and there definitely was no threat to me or my property. Supposedly another coworker went in and said there was a fight going on in the parking lot which was a total over exaggeration. Im sure that person didnt realize it was just my dad and thought maybe i was being harrassed or something but when i tried to explain the situation to my bosses monday morning they werent interested and thats when they told me i had to press charges to keep my job. I dont have a special position there. Just a regular employee. I had only been there a few months. I am honestly not leaving anything out. I want the answers i get to be true whether i like it or not.

The bottom line is that it's legal for them to ask you to do A, B or C and if you refuse, fire you.

(Unless A, B or C are illegal acts, anyway)