Fired for not telling on co worker

[tigers7612]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

I will try to put it basic detail of what happened. A package came in that was returned to the company because of failure to deliver. I opened it and immediately started asking quetsions about it because it didnt have any papers with it. The other employee decided to take them and test them. He then asked me to get him another one off the shelf just like them. I was under the impression at the time they didnt work and he was going to fix them. After he switched something on one of the items he decided to write an email. Me, not the type of person to watch others emails, didnt see what he was typing and to whom. We then wen on to talk about a online game we both play and then he got a phone call. At that time a sales lady came back to talk to me so I didnt know who he was talking to. After that I went back to what I was doing before the package came in. About a half hour before closing time the boss and called the employee and asked for the items to be brought to him. It was at that time I found out what he had done. I didnt want to get into the middle of it so I just did my job and went home. About an hour later we got called into work and fired over it saying I was part of it even though I told him my side. I came back in the next day to talk to the boss and told him I was sorry for not coming to him, but I didnt want to be part of it. He didnt care. Was I in the wrong for not telling on this co worker that was suppose to be a friend?

 

[justalayman]

It's really irrelevant. He can fire you if he so chooses.

 

[jiggy78]

Your termination was not illegal. File for unemployment while you look for a new job.

 

[cbg]

Was I in the wrong for not telling on this co worker that was suppose to be a friend?

Honestly, that's a matter of opinion. You could ask a dozen different people and get a dozen different answers. And they'd all be right.

What matters is not whether we think you were right or wrong, but whether your boss thought you were right or wrong. He thought you were wrong. He's entitled to his opinion, and he's entitled to act on it. Your termination was legal.

However, you should be eligible for unemployment, and if you have not already done so, you should file first thing tomorrow.

 

[tigers7612]

There lies another question. I did file for unemployment the day after I was terminated. I received a notice in the mail stating a question was raised about my status. I do know my old employer was going to fight it like he does everytime he terminates someone. Based off what I posted above, would he be able to stop me from receiving unemployment?

As for my termination problem, I understand Illinois has no law against things like this, but ethnically speaking termination like this should be wrong putting an employee in this type of position without prior consent. I was asked to be a spy for the boss and tell him everything my so called friend was doing. It isnt in the company policy to blow the whistle on everything you see. If it was it would make your other co workers very uncomfortable to work with you. Final question is would I have a case based of feeling pressured to alienate all my fellow co workers?

 

[cbg]

It is not within your employer's power to either grant or deny your unemployment claim. The state, and only the state, makes that decision.

would I have a case based of feeling pressured to alienate all my fellow co workers?

I don't know what kind of case you are thinking of, but if you are thinking some kind of lawsuit, the answer is no; if you are thinking a case to receive unemployment, the answer is also no. While you may very well receive unemployment, it will not be because you "felt pressured to alienate all your fellow coworkers".

 

[tigers7612]

No my case for unemployment is based off that I didnt do anything wrong.

The reason I am asking these questions is that I believe he turned his information into his lawyers and looking into pressing charges on the employee that did it. So basically I am concerned that they might try it against me. I know I did not do anything wrong, just did not go running to the boss to tell on this employee. I feel that I that I judged wrongly by him. I was friends with all who work there, now no one will talk to me. Other than say hi in passing through the local store.

Sorry, just venting. anyway thanks for your input.

 

[commentator]

Since your employer did choose to fire you, he can certainly protest your being approved for unemployment insurance, and I am sure he will be quite willing to provide them with his side of the reason why you were terminated. According to the way unemployment works, he has the right to do this, just as you had the right to file for it.

My question is, how can you prove that you did not have full knowledge of what the other person was doing, and actually encourage him to do it? If no one else was in the area, and he says you were the one who suggested he take the things out and test them, or just take them out and the two of you would cart them away later, whatever? Usually people when they are caught in wrongdoing will attempt to spread the blame around whenever possible.

Your employer was fully able to fire you, no case for a lawsuit, no requirement in the court of fairness that he have definitive proof of wrongdoing, or that he take your statement as the truth, or that he has to follow his own company policy, even if they had a policy in place that said "Employees seeing other employees stealing or performing other criminal acts are not required to report these acts to management, " and he fired you anyway.That's because you are in an "at will" state.

When you filed for unemployment insurance, they took a statement from you about the reason you were terminated. Then they always contact the employer to get their side of the situation as well. They weigh the two statements, they attempt to clarify any discrepancies in the two stories by reconacting the parties and asking questions, and then they decided which of the parties is most believable, and whether or not the firing appears to be for a verifiable misconduct reason.

Then an initial decision is given. Either party, the one who was not approved, or the employer against whom the claim is approved, has the right to file an appeal of the decision. This time there would be a hearing, either by telephone or in person, with both parties present, before a hearing officer. Either party can submit proofs, subpoena witnesses, and in any way try to show that they had a good misconduct reason to terminate you, or that you were terminated without wrongdoing through no fault of your own.

Frankly, I don't think your chances of showing you were blameless are very good. They rest too much on your insistence that you had NO idea what your co-worker was doing, and you're just not the kind to rat out somebody, even if they were doing something wrong, and that's not necessarily a virtue.

 

[jiggy78]

A single lapse in judgement in terms of cooperating with an employer investigation into possible theft does not constitute misconduct.

 

[commentator]

Of course not, if he can believably show that's all it was, and the other guy's story doesn't incriminate him.

A single lapse in judgment can cover a multitude of things, some of which might be gross misconduct.

It rings alarms in my ear when someone says, "I'm not the kind of person who..." and "I just had nooooo idea...." and there were only two of them in the room. He's not even arguing that he knew what the other guy was doing and decided not to report it, he's saying he had no idea what was going on under his nose and had no idea the guy was doing something wrong until he was called up by the boss. That's a different story from "I didn't want to report something"

 

[Zigner]

A single lapse in judgement in terms of cooperating with an employer investigation into possible theft does not constitute misconduct.

Active conspiracy does...