I need advice before I pursue..

[dmada1198]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
On January 4th 2012 I was terminated from a big chain restaurant (Florida) for something I did that was wrong....I was the General Manager of the unit. The end of December was approaching and I wasn't going to hit my labor cost for the month so I edited some employee times and added them to January so that the employees still get paid and my december labor cost was in line. The issue is; I was under the assumption that this was standard practice because I was instructed to do that...my supervisor who fired me was the same person that instructed me to do it a few months prior (Sept)..He instructed me to NOT clock in all my employees for our mandatory employee meeting and clock them in the beginning of Oct (same thing I did in Dec). I was also forced (by my supervisor) to purchase product from a store using my own money so that food cost would be a littler better also....All in all I was instructed and trained to alter factual numbers by my supervisor in one way or another. I ended up getting termintaed for something I knew was wrong but thought it was standard practice. I claimed unemployment but I believe I will also be denied because it will be labeled as misconduct. I want to pursue legal actions but I dont know what, if any to go for..(unemployment, my job back, loss wages, damages, etc....) if anyone can give advice, please let me know...FYI, other managers in this company also were instructed by the same supervisor to alter numbers, as well as a lot of employees that know of the situation...so any denial on his part would be unlikely.

 

[cbg]

It's unfortunate that you were instructed to do something illegal, but firing you for doing something illegal EVEN IF YOU WERE INSTRUCTED TO DO SO does not give you grounds for legal action. Even if the person who instructed you to do so is the same one who fired you.

Commentator can give you the odds on prevailing on unemployment, but your termination was legal. The ONLY possible exception would be if you could show valid and supportable evidence that you, and only you, were fired for this BECAUSE OF a characteristic or action protected by law.

Not because you were the first one upper management caught. Not because they decided to make an example of you. Not because for some reason they found your offense more egregious than others. Not because they received a complaint from one of your employees. But BECAUSE of your age, race, religion, workers comp claim, etc.

 

[swalsh411]

I can say with almost complete certainty that you will not be disqualified because you were fired for refusing to break the law.

Having said that, I don't see how any reasonably intelligent person in a position of authority could think it's OK to alter time cards to pay employees later than they were due to be paid. Also, you were not forced to purchase anything with your own money. You could have refused, and if you were fired collected unemployment until you found a new job. So while I think you will qualify for benefits now, I don't feel very sorry for you.

 

[dmada1198]

I can say with almost complete certainty that you will not be disqualified because you were fired for refusing to break the law.

Having said that, I don't see how any reasonably intelligent person in a position of authority could think it's OK to alter time cards to pay employees later than they were due to be paid. Also, you were not forced to purchase anything with your own money. You could have refused, and if you were fired collected unemployment until you found a new job. So while I think you will qualify for benefits now, I don't feel very sorry for you.

As I stated in my original posting......what I did was wrong; however, no employee ever missed time or hours on their paychecks. They were all paid "on time". The end of the month was not necassarily the end of their pay period. Meaning, My staff's paycheck were issued on the 6th of January for time worked up until the 3rd; I basically took their hours worked from 12/29-12/31 and moved them to 01/01-01/03...which was different month but same pay period. The problem was NOT screwing employees (everyone got paid on their paydays for all their hours, including OT if they worked it), the problem was altering factual numbers to make Dec look good. Which again, I thought was standard practice.....if I was told to eliminate employee hours altogether I would've refused.

 

[dmada1198]

Also, you were not forced to purchase anything with your own money. You could have refused

You're right, poor choice of words...nobody forced me to do anything; I was instructed to do so by my supervisor.

 

[Zigner]

You're right, poor choice of words...nobody forced me to do anything; I was instructed to do so by my supervisor.

And you can prove it...how?

(That's the hurdle you are going to face)

 

[dmada1198]

And you can prove it...how?

(That's the hurdle you are going to face)

I informed several employees of what I was asked to do so that when they clock in and ou they would know why their running total hours were less than they should be; but they were informed that the hours missing would be reentered on the first of the month so that they would not miss any pay on their upcoming checks. As far as buying product with my own money; the product was purchased using my stores account card, so I do have the reciept from the purchase and all that has to be done is an audit on that day to see that there was no payouts from the restaurant. Also, a few days later the general Manager from one of our other units called me and said he just purchased products for his restaurant and was asked to destroy the receipt by our supervisor....too many people know about what has been asked of us for him to be able hide it.

 

[cbg]

Which may result in his being fired as well but does not make your termination illegal.

 

[Hot Topic]

Somehow I think that if you were required to get proof in the form of notarized statements that Bill knew that and Jim knew this and John agreed with..., you'd have a hard time getting it.

 

[commentator]

Getting unemployment benefits approved would be your only possibility of recourse, and that may be tricky. Have you filed yet? Have you been approved or denied on the initial appeal? That will be the first step. If you are approved, you will be able to begin receiving benefits, but the employer has the right to appeal and ask for a hearing.

Likewise if you are denied benefits initially, return the paperwork saying "I disagree with this decision and wish to file an appeal" immediately, within the 15 day timeframe for a timely appeal. You do not present your case before you send it it, just get in that you request an appeal. Then you will be scheduled for either a telelphone or an in person hearing, at which both you and the employer will be present. An appeals judge/referee/officer will listen to both sides of the story and then will make a decision whether the company had a valid misconduct reason to terminate you.

Listen carefully to what I say here, and think about it. Did you know that what you were told to do was wrong? Did you know that what you did might result in your being fired? Were you the only person who was doing this? Were there specific instructions given to you to do this in this manner. If so, when, and who gave them, and exactly what did they say to the very best of your recollection. It is not necessary that you have video tape of these conversations, or actual witnesses standing there swearing, but if you say that this happened on such and such date, and that so and so , and so and so heard the conversation and could say they heard it if asked to do so, that should be sufficient.

In a hearing like this the assumption is that either party or both parties may be lying, and they will try to go with which ever party is the MOST believable.
But get your story straight, detail exactly what you did in a timeline as accurate as you can get it to be, and then explain exactly what was said to you when you were terminated. If as you say, you were actually told to do what you did, and then someone else found out about it and terminated you, there is a fair chance you will not be judged to have committed gross misconduct (you were following the orders or suggestions of your supervisor, so you had reason to believe it was the right thing for you to do)

But unemployment approval is the only possibility. It is legal for them to fire you,even if they told you to do it, even if they fired you for not doing it, whatever reason. It's whether or not you might get unemploymetn that is your only recourse. You cannot sue someone in civil court and demand your unemployment benefits anyhow, even if there is a civil case, unemployment will be a totally separate issue decided within the unemployment system.