No Hugging! Your Fired

[ontherocks]

No Hugging! You're Fired

What is the name of your state? CA

I (male) was recently fired from a construction company for sexual harassment for giving a fellow male employee a non-sexual "coaches" hug, the kind a coach gives a player or you might give a friend when you're getting your picture taken. When I applied for UI the bosses accountant/lover/recent bar-exam passer fought me tooth and nail. She initially told the UI department I broke the zero tolerance policy. I told my story. Ms. Accountant fired back with a list of 10 other incidence that occured in the prior months all of which were false. I told the UI they were all lies. The employer was unable to document anything. I now receive UI. But, being a school teacher I have found that I am unable to get any interviews because they ask me if and why I was fired from any jobs. Can I sue for wrongful termination and slander and anything else. N.B. The employer and I had a one year verbal contract which he broke after 4 months.

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

Are you still employed as a school teacher?

 

[ontherocks]

Hugs and kisses

I was laid off from teaching and went into construction for what was supposed to be a year. I have great credentials but no one is interested in taking the chance

 

[cbg]

No, you cannot sue for wrongful termination; you were not wrongfully terminated.

It doesn't matter that you felt that you were giving these hugs in the spirit of "coaching". If your employer felt that they were inappropriate, they were free to fire you for it. You might be interested to know that the law does not look at sexual harassment from the point of view of the "aggressor": they look at it from the perception of the "victim". If your fellow employee felt that they were being sexually harassed, guess what? They were.

Yes, it is entirely possible to sexually harass someone without intending to or even knowing that you were doing so.

No, you cannot sue for slander; you were not slandered. Slander means FALSE report and it is TRUE that you were fired for sexual harassment.

No, you cannot sue for anything else; no laws have been violated.

 

[Beth3]

And on your next job, I'd avoid hugging anyone. I've known a number of guys who have worked construction and if a male co-worker hugged one of them them, they'd be aghast. You're probably lucky you didn't get the stuffing knocked out of you.

Behavior that may be appropriate in one environment (say, with your family or close friends) can be grossly inappropriate in another.

 

[You Are Guilty]

And on your next job, I'd avoid hugging anyone. I've known a number of guys who have worked construction and if a male co-worker hugged one of them them, they'd be aghast. You're probably lucky you didn't get the stuffing knocked out of you.

Behavior that may be appropriate in one environment (say, with your family or close friends) can be grossly inappropriate in another.

Agreed. I bet the OP was big on "coach-hugging" his school children, too.

 

[ontherocks]

So if "A" bumped into "B" getting a cup of coffee "B" could cry sexual harassment and the boss could fire? Hard to believe. Maybe not. Nice one about hugging the students. You should take a break from responding. I was told that to have a sexual harassment policy the company must have a document or some dialogue with their employees. Does that help the case?

 

[ontherocks]

Slander? What about the many lies the boss told the Unemployment people? I suppose we can say anything we want, it only matters if someone is willing to fight it.

 

[Beth3]

In order to meet he legal criteria for slander, the burden of proof is on you to demonstate that the employer knowingly lied or was negligent in their statemetments about you, that such statements were broadcast to an audience, and that you suffered damages as a result. I don't know whether your employer lied to the UC office or not but the UC Division very likely doesn't qualify as an "audience" and you haven't suffered any damages. You were granted UI benefits.

 

[cbg]

So if "A" bumped into "B" getting a cup of coffee "B" could cry sexual harassment and the boss could fire?

Technically yes. But there's a big difference between bumping into someone and hugging them.

What you are failing to understand is that in an at-will state, which is every state except Montana (and even includes Montana in some cases) you can quit at any time and for any reason, and you can be fired at any time and for any reason that does not violate the law. Terming someone for inappropriate behavior, and yes, hugging someone who does not want to be hugged is inappropriate behavior, does not violate the law.

 

[ontherocks]

I'm not giving up yet. So the guy that I put my arm around (once again to clarify, I stood on his left and put my right hand on his right trapizious) was not happy with me. You see, I was the guy hired to make the business better and as part of it get rid of some dead weight. The new tracking system was not taken to very kindly. After being hired the boss had "buyers remorse", he didn't like paying me as much as he originally offered. He also didn't like to adhere to the new policies-the ones he wanted me to impliment. Several days before getting axed he told me "consumer advocates haven't worked out in his business. He also told me his accountant, aka mistress, didn't like making less than me. I took these as threats. They were. I could have-and was prepared for-just been fired, no questions asked. But to have been fired for violating a zero tolerance policy was a bit strange. Even the lady at the Unemployment department asked how did I get away with violating the zero tolerance policy 9 times before finally being fired. The boss man didn't have an answer.

 

[cbg]

You do understand, don't you, that whether you do or do not receive unemployment benefits has NOTHING to do with whether you were wrongfully terminated or not?

Or are you one of those who mistakenly believes that if you get UI, it automatically means that the term was illegal?

 

[Beth3]

I'm not giving up yet. Nothing you have shared in this entire thread indicates your employer has acted unlawfully - even if your boss did have buyer's remorse and purposefully construed your hugging as a violation of their zero tolerance policy in order to fire you.

 

[cbg]

Maybe we should go at this a different way.

Specifically what do you think was illegal? Precisely what law do you think was violated?