Possible Termination in the future

[JQuinn8]

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


I currently work at a company known as Southern Glass and Aluminum and have worked there for a total of about 9 months. I worked there for 6 months, was laid off, then offered my job back 2 months later.


Now that i've been back for a bit, i've been partnered with a guy who has worked for them in the past and has drug issues. They know this and hired him anyway.


Being paired with him- they've decided to tell me that if he is doing anything they might frown upon- it's my job to tell them. And if they find out he's been doing something and believe I knew about it but said nothing- I'll also be fired.

It feels unfair in that they could only assume I knew.


In the situation that they fire me due to something someone else did- whether I knew or not- am I put in a position to do something about that? Can they legally do that without repercussions?


I have very little knowledge of the law, but have heard in Florida they don't need a reason to terminate me. But i've also heard from people, that if they do, they should still have reason due to possible action on the side of the law.


Thank you,

Joe Q.

 

[cbg]

In every state but Montana, and even sometimes in Montana, you can be fired for a good reason, a bad reason, a fair reason or an unfair reason; just not an illegal reason.

They can legally fire you if they believe you knew something you should have reported and didn't - even if they are wrong.

No employer in their right mind fires someone without a reason of some sort, good, bad or indifferent. It's far too expensive to train and replace a new employee.

 

[JQuinn8]

Well, that sucks. Not a real great situation to be in then.


I either say nothing and probably lose my job- or I say something and have a junky who is substantially larger than myself looking to get back at me.



*sigh*


Thanks for the response.

 

[Caracara]

I'm not an expert and would be upset working with a drug user. I would tell my boss if I knew that person was doing drugs on the job.

 

[JQuinn8]

Of course. It's very unsettling.


The issue becomes that I am working with an ex-convict drug abusing behemoth who has driven me home more than once.


I can say something- but being his assistant and his knowing that they are pushing me to say something incriminating, it would be obvious it was me.


I feel like my job is asking me to sacrifice my well being to have a good reason to let him go. They know he's doing it. They just don't have proof. But if they can fire me w/o reason- why won't they do the same to him?

It annoys me to know the answer- he's a great worker.

There are so many aspects of the situation that aggravate me. The main bit being that I'm in a "screwed if I do, screwed if I don't" situation.

 

[Caracara]

The druggie knowing where you live is creepy. Maybe your boss could send the guy for a drug test & then fire him when the results come back.

 

[commentator]

commentator

My take on this situation is that the employer in this case is pretty dumb. Because if he terminates you for an invalid reason, you can't sue him for "unlawful termination" or something like that, but you could apply for and probably be approved for unemployment insurance, and the employer would have the taxes charged to their unemployment tax account and will have increased rates.

What are they going to fire you for, "failure to snitch"? I am having a hard time visualizing a situation where they would grab this guy up, drug test him, and then turn around and fire you because you had knowledge he was using drugs. As someone else has commented, it is a lot of work and trouble to hire and train someone on a job. He's a good worker, they don't want to fire him. Okay, so if they don't, then how are they going to fire you? To terminate you without prior warnings, write ups, opportunities to resolve the situation would be setting you up to draw unemployment insurance. UNLESS he is actually smoking dope or running up on the job or taking something or doing something in front of you, while discussing it with you, (I'm going into the rest room and.....") and then becoming too impaired to do his job, or unsafe. Or you are participating, doing the drugs with him on the job. Or you're smoking with him on the way home from work, which will cause him to think you are simpatico with what he's doing. Even though he's a big scary guy, you can tell him, "Hey, don't get me in trouble, I need this job." If you have a friendly relationship with him, he shouldn't be trying to mess up your life or get you fired.

Above all, don't get discouraged and decide to quit your job. Nothing has happened yet. If you think he's coming in to work after using drugs, you can't know that for sure. You certainly wouldn't want to accuse him and have it prove wrong.

If you go to them and say, "He's using drugs on the job. I saw him," it would be a very nasty situation, in which they might require you to testify at an unemployment hearing, etc. I would just do my best at work, try to get along with everyone, request a change of work assignment from my supervisor (and keep documentation of when you did this) and then just see how it plays out. I'd be willing to bet that nowhere in your job description does it mention that you are supposed to be the drug police or report other employees who are not performing adequately. This is not the legitimate duty of an hourly worker who is not a supervisor.

I saw a situation where a man had worked for many years at a skilled job, and had sneaked around and smoked pot while working the whole time he was there. Then one day they decided to fire him for it. He was approved for unemployment insurance, because the employer had known about the drug use, then had changed their opinion of it and fired him after sixteen years of allowing it. If this employer knows or believes this employee is using drugs on the job or coming to work impaired, they can't solve the problem by threatening you. Don't let them worry you by threatening to fire you. It's always better to be fired than to quit when you are not doing anything wrong. By the way, any chance of finding another job and leaving them to police their own workforce?