Retired vs Fired

[johnandmary101]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Indiana

Hi,

5 years ago, my husband took an early retirement buy-out from a big company that he'd worked for, for 22 years.

Recently, he was offered a job with another big company. He was sailing through the screening & testing with no problems, until his last meeting.

Seems his previous employer, where he had retired from, sent a statement that my husband had "left involuntarily", which we are guessing means the same as he was "fired".

The HR man in the meeting told my husband that companies are very careful with what they write down (As a sidenote: we strongly disagree, have dealt with our share of incompetent office help). That tells us that the HR man believes my husband was fired. This is so wrong and so frustrating.

How can a company send a letter that is so completely untrue? Do we have any recourse?

He would like to work for this other company, and the offer is still somewhat available, and since he absolutely was not fired, and did in fact retire, what do we do? Where do we start?

Thank you for any help at all.

Mary

 

[JETX]

How can a company send a letter that is so completely untrue?

Without knowing EXACTLY what the 'real' terms are of his separation, we don't know that it is untrue. Further, the statement that he "left involuntarily" can mean several things, ranging from being terminated to laid off.... or anything in between.

Do we have any recourse?

Of course he could file a defamation lawsuit.... after all, anyone can sue almost anyone over almost anything. However, it will cost him several thousand $$ and, in my opinion, has ZERO chance of success.

He would like to work for this other company, and the offer is still somewhat available, and since he absolutely was not fired, and did in fact retire, what do we do? Where do we start?

HE should start by finding out the full facts of his leaving.... then being candid with the new employer.

BTW, 'We' can't do anything. He can.

 

[cbg]

Seems his previous employer, where he had retired from, sent a statement that my husband had "left involuntarily", which we are guessing means the same as he was "fired".

You are guessing wrong.

In HR parlance, everyone who leaves a company for any reason is terminated. If they quit or voluntarily retired, it's a voluntary termination. EVERYTHING else; firing, layoff due to lack of work, medical reasons, everything, is an involuntary termination. It means ONLY that the employee is not the one who initiated the termination. I suppose accepting a buy-out package could go either way, but if the employer approached him and offered it, as opposed to the employee asking for it, it's not technically incorrect to call it involuntary since the employer initiated it.

What I'm getting at is that to an experienced HR person, "involuntary termination" is NOT a synonym for "fired because he did something wrong". Or even, "fired" at all. It means that the employee left for reasons that were beyond his control.