Wrongful discharge?

[ShawnTW]

What is the name of your state? Alaska.

I was fired from my job on Sunday, April 4th. For allegedly "not doing my job". I had been the manager of a small cafe which is owned by a large corporation.

In the employee Handbook, this is how the possiblilty of termination is supposed to take place.

1: A verbal warning will be issued for the First Offense. The Standered Verbal Counseling Notice will be used to document the verbal warning.

2: A written warning will be used for the second offense. The Standered Disciplinary Action Notice will be used to document the written warning.
**written warning must be reviewed and signed by the employee**

3: The Employee will recieve suspension without pay for the 3rd offense. Standered Disciplinary Action Notice will be used to document the suspension.

4: The employee will be terminated for the 4th offense. Again, the Standered Disciplinary Action Notice will be used to document the termination.


In my case, the first 3 steps were ignored entirely. Other that what was in between **. The steps are word for word straight out of the Employee Handbook.

Are they legally bound to adhere to the above? Every new hire signs an Acknowledgement Form located in the back of the Handbook after reading through it. If they are bound by it, what course of action am I legally able to take?

Also, on Saturday, April 4th I had turned in a letter of resignation. Stating in it that April 25th would be my last day working for the company and gave my reasons. Each reason contained my personal opinion on various subjects concerning working conditions. I do not know if my former employer used that as part of terminating my employment.

 

[JETX]

"Are they legally bound to adhere to the above?"
*** Nope. They are merely 'standards' (the correct spelling ) that the employer will try to apply. Clearly, they cannot in all cases.

"If they are bound by it, what course of action am I legally able to take?"
*** They aren't.

"Also, on Saturday, April 4th I had turned in a letter of resignation. Stating in it that April 25th would be my last day working for the company and gave my reasons. Each reason contained my personal opinion on various subjects concerning working conditions. I do not know if my former employer used that as part of terminating my employment."
*** Doesn't have any relevance.... though it may have hastened their decision, it doesn't 'help' your concerns.

 

[Beth3]

I sugest you take another look at the disciplinary policy. Surely it doesn't guarantee that in each and every case, a four-step progressive disciplinary process will be followed. If that's the case, then an employee can violently assault his supervisor and only receive a verbal warning. I expect the policy includes a statement that management has the right to use any level of discipline they feel appropriate, up to and including immediate termination.

I don't really see that you were fired, anyway. You turned in your resignation, they accepted it immediately. They had no obligation to allow you to continue working until April 25th.

 

[ShawnTW]

My former employer has 2 Categories of Offenses. Category 1 disciplinary actions should be handled in the above post and here is the list of offenses and is not to be intended to be all inclusive.
1: Being tardy habitually without reasonable cause.
2: Failure to conform to attendance and/or leave requirements.
3: Leaving the job or the regular working place during working hours for any reason without authorization from the supervisor, except for lunch, breaks and going to the restroom.
4: Disorderly conduct on company property.
5: Leaving work before the end of the shift or not being ready to get to work at the start of the shift, without permission from the supervisor.
6: Interfering with the work of others.
7: Inefficiency or lack of application of effort on the job.
8: Contributing to unsanitary conditions or poor housekeeping.
9: Non-compliance with or disregard for safety rules and/or practices or engaging in unsafe conduct.
10: Malicious gossip and/or spreading of rumors.
11: Sleeping on the job.
12: Nor perform the essential functions of the job.

Group 2 Offenses and disciplinary actions:
A: If and employee has committed a non-severe Group 2 offense and has no history of previous violations, the employee will recieve a suspension without pay for the first offense.
B: If an employee has committed a severe Group 2 offense and/or has a history of previous violations and/or has been suspended, the employee should be terminated immediatly.
Following are list of offenses and are not intended to be all-inclusive.
1: Use, possession, sale or purchase of illegal drugs, perscription drugs without the perscription and/or under the influence of alcohol.
2: Release of confidential information regarding business, without prior approval.
3: Theft, embezzlement, misuse, fraud and/or unauthorized possession of customer or fellow employees funds or property.
4: Conviction of a felony or misdemeanor that the company determines, in its sole discretion, would endanger others and/or damage the reputation of the company.
5: Reporting to work intoxicated.
6: Instigating a fight on company property.
7: Intentional damage or destruction of company property.
8: Falsification of any company related documents.
9: Threatening, intimidating, coercing, interfering, harassing, defaming, the use of abusive language or other conduct the company determines, in it sole discretion, is inappropriate for an employee.
10: Use of company time or property for personal use without prior aproval.
11: Immoral conduct.
12: Insubordination.
13: Absence for 2 or more consecutive days without notification or without acceptable cause.
14: Harassing an employee because of his/her gender, sexual orientation, race, color, national origin, age, religion, disability, ect.
15: Verbal, written or physical assaults.
16: Carrying a concealed weapon.
17: Gambling in any company center.

There is no established history or documentation of any of the above violations in my employee record. The excuse of my not doing my job is not a severe enough reason to fire someone. I as a manager tried to do that once before and was told, by the general manager "They have to be written up 3 times before they can be fired."

Hope this post helps some in determining if I have a case or not of wrongfull discharge.

 

[cbg]

You do not have a case for wrongful discharge.

Like many others, you do not understand what "wrongful discharge" means. It does not mean that the discharge was unfair, unjust, unexpected, based on inaccurate or incomplete information, or a violation of company policy. It means that the law forbids an employer from firing an employee for the reason that they did.

No law forbids an employer from firing an employee for "not doing their job". No law forbids an employer from releasing an employee immediately after they have given their notice.

There is no possible way you are going to be able to claim wrongful discharge. If you can PROVE that the handbook GUARANTEES that under NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER can the employer deviate from the written disciplinary policy and that NEVER in the entire history of the company have they EVER varied from it before, then maybe you can eke out a breach of contract claim (though I doubt it). But wrongful discharge? Absolutely not.