Wrongful termination

[Pensonnick]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? georgia
Hello everyone, i was recently terminated from my job for violating company rule. The reason being was said to be because i possessed illegal drugs. I had injured my back the da befor and took a half a day to deal with it. I have no insurrance and didnt want to go to a doctor. I stopped by my moms house and she gave me a bottle of flexeril a muscle relaxer witch had about 5 pills inside. I took a couple and went to sleep. The next day i got ready to go to work and emptied the bottle cleaned it and put a few over the counter pills inside. A few diatary supplements inside. Went to work and reported my injury. While reporting to my supervisor i told him about the medicine my mom gave me. He asked what kind so i showed him the bottle and told him about tge pills inside over and over. That they were not whats on the bottle, there over the counter. He went inside about 10 mins then returned with his boss. He asked how i was doing then asked about the bottle. I gave it to him. He wrote down what it was and whos it was then asked if the pills had a code on them. I told him they were over the counter inside. Dumped them out to varify they were then thay said i could go home and tend to my injury. The next day i was fired for possesing an illegal drug. And she said even though they werent sure i was still firedWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Willlyjo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? georgia
Hello everyone, i was recently terminated from my job for violating company rule. The reason being was said to be because i possessed illegal drugs. I had injured my back the da befor and took a half a day to deal with it. I have no insurrance and didnt want to go to a doctor. I stopped by my moms house and she gave me a bottle of flexeril a muscle relaxer witch had about 5 pills inside. I took a couple and went to sleep. The next day i got ready to go to work and emptied the bottle cleaned it and put a few over the counter pills inside. A few diatary supplements inside. Went to work and reported my injury. While reporting to my supervisor i told him about the medicine my mom gave me. He asked what kind so i showed him the bottle and told him about tge pills inside over and over. That they were not whats on the bottle, there over the counter. He went inside about 10 mins then returned with his boss. He asked how i was doing then asked about the bottle. I gave it to him. He wrote down what it was and whos it was then asked if the pills had a code on them. I told him they were over the counter inside. Dumped them out to varify they were then thay said i could go home and tend to my injury. The next day i was fired for possesing an illegal drug. And she said even though they werent sure i was still firedWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

The fact is, is you had a container that held medicine you were not authorized to take. You admitted you took such medication. They may very well have a case to terminate you based on your admittedly taking this illegal medication.

Having said that, it is also a fact you never had illegal drugs on you as they say. It is also a fact there wasn't even dust particles of such illegal medication in the bottle because as you say, you cleaned the bottle that contained the medication.

At the least, if your back injury will not allow you to work, you can go on disability if your doctor authorizes it. I don't think you could sue for Wrongful Termination successfully since you admitted you took medication you were not authorized to take. It is true you didn't take such meds while on the job, but I think that having a bottle that does not have your name on it authorizing you to use its contents while on the job, would go a long way in their favor.

 

[swalsh411]

Your termination was not unlawful. Not by a long shot.

File for unemployment while you look for a new job.

 

[cbg]

I can't even imagine why you think this was a wrongful termination.

If the drugs were prescribed to your mother and not to you, then both you and she committed a crime when she gave them to you and you took them. They were indeed, as far as you were concerned, an "illegal drug".

 

[Willlyjo]

Your termination was not unlawful. Not by a long shot.

File for unemployment while you look for a new job.

Ummm...The OP said he had a back injury. At this point, he must recover from his injury before looking for a new job.

 

[cbg]

His choice, of course, but if he expects to get unemployment (assuming he qualifies) he'd better be looking for another job.

 

[Willlyjo]

His choice, of course, but if he expects to get unemployment (assuming he qualifies) he'd better be looking for another job.

Agreed.

 

[swalsh411]

Ummm...The OP said he had a back injury. At this point, he must recover from his injury before looking for a new job.

You have no idea whether that is truly the case or not. You also don't know he was hurt at work or covered by any disability insurance. I highly doubt the OP sought medical attention.

 

[commentator]

This poor OP, I suspect, has behaved in a remarkably self destructive fashion. In the first place, got a back injury. Because it was not immediately reported as Worker's Comp issue, I suspect it occurred away from work. So the person took a half day off...and for some reason, came back in and "reported my injury." If there was any way on earth this injury could have occurred on the job, they should have been reporting it to the employer as soon as they had the first twinge, not afte they'd gone home and tried to sleep it off. The employer should have been the one who provided medical evaluation if the injury was on the job, so the employee wouldn't have to worry about whether they could afford to seek treatment for an on the job injury.

It then appears they told the supervisor WHY they took the half day off (injured my back) which really really made the employer wish they could get rid of the worker before they did have a worker's comp claim against them, and then started jawing along happily about how they had taken their mother's Flexeril, had put some other pills in the bottle....was all this verbal la-la necessary? There's a big question. WAS this a work related injury? If not, you still need to go on and file for unemployment benefits, you're fired, and probably have a pretty good chance for claim approval.

If so, if it was a job related back injury, you may need to talk to someone about whether or not you may have some sort of worker's comp case, and see if you can proceed with this, and still go on and file for unemployment benefits immediately. The two things cannot run concurrently, but it is important to file for benefits as soon as you are terminated, for a number of reasons.

You need to establish this claim, montarily and begin the ajudication process. Since this person has not seen any medical professional at this time for anything, there is no point trying to figure out whether they're able and available. The most important thing at the present is to get a claim filed and set up, begin the ajudication process.

 

[Pensonnick]

I cant get unemployment, also, i was accused of doing other things on top of the possession of illegal drugs in order to justify my termination. They said i gave false info and had been insabordinate according to them. Witch is untrue. I asked them after they toldme i csn go home.three different questions bc i had no idea if i was in trouble. They were in there office disscussing me when i knocked and asked if i was in trouble. They said possibly. Then i said ok and left. Kmocked again, they let me in. Then i asked if i would lose my job.tgey said they didnt know. And then i left. Can back a few mimutes later and basically begged themto help me. One person got mad about my askong and for the first time "TOLD ME TO LEAVE" i said sorry and immediatly left. When as he called the next day. They told me i was terminated and explained why. Over the phone termimated me witch i was told is not suppose to happen, but did. He said they had to ask me to leave 4x befor i did. Totally not true. This is defermation of character on there part. Also i made a HR complaint 3 days prior to this event and feel this was retaliation for those events. They also sent me a letter in the mail with stamp wanting me to sign ovet my rights to go against them.

 

[cbg]

No, this is not even close to defamation of character.

What complaint did you make to HR?

 

[ecmst12]

Did you apply for unemployment?

 

[Pensonnick]

I complained to HR ABOUT the miss ise of overtime by my supervisor. He had us doing manditory overtime in order to satisfy his own personal actions. This put alot of fire under the people who were involved in my termination process. I have applied for ue but have beendenied. After my termination the supervisor question different people on my behalf trying to find out if they were part of my group in witch i rep. When i went to HR. Many of the people are willing to testify that they were questioning about my actions after termonation. Sorry about the typos im using a cell phone and its not easy :-(. I never had one bad mark prior to this incident. And they were looking fir any reason to fire me.

 

[ecmst12]

So you need to appeal the unemployment denial.

 

[Pensonnick]

Also. Shouldnt they have terminated me immediatly after i gave them the bottle? They sent me home to tend my injury with no clue of there intent. Tben called me the next day to terminate me. Idk how true this is bit i was told they cannot fire me over the phone. Is this true or not