Wrongful Termination?

[EFaithW]

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

Hello! I am working for a construction company owned by my dad, working a project being managed by my brother. The company does not have any employee handbook, no guidelines for hiring and firing, but all work is "on the books." Profanity is widely used on the job site, my brother even sent me a recording of an altercation he got into with his superior where profanity was flying. Many people on this job have made mistakes and not been fired for them. Employees have gotten into verbal altercations with my brother and not been fired.
Today my brother handed me a tool that I have never used and gave me obscure directions on how and where to drill the hole. I told my brother that I didn't know how to use the tool, and asked for clarification, but was told just to do it. I did it wrong, apparently, and my brother came out and publicly humiliated me, used profanity, and fired me on the spot. This is the first mistake I have made. It was not an expensive mistake. There is no documentation of me being written-up, warned in writing, even verbally warned.
I feel that I was wrongfully terminated based on discrimination. My brother made reference to being my big brother always cleaning up my messes. Other people have made much worse mistakes costing lots of money and not been fired. Is this wrongful termination? Do I have grounds for employee retaliation? To file for unemployment?

 

[Zigner]

This is not illegal discrimination.

 

[EFaithW]

Can I still file for unemployment? I didn't act with willful misconduct. What would be legal discrimination? If I were fired for being a different race or religion? Not for being treated differently because I am a family member? That's understandable, it just seems odd that he can fire me in the middle of a job when we had a verbal agreement that the job would go until the 18th of this month. Thanks!

 

[Zigner]

Can I still file for unemployment? I didn't act with willful misconduct. What would be legal discrimination? If I were fired for being a different race or religion? Not for being treated differently because I am a family member? That's understandable, it just seems odd that he can fire me in the middle of a job when we had a verbal agreement that the job would go until the 18th of this month. Thanks!

Yes, you can file for unemployment. Beyond that, your employment is "at will" - which means that either of you can end it at any time.

 

[cbg]

Being treated differently because you are a family member is not illegal.

 

[commentator]

Anyone at any time can file a claim for unemployment benefits. If you are fired, you file a claim. If you were a regular wage paid employee of the company, you should have monetary eligibility for unemployment. You don't have to argue with them about whether you should be approved or not. You'll simply tell them what happened on the last day you worked, answer the questions they will be asking you, and then they'll call the company, talk to them, and then issue a decision about approval or denial of the claim. Either party can appeal this decision, and if they do, there'll be an in person or telephone hearing and another decision.

You just file the claim, and the unemployment system will determine if you are out of work through no fault of your own. If the company terminates you, to keep you from being approved for benefits, they would have to show that they had a valid misconduct reason to terminate you. Your brother losing his temper and firing you on the spot was probably not a good idea to keep you from drawing, as you had had no prior warnings that such behavior on the job was not going to be acceptable.

As you've mentioned the whole "no handbook" and "other people have not been fired, when they've done worse, used worse language," sounds like you're a little familiar with the unemployment process. These are the types of questions they'll be asking.

But it is NOT illegal for him to fire you on the spot just because he wants to. There's nothing other than unemployment that you can do as in suing him or appealing to any other agency. It's an "at will" state, which means you can be fired any time, at will, by the employer. And you can quit, any time, at will, but you didn't do that. If you had, your chances of being approved for unemployment would be much less.

I almost suspect they won't even fight the claim very hard. A lot of construction companies do not, simply because, being seasonal work, with lots of unemployment involved as jobs are finished and due to weather and working conditions, they pay the maximum unemployment tax rates anyhow, so your being approved would not likely cost them any more than they're already paying in unemployment taxes.

 

[Nellibelle]

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

Hello! I am working for a construction company owned by my dad, working a project being managed by my brother. The company does not have any employee handbook, no guidelines for hiring and firing, but all work is "on the books." Profanity is widely used on the job site, my brother even sent me a recording of an altercation he got into with his superior where profanity was flying. Many people on this job have made mistakes and not been fired for them. Employees have gotten into verbal altercations with my brother and not been fired.
Today my brother handed me a tool that I have never used and gave me obscure directions on how and where to drill the hole. I told my brother that I didn't know how to use the tool, and asked for clarification, but was told just to do it. I did it wrong, apparently, and my brother came out and publicly humiliated me, used profanity, and fired me on the spot. This is the first mistake I have made. It was not an expensive mistake. There is no documentation of me being written-up, warned in writing, even verbally warned.
I feel that I was wrongfully terminated based on discrimination. My brother made reference to being my big brother always cleaning up my messes. Other people have made much worse mistakes costing lots of money and not been fired. Is this wrongful termination? Do I have grounds for employee retaliation? To file for unemployment?

Legal advice: Try to get unemployment if you can. Other than that, I greatly sympathize with you for having a father who owns a construction company that would allow an older son to fire a younger son like you described. Parents (if they're capable) are suppose to help their children suceed in order to strengthen the family bond. My sincere condolences to you.

 

[commentator]

The situation is remarkably common in family owned businesses. Usually what will happen is that they'll get over it, or dad will order son to get over it, and they'll ask this son to come back eventually, and since there's not a good possibility this person could get a job that pays so well or where he gets special treatment as the owner's son elsewhere, and unemployment isn't much or for very long, he'll go right back to working for them.