wrongful termination

[Angela Culbreth]

To Whom It May Concern:
I live in NC & was working for someone in VA as a sales representative for a clothing company in CA. Everything was going great! I was opening new accounts that my employer could not. After a summer of none stop work, my employer called me & said that I was being let go. He even stated that I had done a great job, I opened new accounts, I was always on the road, the accounts loved me - he said he "did not have a good feeling about working together anymore". What REALLY happened is he found out his job had been offered to my husband & he thought the best way to end the possibily of him losing his job was to get rid of me. Now, he is not paying me commissions that he has been paid on for my work. Can I sue for wrongful termination, in addition to loss of earnings as a result, etc? I am pretty sure it is not legal to fire someone over personal insecurities!!
Please let me know what my rights are.
Thank you,
Angela Culbreth

 

[cbg]

In an at-will state, which means all states except Montana, it is legal to fire for any reason except BECAUSE of the employee's race, national origin, age, gender, disability or pregnancy (in some states sexual orientation); BECAUSE they reported illegal acts to the appropriate agency, or BECAUSE they applied for a protected right such as FMLA or W/C. It is NOT illegal to fire someone for personal insecurities, as you put it. Sorry, but your termination was not wrongful.

You MAY have a case about the commissions, but it will depend upon NC law on the subject. While I have had employees in NC, none of them were on a commission basis so I don't know what their statutes say. You can find out by calling the Wage and Hour section of the state Department of Labor.

Sorry about what happened to you. Unfortunately, unfair is not always the same as illegal.

 

[JETX]

cbg: Good post. Thank you for your accuracy and completeness! Both seem to be rare on this forum (and getting rarer!!!). That is one of the reasons that I have chosen to 'back away' from the forum a little bit. Just too many 'personal opinions' and some total idiots (like 'happyroach', etc.)

 

[cbg]

Thank you, Halket.