wrongful termination? do i have a case?

[cbergman]

What is the name of your state? NY

ok... so i had a meeting with the union and management about my suspension and im told the GM of my hotel is still pushing for termination.
i am also still suspended until monday when i have one last chance to state my case to the GM with the union present, and after that it will go to arbitration.
a lot of people are saying i should hire a lawyer because its wrongful termination... though i had a problem with legibility on a check, the hotel is saying i stole...
but the hotel has things against them too...
my manager admitted to me that she thinks termination is too much, and has said she will reccomend a suspension not termination in light of the fact that im a good employee and people like me.
the same manager also admitted that there was a "leak" of information and that thats how all my coworkers knew what was happening before i did.
i was never given written explanation of my suspension.
i have never stolen from this company and my record is clean.
there are no clear rules about what to do when youre unsure about a check.
......
what they have against me is a check that i closed wrongly (by mistake not with the intention to steal)
and a false statement from a manager saying that i admitted to her that i altered a check. this is untrue. but i did go to her red flagging the check and saying that i had indeed been unsure of how to close it.
.......
what do you think? anyone? do i have a case or no?

 

[cbg]

No. Many people have a mistaken idea about what constitutes wrongful termination. Evidently the people who are telling you that you were wrongfully terminated are among them.

To have a valid case for a wrongful term, it has to have been ILLEGAL to term you for the reason they did. It is not illegal to term you on suspicion of theft, even if they are wrong. It also would not be illegal to term you because of your error with the check, regardless of whether you intended to steal or not.

Since it would be legal to term you for either reason, it's not a wrongful termination. Even if termination is an excessive response, that does not make it illegal.

 

[cbergman]

so thats it?

NY

so theres nothing i can do? i lose my job for a mistake?
i cant believe theres nothing i can do about this.

 

[Beth3]

You may pursue whatever grievance options are available to you through company policy/the union but that's it. Your employer has not acted unlawfully.

 

[John/nyc]

NY

so theres nothing i can do? i lose my job for a mistake?
i cant believe theres nothing i can do about this.

https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=184465

 

[cbg]

John, for the record this is not an issue for the Department of Labor, and if the poster were to take your advice in the other thread and claim that s/he was going to the DOL if the issue is not resolved, the union would likely say, "Fine, go". What's more, the DOL would say, "So what do you want us to do about it?". Nothing unlawful has taken place; the DOL does not intervene because something is perceived as unfair. They intervene when a law under their jurisdiction has been violated. That has not happened here. It is NOT against the law to term someone on suspicion; it is NOT against the law to term someone because they made an error.

 

[John/nyc]

John, for the record this is not an issue for the Department of Labor, and if the poster were to take your advice in the other thread and claim that s/he was going to the DOL if the issue is not resolved, the union would likely say, "Fine, go". What's more, the DOL would say, "So what do you want us to do about it?". Nothing unlawful has taken place; the DOL does not intervene because something is perceived as unfair. They intervene when a law under their jurisdiction has been violated. That has not happened here. It is NOT against the law to term someone on suspicion; it is NOT against the law to term someone because they made an error.

1-The union has a duty to represent its members under the National Labor Relations Act, if the union breaches that duty then the DOL has Field Agents that will look into the matter. If the union fails in its duty that IS against the law.

2-If you read my earliest advice to the poster you would discern that the first thing to do was to go to the union and only if the union rep was reluctant to act should the DoL be brought up at all. This has become moot because it is now evident that the union is going to meet with the employer to try to work this out. This is the normal 1st step. The union seems to be doing its job. No DoL needed.

3-I was not recommending that the poster should be immediately confrontational with the Union Representative but to do so after it becomes apparent that the union does not seem to want to act on the poster's behalf. This also seems not to be necessary, so far.

4- Nowhere in my post did I suggest that the employer violated any Employment Law. But there is the Law of Contracts. If there was a clause in the poster's collective bargaining agreement that prohibited dissmissal without a hearing, then that would be actionable. However, since the Union seems, so far, to have the matter in hand, then no further action need be taken at this time.


To cbergman,

So far things seem to going along as intended. You went to the union and they scheduled a meeting with your employer. If the situation can not be resolved at this meeting then the next step is usually a hearing in front of some sort of panel.

Your boss seems to be taking a bargaining postion stance. S/He is hoping to seem like a reasonable employer when you finally get your job back. If every thing is how you described, I would venture a wild guess that you will not be fired.

Hang in there, and keep us posted,

John

 

[cbergman]

finally some progress

hi there... thanks for all your input.
i was supposed to have a meeting with the union and GM today - if you remember it was the final stop before arbitration - the GM apparently was unavailable so the meeting never happened, but im told that the manager is now asking for a 2 week suspension NOT termination. i guess the restuarant manager's reccommendation that i be suspended not terminated paid off...
i have no idea how to deal with the managers when i get back, in particular the one who gave the false statement saying i admitted to altering a check. this is untrue and she knows it - i went to her saying i had been unsure about a check, not that i had fraudulently altered one... her statement is what really dammed me.
does anyone know if i can get back pay for this?
am i entitled to any kind of compensation for all the time missed????

 

[John/nyc]

hi there... thanks for all your input.
i was supposed to have a meeting with the union and GM today - if you remember it was the final stop before arbitration - the GM apparently was unavailable so the meeting never happened, but im told that the manager is now asking for a 2 week suspension NOT termination. i guess the restuarant manager's reccommendation that i be suspended not terminated paid off...
i have no idea how to deal with the managers when i get back, in particular the one who gave the false statement saying i admitted to altering a check. this is untrue and she knows it - i went to her saying i had been unsure about a check, not that i had fraudulently altered one... her statement is what really dammed me.
does anyone know if i can get back pay for this?
am i entitled to any kind of compensation for all the time missed????

Your union bussiness agent is the one to ask about reinstatement with back pay.

 

[StacyLB]

However, if this was intended to be disciplinary in nature, the likelihood is that you will not receive pay.
Glad to hear you didn't lose your job!

 

[John/nyc]

However, if this was intended to be disciplinary in nature, the likelihood is that you will not receive pay.
Glad to hear you didn't lose your job!

Because StacyLB is probably correct you should consider attending union meeting in the future. At contract time you might want to advocate for language that would provide for "innocent until proven guilty" in cases such as Yours.