What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona
In 5/2009 I was written up for being "unprofessional". My employer would not tell me exactly what incident he was referring too. He would only say I was being unprofessional. I wrote up an email where I refused to take "ownership" of this "unprofessionalism" but did provide some positive feedback on how we could improve customer service.
In 6/2009 I was given a mid-year review where it documented that I was written up but also documented that I showed improvement.
In 9/2009 I was marched to HR where I was told I was terminated. After some arguing my boss finally said that I was being written up for calling a user "an idiot". We picked up the phone, called a coworker, asked the coworker if he remembered being on speakerphone with me back in May and if he remembered anything about the incident. The coworker responded, "yeah.. I remember that idiot." I asked him who in the conversation called the user an idiot and the coworker responded, "I did.. why?". I told him not to worry about it and hung up the phone.
The HR representative also said I was being terminated because I made a disparaging comment about a particular project while inside the walls of our department. I responded that my boss not only approved but encouraged such conversation saying we would be protected from punishment as long as our conversation was not heard by a client. Our previous managing director, who died from cancer recently, also made similar statements. When I explained this to the HR representative she queried my boss who agreed but the new managing director heard the comment and felt it warranted being written up despite his protest.
The HR representative said I was not being terminated but I was now being sent home with pay pending a full investigation. I was called this morning to say I am still being terminated because I could not be returned to service under my current manager.
Do I have any relief under the law? I have the incident documented in email. Even if there is no wrongful termination suit then can I find some relief in the fact that I was documented as violating a policy even though I never did? What if the employer makes disparaging comments during my job hunt based on what is in the file? Any other thoughts on how to approach this?
Any information you can provide would be appreciated. Thank you for your time.
In 5/2009 I was written up for being "unprofessional". My employer would not tell me exactly what incident he was referring too. He would only say I was being unprofessional. I wrote up an email where I refused to take "ownership" of this "unprofessionalism" but did provide some positive feedback on how we could improve customer service.
In 6/2009 I was given a mid-year review where it documented that I was written up but also documented that I showed improvement.
In 9/2009 I was marched to HR where I was told I was terminated. After some arguing my boss finally said that I was being written up for calling a user "an idiot". We picked up the phone, called a coworker, asked the coworker if he remembered being on speakerphone with me back in May and if he remembered anything about the incident. The coworker responded, "yeah.. I remember that idiot." I asked him who in the conversation called the user an idiot and the coworker responded, "I did.. why?". I told him not to worry about it and hung up the phone.
The HR representative also said I was being terminated because I made a disparaging comment about a particular project while inside the walls of our department. I responded that my boss not only approved but encouraged such conversation saying we would be protected from punishment as long as our conversation was not heard by a client. Our previous managing director, who died from cancer recently, also made similar statements. When I explained this to the HR representative she queried my boss who agreed but the new managing director heard the comment and felt it warranted being written up despite his protest.
The HR representative said I was not being terminated but I was now being sent home with pay pending a full investigation. I was called this morning to say I am still being terminated because I could not be returned to service under my current manager.
Do I have any relief under the law? I have the incident documented in email. Even if there is no wrongful termination suit then can I find some relief in the fact that I was documented as violating a policy even though I never did? What if the employer makes disparaging comments during my job hunt based on what is in the file? Any other thoughts on how to approach this?
Any information you can provide would be appreciated. Thank you for your time.
