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Wrongful Termination - Long time Employee

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bionut

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?
PA

Hello,

I am 56 years old and have been working for a major international company as a sales representative. I have been with the company for twenty (20) years in sales and marketing. Last December, my supervisor informed me that they “want to make a change”. They gave me no reason for the change but said that I could continue on with the company but must begin looking for a new job within the company. Over the next five months, I applied for three inter company positions but was not successful. In the meantime, my sales were very good. I exceeded my sales goal by 100% (doubled their quota). In August after my review, my supervisor told me that I had a great year and to continue to do what I am doing. It seemed like they were going to keep me in my current sales position because they gave me sales goals for the next fiscal year and requested my plan for meeting those new sales goals.

Prior to December 2007, my supervisor told me that I had the highest salary of any person doing a comparable job. He also stated that with the new job classifications that my company made, my salary exceeded the upper limit for my classification.

In late October, my supervisor sent me an e-mail informing me that I have about six (6) weeks of unused vacation and that after January 1, 2008, I would have about eleven (11) weeks of accrued vacation. He requested a plan on how I would expect to use up this accrued vacation by the end of 2008. I submitted my plan.

On November 12, I was brought into a meeting whereby I was told that the company was letting me go. No reason was given for my dismissal. When I asked for a reason, they hesitated and finally stated that I hadn’t shown leadership. In my job description, leadership is not mentioned. I was offered 6 months severance pay, nothing more.

They seemed to have fired me so they wouldn't have to pay me for the 6 weeks of vacation that i had to take before the years end. Also, i am a very long time loyal employee and have never done nothing wrong in the company. I have had excellent sales and cannot find any reason why they would fire me.

Please advise on whether or not i have a case. Thanks!What is the name of your state?
 


las365

Senior Member
What sort of a termination agreement have they asked you to sign? If I were you, I would have a consultation with an experienced employment law attorney to discuss whether you may have the elements of an age discrimination case, to review the termination agreement, and try to negotiate a better severange package.
 

Betty

Senior Member
Pa. is an at-will employment state & you can be terminated at any time for any reason as long as it isn't a protected by law reason (ie age, religion, gender) or unless you had a bona fide employment contract or CBA to the contrary. It's just like you could have quit your job at any time for any reason w/o a contract to the contrary.

Pa. has no law that requires the pay out of unused vacation at termination.
 

VeronicaLodge

Senior Member
im confused about one aspect. they offered you 6 months severance but you think they are letting you go to get out of paying 6 weeks vacation? weird.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
A wrongful termination means that a specific law prohibits the employer from terming you for the reason they did. What law are you maintaining was violated?
 

bionut

Junior Member
I have (had) a total of 11 weeks accrued vacation. I was told that i had to take 6 weeks before the years end, which means basically in a week i would be doing no work until January. They fired me before that could happen.

Here are some things i found:

http://employeeissues.com/wrongful_termination_2.htm

In breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, see the webpage above:

Which is defined as:

Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing

An implied agreement that it's the duty of employers to treat employees
honestly, fairly and ethically, especially dedicated, long-term employees.
Examples of an employer's breach of this covenant include firing employees
to avoid granting them earned rewards, fabricating reasons to fire or layoff
employees, and coercing employees to quit. (See also Constructive
Discharge.) Only a few states recognize breach of this covenant as an
exception to the Doctrine of Employment at Will. Compare to Implied
Contract.

Is vacation considered an earned reward as outlined above?

How can they have reason to fire someone who is doing excellent in sales, as i doubled my quota last year and was on par to do close to the same this year?

Thanks for the help, it is greatly appreciated.

From my understanding, don't they have to have a reason to fire me, especially since i'm a long term dedicated employee?
 

mlane58

Senior Member
Is vacation considered an earned reward as outlined above?
No, not even close. PA doesn't have any provision in law that considers earned/unused vacation as wages, but if the employer has a policy that outlines the payment of earned/unused to employees being terminated, then they must follow their policy. As has been stated, you are an at-will employee and can be terminated for any reason not prohibited by law (Title VII-race, gender, age, religion, etc....)
 

bionut

Junior Member
ok, so i guess from here the only thing i would have is an age discrimination case. I know why they fired me, they think they can hire some young sales rep with no engineering experience and pay them less than half of what i make...in the end they will get screwed as the customers will really be complaining; you need lots of experience to successfully sell what i sell.

But it is a case of trying to get rid of the old because they are making too much money and replace with cheaper younger labor....so sad that this is the trend in corporate America these days....loyalty and my whole life of service doesn't seem to mean to much to them...just money and profits.

But age does have a factor here, i know it. The question is, how hard is that to prove in court and is it worth my time? Any ideas?

I guess the other alternative would be to negotiate a better severance package as suggested above. If you count all the vacation as part of that package, then they are really only giving me 3 months of severance pay which isn't all that much for working there for 20 years...

btw they also offered me 3 months of healthcare....i do have a company car and cellphone, and by law they have to sell the car to me at fair market value. I'm not sure about the cellphone, i was planning to give it back to them.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
It certainly sounds fishy at the very least. You can file a complaint with the EEOC and let them investigate; from there you can decide whether it's worth hiring a lawyer.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Being a long term employee does not give you any more rights than anyone else. If you are being fired BECAUSE you are over 40, that's illegal. But if they have another reason for it unrelated to your age, being a long term employee doesn't make it illegal.
 

VeronicaLodge

Senior Member
question, if they claim they are eliminating her position and do not hire someone younger to replace her, would they be in the clear?
 

Andy0192

Member
Number one bionut - realize that there are many companies out there who will value your skillset, and you will be better off working for such a company in the end. I agree that your former employer is probably looking to increase their margins by staffing with a less expensive ( and less trained ) salesperson.

Have you considered offering your services as a consultant to some of your past clients? They likely value your skill set and knowledge, and you might find that you can command a high price as an independent contractor.

My final comment & question would be: even if PA is an at-will state, does bionut still qualify for unemployment? He certainly doesn't seem like he did anything relating to willful misconduct, which is what I understand an employer must prove in order to deny unemployment benefits.

-Andy
 

mlane58

Senior Member
It certainly sounds fishy at the very least. You can file a complaint with the EEOC and let them investigate; from there you can decide whether it's worth hiring a lawyer.
Hows does the OP's post sound fishy? Nothing he/she posted remotely hints at any age discrimination or any discrimination for that matter. Just because the OP has a feeling doesn't make it so.
 

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