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I feel I was wrongly fired

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7

71939

Guest
What is the name of your state? Missouri I worked at a box manufacturing companyfor a year until I was fired for something that was not my fault.I worked with two other people that always looked at prono books. They would always leave them at my work station when I was on break or lunch. The two other workers were male and female who went togother. The male ran the machine that made the product and the female helped me with the packing.Also these two would go on break into the storage area near the break room aisle and make out. On several of my trips to break I could see this. I reported it to my supervisor what was happening and asked him to see that this prono material being left at my station be stopped. It kept up so one instant it happened again and I called him to my station and showed him. To help solve the problem I was tranferred to another operation in the Plant and about three weeks later we all were fired because a shipment of finisned product was not glued properly. It was the male operators fault that the machine had a loose glue guide. He was to see that the machine was at operating condition as his job required and we inspected as we packed our material.WhenI was fired I thought to myself this is how they were going to solve my complaint. I asked to see proof of the bad shipment that was returned so I could see that this took place and management refused to show me. I feel that I was fired for this prono complaint and used the bad workmanship as the cause. What is the time limit on harassment if this is the case.
 


S

StressedOutInPA

Guest
You were sexually harrased (In legal terms, sexual harrassment is any unwelcome sexual conduct on the job that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working area.). You may have also been retaliated against by the company. You should call 800-669-4000 and they will be able to give you the number of the nearest office for you to call and get the complaint process going. It might not hurt to call a local labor attorney also. Most will give a free consultation and if you have a strong case they will be able to take it on a contingency basis. I suggest this because once you get a "right to sue letter" you only have 90 days to file your suit and most attorneys want more than 90 days to prepair their case. You also need to file for UC benefits if you haven't already. If it goes to appeal stage, your employer will have to produce evidence of the product not being manufactured properly. Don't let them pull out any old product either. Tell them you want solid proof that it came from the machine that you were on and that you were present and not on break when the material was made. Hope this helps and good luck.
 
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Beth3

Senior Member
I don't think that the situation is quite as clear-cut as Stressedout thinks it is.

Yes, anyone leaving pornographic materials in your work area (I presume that's what you mean by "prono") was grossly inappropriate and it almost certainly constitutes prohibited harassment. While the company did not handle the situation as I would have, they did move you to another position to take you out of this couple's "orbit." I presume when they transfered you that it was to an equivalent position that paid at least as much as you were previously making. (If that is not the case, then you might well have a legitimate claim of retalliation.) When an employee makes a legitimate complaint of sexual harassment (as you did), by and large the manner in which the employer resolves the problem is up to them. Their only legal obligation is to make it stop.

It appears when the quality defect was uncovered, they terminated everyone involved - the machine operator and the inspectors/packagers, right? Unless you can demonstrate that they singled only you out for termination when others were involved, then I don't see a claim for retalliation here. It's unlikely they fired a number of people just to get rid of you.

If you do feel you were unlawfully discriminated against, you are certainly free to contact your State's equal rights division or the federal EEOC.
 

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