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fired w/out reason

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kmac969

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? NC
I was terminated yesterday and the reason given was that I was not the right person for the job at this time. This is after 3.5 years with the company and we were 8 months into starting a new division. I was given a severance pkg., but I don't understand the reasoning and would like an explanation. I pushed for one but received stone faces. I can't think of one thing I have done to warrant this.
I'd like to know first of all, is this legal--to fire w/out a specific reason. I was also told something about warnings and probation before firing, both of which I've never received.
Any help is much appreciated.
 


pattytx

Senior Member
North Carolina is an "at will employment" state. That means the company can terminate you at any time for any reason, and you can quit at any time for any reason. You don't have to do anything to "warrant" your termination. The only situation under which you might have some legal recourse after the fact would be if you were fired for an illegal reason, such as because of your gender, race, etc., or in retaliation for engaging in protected activity.
http://www.dol.state.nc.us/edb/edb.htm

Warnings, being put on probation, etc. are not required by any state's laws prior to termination. Even if there are company disciplinary procedures which state that such warnings may be given, they can be bypassed. However, if you were covered under a collective bargaining agreement, the union contract might address these rights that the law does not otherwise grant you.

You got a severance package. You were lucky, as there are no laws mandating that severance be offered.

If you were as good an employee as you say you were, they should have no problem giving you a good reference. Looks like it's just time to move on. Good luck in your job search.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Yes, it is legal to fire without giving you a specific reason. In fact, while NO employer does this, in an at will state (which is every state except Montana and even includes Montana in some circumstances) it is legal to fire someone for no reason at all.

It's not necessarily something you did. It may be something that they are planning to do with the job for which you don't have the necessary skills.

Unless you have a bona fide, enforceable contract (not an employee handbook, not an offer letter, not an e-mail from your supervisor, a CONTRACT) that specifically says otherwise, nothing in the law requires them to put you on probation or give you warnings before firing you.
 

kmac969

Junior Member
pattytx & cbg-thank you for this information--
Since this just happened yesterday, I'm still in the 'shock and awe' stage along w/ frankly, being pissed off. I don't toot my own horn very often, but my skills are in the creative graphics area and the company has never had anyone before me in this area and even though my work load had grown to need more designers, they would not consider hiring more people. This is a very 'old school' manufacturing facility and I guess my 'out of the box' thinking didn't agree with the old-timers. That's the only point I can find where we disagreed. It's too bad you can get fired when your motives are to make a company better.

Thanks again for the information--It helps ease some of my frustration to hear these facts from someone else.
 

kmac969

Junior Member
one more...

one more question if I may...
I've been reading up online about being fired/terminated and the more I think about what happened, the less I can find that would warrant me being released. I just read about defamation of character and w/ my work record and work ethic, I'm starting to assume this is one of the things that may have happened. Our CEO, like most, relies on his management team to run the company and make valid decisions w/out asking for his opinion. Our CEO also has no knowledge of what my day-to-day tasks include. So, if he made the decision to fire me and I haven't done anything to warrant this, is slander or libel a possibility in this case?
I say this b/c whenever I went to my superiors with ideas for the company (i.e.; marketing ideas, web development, ways to boost sales through creative projects, etc., etc.), they listened to me but never came back with a response. Not positive, not negative...it's like they just ignored me. Once, I pushed for 1.5 years for a new web site that I could create, and the IT person didn't want to give up any of her power. But once the CEO got wind of the project, he called me directly and said "I like your idea...Do it." So, I can only assume that as in that scenario, the CEO has no clue whether I was a good employee or not. It unfortunately rests on whatever management said.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
No. Firing you when you have not done anything to warrant it is not even remotely a cause for slander, defamation or anything of the kind.

Sometimes there are business decisions that need to be made that involve firing someone even when they don't deserve it. Not because the person did anything wrong, but because (a) the company can't afford them any more (b) they are going to change the parameters of the job (c) this person is the first in a series of restructuring changes and other employees will soon follow (d) any number of other possible scenarios. It would even be legal (unfair, I grant you, but legal) to fire you not because you did anything wrong, but because someone high up had a son/daughter/nephew/niece/cousin/whathaveyou and they wanted your job for them.

The fact that you don't know of anything you did that warrants being fired does not mean that there is anything illegal about firing you.
 

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