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Wrongful Termination

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pstegner

Junior Member
I live in Pennsylvania, Armstrong County to be exact. There are no labor lawyers in this county so I guess I'll turn here.

I used to be a bartender at a VFW, full time on the books. One night I got into a dispute with the jr. vice commander while I was off duty. I was there in that bar as a customer the entire day. The next day I get a phone call stating that I was taking off the schedule for that day and I was terminated. Can I really get fired for something I said while I wasn't even on the clock, being a customer in the bar? Wouldn't that be like going to another bar and getting into the same dispute? I can't get fired for this can I? And if I can, what makes the dispute so bad that I got fired and not barred from the vfw?

Also, I am not the only bartender who has gotten fired for having a dispute with the Jr. Vice Commander. It seems like whoever has a dispute with the Jr. Vice commander either gets fired or barred out of the bar. There have bee 5 bartenders and 1 bar manager that has been terminated. Another Bar manager has put her two weeks notice in. While another bartender has put her two weeks notice in as well.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
To answer your base question, yes, you can be fired for that. In an at-will state, which means every state except Montana and even occasionally including Montana, you can be fired for any reason that is not specifically prohibited by law. The law does not say that you can only be fired for something that happens on the clock. We have no idea why you were fired and not barred but it's immaterial. The employer could legally have done either or both; the fact that he could have done more does not make it illegal to do what he did do.

If other bartenders have been fired for the same reason, then I suggest that the remaining bartenders cease getting into altercations with the Jr. Vice Commander. But that fact not only makes does not make the firings illegal, it strengthens the employer's position - they have been consistant in taking action for this offense.

File for unemployment and look for other work.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I live in Pennsylvania, Armstrong County to be exact. There are no labor lawyers in this county so I guess I'll turn here.

I used to be a bartender at a VFW, full time on the books. One night I got into a dispute with the jr. vice commander while I was off duty. I was there in that bar as a customer the entire day. The next day I get a phone call stating that I was taking off the schedule for that day and I was terminated. Can I really get fired for something I said while I wasn't even on the clock, being a customer in the bar? Wouldn't that be like going to another bar and getting into the same dispute? I can't get fired for this can I? And if I can, what makes the dispute so bad that I got fired and not barred from the vfw?

Also, I am not the only bartender who has gotten fired for having a dispute with the Jr. Vice Commander. It seems like whoever has a dispute with the Jr. Vice commander either gets fired or barred out of the bar. There have bee 5 bartenders and 1 bar manager that has been terminated. Another Bar manager has put her two weeks notice in. While another bartender has put her two weeks notice in as well.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
There was nothing illegal, wrongful or even unfair about this termination.

For the record, if you had gone to ANOTHER bar and had the same dispute, you could STILL be fired for it.
 

pstegner

Junior Member
Granted

Granted ive read what you both said, but doesn't Pennsylvania have a "retaliation" clause written I thought they did.

5 of us all got fired based not on the arguement that we all had with this person, but based on the fact that she was heard saying that she was going to try and "clean" the place out. She fired one of the bar manage claiming he was stealing money he cased a check, but the check that was cashed can not be located the bank doesn't even have a record of it.

One of the bartenders got fired because they accused her of being drunk behind the bar, yet they let her work out her entire scheduled shift, didn't even bother to relieve her of her command.

On the surface I would agree with you two. But deeper in the story the plot does thinkin.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Granted ive read what you both said, but doesn't Pennsylvania have a "retaliation" clause written I thought they did.

5 of us all got fired based not on the arguement that we all had with this person, but based on the fact that she was heard saying that she was going to try and "clean" the place out.
What you said in your original post was:

One night I got into a dispute with the jr. vice commander while I was off duty. I was there in that bar as a customer the entire day. The next day I get a phone call stating that I was taking off the schedule for that day and I was terminated. Can I really get fired for something I said while I wasn't even on the clock, being a customer in the bar
No matter, it was still legal.
 

Beth3

Senior Member
Prohibitions against retaliation only apply in very limited, very specific situations; yours is not among them. Clearly, getting into an argument with the Jr. Vice Commander is not good for job security, even if he is a total jerk. Nothing in your posts indicate anything illegal has taken place.
 

pattytx

Senior Member
And if you were in a bar the entire day as a customer and drinking something besides iced tea, I'm not surprised you had the bad judgment to get into a huge argument with someone who could fire you.
 

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