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Walmart wrongful termination off the clock

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Janier

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
Ive been with walmart for 2 years as a pharmacy tech, my pharmacy manager asked me to come in earlier the day after easter to help finish paperwork for an audit. i came in at 7:30 am and parked by the parking lot lake where management decided was employee parking and when i said "goodmorning" to an assistant manager he screams at me in front of the customers to move my vehicle further down and i did so. 30 min later he fires me on insoburdination... other coworkers have noticed this managers attitude towards me in the last few months and believe it had to do with race being that i am the only hispanic in the pharmacy. so i had my pharmacy manager present in the office and he did agree to yelling at me and when i explained my case to unemployment they reviewed the information and denied my benefits-letter said"misconduct" not eligible for benefits. so i get screamed at for being a good employee and coming in early, parking in the designated area, and then get fired and denied unemployment.. anyone ever heard of justice??? i dont have money to proceed with a lawyer but i do know this manager was wrong and walmart should pay for backing up his actions. please give me some advice, i already filled an appeal with unemployment.
 
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pattytx

Senior Member
I'm going to leave this for Commentator, our expert in all things unemployment, but what evidence do YOU have that the only reason you were treated adversely was because of your national origin? The fact that you happen to be of Hispanic extraction is not enough on its face to show illegal discrimination.
 
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swalsh411

Senior Member
At the appeal hearing, the employer will bear the burden of proof to show evidence of the alleged misconduct. if you all you did was say "good morning" to a manger in the parking lot then you won't be denied unemployment. Either somebody lied when they reported the reason you were fired or you are withholding information.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
At the appeal hearing, the employer will bear the burden of proof to show evidence of the alleged misconduct. if you all you did was say "good morning" to a manger in the parking lot then you won't be denied unemployment. Either somebody lied when they reported the reason you were fired or you are withholding information.
I would suggest the insubordination would be parking in the wrong place, not the good morning.

If OP was parked in an area they were previously told is not allowed, that would be insubordination. It sounds like OP believes they were parked in a authorized space so they need to argue that point for UI.
 

xylene

Senior Member
Walmart - pretty much ALL terminations are for cause.... at least they see it that way.

You have not been denied anything.

The state is going to accept the employer's claim until you contest it.
 

commentator

Senior Member
Yes, Wal-mart is really big on fighting unemployment (and everything else of course!). They're just big. But sometimes at the local level, they do not exactly follow the termination procedures necessary to stop someone from receiving benefits. It will all play out in the hearing. They will likely have a consulting firm represent them in your unemployment appeals process.

But first, you have already filed your appeal of the initial decision denying benefits, right? And now you will have a hearing, either in person or by telephone. I always suggest an in person hearing if this is an option. You have plenty of time, why not make them come out and do this?

Okay, continue to make your weekly certifications for unemployment benefits, though you are not receiving any checks. If you certify for all these weeks, and you win the appeal, you will be back paid for them.

In this hearing, the only things that will be discussed is the exact reason why you were terminated. You can ask the local legal services to assist you with your case if you cannot afford an attorney and want someone to represent you. But there will be several things that you have not told us here that will be addressed.

In the first place, had you had any prior warnings or write ups for any issue during your employment at Wal-mart? Had you had any interactions with this particular assistant manager before? Had you been written up, had you had any confrontations with him, any warnings about insubordination before that morning you were terminated?

Second, exactly what happened on the day you were terminated? Okay, he saw where you were parked, screamed at you and told you to go move your car. Did you say anything back to him? Did you argue with him about where you were supposed to park, tell him you didn't appreciate him jumping on you in front of customers, accuse him of being prejudiced toward you? Tell him to kiss...well, you get the idea.

Okay, we assume you just said, "Sure, I'll go move my car." And 30 minutes later he calls you in and terminates you? What did he say was the reason for this termination? What does your termination letter (if you got one) say? Was there someone else in there with him when he took this action? Did he actually terminate you for parking in the wrong place? Somehow, its not sounding that way to me.

"So I had my pharmacy manager with me in the office and he agrees to yelling at me..." Does this mean that while you were being terminated your pharmacy manager agreed that the assistant manager yelled at you? But this did not stop them from terminating you. Why? Because you yelled at him?

The unemployment system will not be interested at all in your contention that your asst. manager did not like you or treated you differently because you are Hispanic. EEOC is the agency that hears discrimination complaints.
It will not be important to even mention this issue in the hearing, unless you can show that you have tried to address the problem, that you have complained to higher ups, that you have filed a grievance against the company and you believe this is the reason for your termination. And that isn't the case it sounds like.

You can say that this manager was treating you poorly and picking on you during the last few months, that it appears he did not like you, had it in for you. But they will ask you, did you try to solve the problem? Did you tell anyone in the company, did you ask your pharmacy manager to speak to him, did he write you up or give you any kind of disciplinary actions?

And most importantly, did you do something on that last day of work that could be construed as misconduct or insubordination? If you have not had a progressive disciplinary process for that particular issue, haven't been written up or warned for violations and been given an opportunity to change your behavior, then they must, to keep you from getting unemployment, prove that what you did was gross misconduct, something so bad that you should have known that doing it even once was unacceptable.

If you went off and screamed at the assistant manager, really acted out in response to his telling you to move your car, then they may say that was the gross misconduct that led to your termination.

Since you are the appellant, in the hearing, you will present your case first. Then the employer or their representative will speak and explain what they consider to be the valid reason you were terminated for misconduct. So to do any good with an argument to approve benefits, you would have to show that you were not insubordinate, that you did not knowingly do anything that deserved being terminated, that you had had no prior warnings your job was in danger and that you did not want to lose your job.

A lot of things unsaid here that we need to know to determine your chances of winning approval in a hearing.
 
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