Illinois
My dad works for a union and is a parking attendant at night - not much traffic, so he is the only employee. He works within a high-rise building and the main (and only) garage door to the outside world is locked - and for good reason - so that no one can just jump in a car and drive out, they'd have to be let out by an employee. So while my dad was in the basement retrieving another vehicle for -another- tenant (building has 5 floors worth of parked cars with keys in them: basement, main floor, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd), a woman drives up and can't get out because the door is locked. She honks her horn (even though there is a sign stating that she cannot honk her horn) so as to be let out. My dad hears the horn but doesn't open the garage door for her because it is company policy NOT to let anyone out unless you are on the main floor and actually SEE the person you are letting out - attendants pretty much know 99% of the tenants in the building, so the policy is an obvious step towards preventing car theft.
My dad makes it up to the main floor, and the lady greets him with her hands up in the air (implying, "what's the problem", or "where were you") and so he opened the door for her, she drove off, and he went about his business.
Come the next day, he finds out that she complained to a higher up that her car had been -scratched- and she claims that my -father- did it. Without -any- proof what so ever, my dads manager suspended my dad for two days. He did nothing but follow strict guide lines (not letting anyone out without permission) and was suspended based on what an annoyed tenant claimed. I wasn't there, but my father truly is not the type to even -consider- doing anything such as violating another persons belongings for any reason under the sun, let alone because some annoyed tenant threw her hands up at him and drove off. And I don't know whether or not her car was scratched - maybe she noticed a new scratch and blamed it on him? Or perhaps she scratched it herself (some people do go to extreme lengths, although I do doubt that's the case here)? Or maybe even a small piece of -something- fell from the ceiling and dinged her car? I don't know. What I do know is that my dad was suspended based on one tenants assumption, not on ANY fact what so ever.
So I have two part question: 1.) Does he have any legal recourse? And 2.) In your opinion, is it worth pursuing?
Both of us think that if it's only two days, he should just let it slide in hopes that it'll all just blow over once he returns. And that way, you don't make a mountain out of a molehill and have managers and higher ups looking at you like a "problem." You lose out on 2 days pay, but you get a nice, 4-day weekend, and don't get under the skin of any higher ups.
On the other side of the coin, tho', I wonder whether or not this will linger on his work record and whether or not it can or will have any affect on him in the near or even latter future. And if he allows this to step by that easily - which I would assume MAY be taken as an admission to guilt (?) - what next?
We're leaning 99.9% towards not doing anything, but my dad is really annoyed by the way this played out and so I decided to come on here and solicit a few opinions. So what are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance for any (and all) the help.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
My dad works for a union and is a parking attendant at night - not much traffic, so he is the only employee. He works within a high-rise building and the main (and only) garage door to the outside world is locked - and for good reason - so that no one can just jump in a car and drive out, they'd have to be let out by an employee. So while my dad was in the basement retrieving another vehicle for -another- tenant (building has 5 floors worth of parked cars with keys in them: basement, main floor, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd), a woman drives up and can't get out because the door is locked. She honks her horn (even though there is a sign stating that she cannot honk her horn) so as to be let out. My dad hears the horn but doesn't open the garage door for her because it is company policy NOT to let anyone out unless you are on the main floor and actually SEE the person you are letting out - attendants pretty much know 99% of the tenants in the building, so the policy is an obvious step towards preventing car theft.
My dad makes it up to the main floor, and the lady greets him with her hands up in the air (implying, "what's the problem", or "where were you") and so he opened the door for her, she drove off, and he went about his business.
Come the next day, he finds out that she complained to a higher up that her car had been -scratched- and she claims that my -father- did it. Without -any- proof what so ever, my dads manager suspended my dad for two days. He did nothing but follow strict guide lines (not letting anyone out without permission) and was suspended based on what an annoyed tenant claimed. I wasn't there, but my father truly is not the type to even -consider- doing anything such as violating another persons belongings for any reason under the sun, let alone because some annoyed tenant threw her hands up at him and drove off. And I don't know whether or not her car was scratched - maybe she noticed a new scratch and blamed it on him? Or perhaps she scratched it herself (some people do go to extreme lengths, although I do doubt that's the case here)? Or maybe even a small piece of -something- fell from the ceiling and dinged her car? I don't know. What I do know is that my dad was suspended based on one tenants assumption, not on ANY fact what so ever.
So I have two part question: 1.) Does he have any legal recourse? And 2.) In your opinion, is it worth pursuing?
Both of us think that if it's only two days, he should just let it slide in hopes that it'll all just blow over once he returns. And that way, you don't make a mountain out of a molehill and have managers and higher ups looking at you like a "problem." You lose out on 2 days pay, but you get a nice, 4-day weekend, and don't get under the skin of any higher ups.
On the other side of the coin, tho', I wonder whether or not this will linger on his work record and whether or not it can or will have any affect on him in the near or even latter future. And if he allows this to step by that easily - which I would assume MAY be taken as an admission to guilt (?) - what next?
We're leaning 99.9% towards not doing anything, but my dad is really annoyed by the way this played out and so I decided to come on here and solicit a few opinions. So what are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance for any (and all) the help.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?