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Fired For Signing Petition

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tennille1976

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Illinois

An employee of our nursing home was fired after 15 years. In protest, a few of us wrote a letter in protest. 17 people signed it. In this letter we stated that we disagreed with her dismissal and that other people were allowed to do the same thing and nothing was done to them. Management is spreading around the rumor that some of us will be fired over it while others are simply disciplined. Is this legal? Can they fire us over a petition? Can they fire some and not others? Any help would be appreciated? Do I have reason to file for discrimination if I am one of those fired?
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Is this legal? Yes.

Can they fire us over a petition? Yes.

Can they fire some and not others? Yes.

Do I have reason to file for discrimination if I am one of those fired? Only if you have a VALID reason to believe that you were selected to be fired BECAUSE OF your race, religion, national origin, gender, disability, pregnancy, or because you are over 40 (at the state level only, arrest record, citizen status, criminal history that has been expunged, marital status, military status, or unfavorable discharge from the military). Contrary to popular belief, most discrimination is legal. It is only illegal if it it BECAUSE OF one of the reasons above.
 

Katy W.

Member
Protected activity?

If you protested against your co-worker's termination because you felt the reason she was singled out was discriminatory, i.e. they really fired her because of her age, your petition-signing could possibly be viewed as opposition to discrimination, and as such could be protected activity.

If you did not protest because you felt she was discriminated against due to age, disability, sex, religion, or any other discriminatory reason (see above answer), but you are covered by the National Labor Relations Act, your petition-signing could possibly be viewed as concerted activity for mutual aid and protection, and as such could be protected activity.

I'm NOT saying you have a valid complaint, but if your protest falls into one of these two categories, you may want to call the agency that handles these complaints. For a complaint that you were termed because you opposed discrimination you would call the EEOC. To complain that you were termed because you engaged in concerted, protected activity, call the National Labor Relations Board.
 
I don't think you can file this under retaliation even if you did complain you thought this person was discriminated against in firing (which you don't mention...you mention you thought she was fired unfairly because she was disciplined/fired for actions that others engaging in the same actions were not disciplined/fired for). Whistleblower laws only cover you if you file a claim with a regulatory agency. If you had complained to the EEOC because you thought your friend was discriminated against that would be another story, but just complaining to upper management and getting fired for it probably cannot be viewed as retaliatory.

I also don't think the petition can be seen as a "concerted activity" under the NLRA because filing petitions to protest the firing of a cowrker are not protected activities under the NLRA. If you had signed a petition complaining about your wages, unsafe conditions, or other working conditions, that might be protected, but I don't think what you did is protected.
 

purple2

Member
Hindsight is 20/20, right?

How can you be sure you even knew the reason for the other person's termination?
 

tennille1976

Junior Member
Response

The reason that we became aware of her firing was when the scheduler (who is part of management) called people at home and asked to replace her due to the fact that she was fired. A couple of people were told the reason she was fired.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
...none of which is illegal.

Nothing you have posted gives you any kind of legal recourse.
 

tennille1976

Junior Member
response

Is it legal for management to tell people you were fired and the reason behind it? There is no confidentiality broken? Also, in regards to the petition not only was it discussed we were not happy with the firing, but questioned the safety of our jobs? By safety I mean, how do we know we will not be the next on management's hit list. Any and all responses have been greatly appreciated.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Yes, it is legal for an employer to tell other employees why someone was fired. They can take out a billboard on the interstate saying why an employee was fired if they want to. As long as they tell the truth or give their honest opinion they can tell anyone they want to.

You don't know you won't be next. But in an at-will state, which is every state except Montana (and even including Montana in some instances) you can quit at any time and for any reason at all, and you can be fired at any time and for any reason that is not specifically prohibited by law. Signing a petition that states you disagree with the firing of another employee is not prohibited by law .

Barring a contract that says otherwise, your employment is not guaranteed under any circumstances.
 
And when I mentioned "job safety" I wasn't referring to job stability. I was referring to conditions that might cause you bodily illness or injury - the kind of stuff OSHA cares about! ;)
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Not trying to be a smart-ass; just trying to put this in perspective as well as get some perspective of my own on the thought process.

What did you think was going to happen? Did you think that your employer would say, hey, we got this petition disagreeing with the firing; we'd better hire the employee back?

Did you think that somehow the law was going to step in and make it illegal for them to fire the employee if enough of the work force disagreed with the decision?

Did it occur to anyone that the employer might not take kindly to having their decisions questioned? Or that there might be repercussion?

Again, I'm not trying to be sarcastic or rude, just trying to get a handle on how you thought this was going to work.
 

tennille1976

Junior Member
Response

I was aware that no matter what we did, they would not bring the employee back. I think some of the other people that signed it did. I did it just to let management know that everyone is on pins and needles wondering who will be fired next (for ignorant reasons). I say ignorant because at one point and time every nurse has done it. And I knew that their was no legal recourse when it came to many of us signing we thought it was wrong. What I did not expect was for them to spread around that we had falsified a document. In my opinion no part of the petition was falsified. We did not attack management verbally, slander anyone, rather we simply told about the fired employees character. But I guess looking back on it, they can say we attacked them because we questioned their judgement. Like someone said hindsight is 20/20.
 
So...two days later what has been the outcome? Has anyone been fired or disciplined over it? You indicate in your original post that management is "spreading a rumor that some of us will be fired over it." Perhaps their intent is not to fire - or even discipline - anyone, but to make you all think about what dunderheads you've been and what the consequences of continuing to question management's decisions will be!
 

tennille1976

Junior Member
Nothing has been done that I am aware of other than 4 longtime nurses have resigned because of the situation. Nursing positions are easy to come by, this is why so many hospitals and nursing homes are short staffed and patient care is down. We, dunderheads, as you called me, can easily find work elsewhere. I think that it is the human resource department here that is dunderheads for firiing an employee with over ten years of service to them. Now they not only have to find someone to replace her but four other people. And yes, as I said, nursing positions are easy to find, but human resources has a hard time finding people that want to stay.
 

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