My girlfriend is from California and has been treated very poorly by her employer.
Long story short... She was told she was not allowed to return to work for three weeks, then, at the end of the three weeks, they told her she was terminated without ever being allowed to return to work. She still has not received her final check, or paperwork that explains why she was terminated.
She was told she was terminated over the phone over a week ago. Managment assigned my girlfriend's subordinate to inform her of her termination over the phone. Management did not bother to do it themselves, provide her with any paperwork, or even a final check.
She broke her leg outside of work, and is in a cast. Her job is "floor supervisor" and it is her responsibility to make sure everyone on the floor is doing their job, along with doing refunds and exchanges.
After she injured her leg, she was told that she was not allowed to return to work for 3 weeks because whe was a liability. This was after she had already returned to work for a few days and managed to supervise the floor without any trouble. Obviously, she was able to handle her responsibilities.
This is all amid untrue rumors that she was dating her boss. These rumours were being spread by management.
One person in management was caught saying that the decision was made to terminate her because "We can't have her limping around the store. It looks bad."
So my questions are...
1. Is is legal to fire someone for being injured?
2. Is it legal to assign someone's subordinate to fire them over the phone?
3. Does an employer have to tell you why you are being terminated? Or provide some sort of documentation that accompanies a termination?
4. How long does an employer have to issue a final check?
5. What is the best recourse for this sort of thing?
6. If there is legal recourse, what kind of damages are there?
Long story short... She was told she was not allowed to return to work for three weeks, then, at the end of the three weeks, they told her she was terminated without ever being allowed to return to work. She still has not received her final check, or paperwork that explains why she was terminated.
She was told she was terminated over the phone over a week ago. Managment assigned my girlfriend's subordinate to inform her of her termination over the phone. Management did not bother to do it themselves, provide her with any paperwork, or even a final check.
She broke her leg outside of work, and is in a cast. Her job is "floor supervisor" and it is her responsibility to make sure everyone on the floor is doing their job, along with doing refunds and exchanges.
After she injured her leg, she was told that she was not allowed to return to work for 3 weeks because whe was a liability. This was after she had already returned to work for a few days and managed to supervise the floor without any trouble. Obviously, she was able to handle her responsibilities.
This is all amid untrue rumors that she was dating her boss. These rumours were being spread by management.
One person in management was caught saying that the decision was made to terminate her because "We can't have her limping around the store. It looks bad."
So my questions are...
1. Is is legal to fire someone for being injured?
2. Is it legal to assign someone's subordinate to fire them over the phone?
3. Does an employer have to tell you why you are being terminated? Or provide some sort of documentation that accompanies a termination?
4. How long does an employer have to issue a final check?
5. What is the best recourse for this sort of thing?
6. If there is legal recourse, what kind of damages are there?