Wrongful Termination and Employer Abuse

[abasinger2]

What is the name of your state? New Mexico
Jan 4 I asked to leave work early due to passing kidney stones. Fri, Jan 5 I called in to state I was going to Dr. to be sure there were other issues due to this. The Dr. gave me a note for the day off and stated I could return Sat the 6th. When I left the 4th I told my supervisor that I had checks in a drawer that I had not yet put together and that it would help me if there was someone available to help. She stated that we would address that when I returned and was more concerned to be sure we closed the month, quarter, and year. I took my note to them immediately after I left the Dr. and I stated that I could come in and work Saturday or be ready to hit the ground running on Monday. She stated that would be better. Jan 8th I went to my office and found my coworkers not around and my door locked. I had maintenance come and open it for me and found my personal effects packed and office rearranged. My supervisor came and asked me to her office and stated that they were terminating my position not because of the kidney stones, because my Dr. Note was in her hand, and because of the checks. The checks that I told her about before I left and she stated that no one had ever done that. She herself had done it just a couple weeks prior to that for 5 of the companies within their organization!! She stated that I was not being fired but that my position was terminated. I found out that just a short hour or so after I turned in my Dr. Note that they packed up my office and moved someone else in. She is new and stated by mistake (supposedly) that she was looking forward to moving forward with the staff of her choosing but also trying to ensure the senior staff that we had nothing to worry about.
In the last 9 months nearly most of the senior staff quit due to work place abuse and the fact that we all knew the new supervisor coming in. We knew she was not going to be a good fit for both the organization as a whole as well as she does not have the people skills or the experience. I personally have been hit, called names, endured sexist remarks, have had file folder ripped from my hand causing a large cut on my hand, paper cuts along my right eyebrow when having papers thrown at me. I have witnessed other people being harassed, cussed at. We all had our jobs held over our heads and threatened weekly. The job paid more than most others in our area and some of us were single parents, owed child support etc. that had to be taken care of and the employer knew that and made sure to hold that over us as well.
I also had a work comp claim where I was released to work but my employer would dictate to me when I worked. I was paid for the time I was off but found out after a paycheck that I would have to pay them back with overtime and got in trouble for taking too long to pay it back.
I just need to know if any of this is ok as I have witnesses and have found out that all of us suffer from PTSD now. With NM being an “at will” state do I have any recourse? I have others that may want to come forward but are at this time both afraid and not sure if they have the energy to fight. What can I do?
Thank you
Amy Basinger

 

[CTU]

What is the name of your state? New Mexico
Jan 4 I asked to leave work early due to passing kidney stones. Fri, Jan 5 I called in to state I was going to Dr. to be sure there were other issues due to this. The Dr. gave me a note for the day off and stated I could return Sat the 6th. When I left the 4th I told my supervisor that I had checks in a drawer that I had not yet put together and that it would help me if there was someone available to help. She stated that we would address that when I returned and was more concerned to be sure we closed the month, quarter, and year. I took my note to them immediately after I left the Dr. and I stated that I could come in and work Saturday or be ready to hit the ground running on Monday. She stated that would be better. Jan 8th I went to my office and found my coworkers not around and my door locked. I had maintenance come and open it for me and found my personal effects packed and office rearranged. My supervisor came and asked me to her office and stated that they were terminating my position not because of the kidney stones, because my Dr. Note was in her hand, and because of the checks. The checks that I told her about before I left and she stated that no one had ever done that. She herself had done it just a couple weeks prior to that for 5 of the companies within their organization!! She stated that I was not being fired but that my position was terminated. I found out that just a short hour or so after I turned in my Dr. Note that they packed up my office and moved someone else in. She is new and stated by mistake (supposedly) that she was looking forward to moving forward with the staff of her choosing but also trying to ensure the senior staff that we had nothing to worry about.
In the last 9 months nearly most of the senior staff quit due to work place abuse and the fact that we all knew the new supervisor coming in. We knew she was not going to be a good fit for both the organization as a whole as well as she does not have the people skills or the experience. I personally have been hit, called names, endured sexist remarks, have had file folder ripped from my hand causing a large cut on my hand, paper cuts along my right eyebrow when having papers thrown at me. I have witnessed other people being harassed, cussed at. We all had our jobs held over our heads and threatened weekly. The job paid more than most others in our area and some of us were single parents, owed child support etc. that had to be taken care of and the employer knew that and made sure to hold that over us as well.
I also had a work comp claim where I was released to work but my employer would dictate to me when I worked. I was paid for the time I was off but found out after a paycheck that I would have to pay them back with overtime and got in trouble for taking too long to pay it back.
I just need to know if any of this is ok as I have witnesses and have found out that all of us suffer from PTSD now. With NM being an “at will” state do I have any recourse? I have others that may want to come forward but are at this time both afraid and not sure if they have the energy to fight. What can I do?
Thank you
Amy Basinger

Are you saying that all of the employees are suffering from PTSD due to working at this place?

I want you to be very specific here. You have ALL been actually diagnosed?

 

[Chyvan]

do I have any recourse?

Did you file for unemployment?

 

[commentator]

I would say that your recourse here is to sign up for and take the unemployment that you will be likely to get, since you were let go due to your position being eliminated. You will likely have benefits to cover you for a few weeks, not more than 26 while you look for another job.

As for everything terrible that has happened to you before on this job, frankly, you have I'm seeing as illegal, really nothing except a bad workplace, Most bad workplaces are even so legal workplaces. Even if they give EVERYBODY on the site PTSD and heebie jeebies and multiple bad experiences. I'm seeing no grounds for any sort of EEOC lawsuit here. People always tend to think they have all sorts of rights and privileges in the workplace, but when it comes down to it, there are very few labor laws, and it is perfectly legal for an employer to do a lot of things you might think are wrong and behave very badly toward their employees.

It sounds as though the new management was eager for people to leave so they could hire the staff they wanted and get rid of the old guard. You didn't go easily, they couldn't make you miserable enough to quit, so they finally have conceded to take away your position from you, in other words let you go due to a non unemployment disqualifying reason. This means you're gone, quite legally, but you file for unemployment benefits, tell them nothing except that your position was eliminated, this is confirmed by the employer, and you are most likely approved to draw benefits.

You do not need to tell the unemployment system any of the bad terrible things they did to you, how you had been treated for the last few months, etc. All you want to tell them is the reason the employer gave for terminating you. They are not the agency that would deal with your mistreatment or violations of your rights on the job, and they do not share information with other agencies of the state and federal government concerning violations of your EEOC rights.

If you want to, you can take all your complaints to an attorney and see if the issues, particularly your situation regarding the former worker's comp claim was handled correctly. But if you are being laid off due to lack of work they're likely covered on all the bases.

 

[gryndor]

This PTSD thing irritates the hell out of me... You had a bad experience. Maybe a really bad one. You were not fundamentally altered by severe traumatic events that have forever thrown you off the path of your normal life, and you are not having some kind of existential crisis as a result. Like military combat, or prolonged sexual abuse... a papercut on your eyebrow is does not meet the bar.

/RANT

 

[commentator]

Yes, I think that PTSD is getting to be a very over used to add dramatic emphasis, kind of like "emotional abuse" which is not one of my favorite terms either. That said, though, a bad workplace can be a really traumatic and life destroying experience. I have heard some amazing stories of how people have been treated and things that have happened on the job. This OP is sort of blessed in that they have been removed from a very bad situation which has caused very bad mental and physical problems, and has been very high stress, with the potential for unemployment benefits and a chance to find something else so much better. I have in all my long years of working with employers and employment situations, rarely seen anyone fix a bad work situation, no matter if they sued, or filed complaints and sought legal counsel and filed grievances and appealed and on and on. Moving on and doing better is the best and only real solution for dealing with some workplaces. And it's hard to force ourselves to make changes until they are forced on us sometimes.