darkbrooke
Junior Member
In Washington State
Termination:
I was employed as an Electronic Engineer for 1.5 years before being fired in 2009 for what my boss claimed "he couldn't trust me". Initially he was happy with my performance in the engineering department. After six months, given a big bonus, then after a year given a meeting with the president and a raise. There was a big engineering project we were working on and I was responsible for putting the electronics together. My boss, the chief engineer said he would order some important pieces and for me to make due in the meantime with used materials. He told me to make due with scrap parts and put together what I could, so I did. I nagged several times about the needed parts but was essentially ignored and I had to use old parts and wires from abandoned projects. About 3 months later the project was completed and a big success. The company was celebrating its new product and the client was very happy. But then there was a communication problem in a communication bridge (which we bought off the shelf and didn't assemble ourselves and was not our fault). The technician team was called to the site to fix this prototype that I had built. When they returned from the field they spread the word about how makeshift and unprofessionally it was assembled and how they couldn't believe it was so unprofessional. My boss stopped giving me the usual assignments and my time went unutilized. Then after 3 more months of going crazy trying to find anything to do I was called outside and fired. The last week I was there felt very strange. Everybody else knew I was going to be fired because everyone was cold and distant and unfriendly to me, even my friends. It was so clear to me what he had done and I already knew it was coming. He even felt so bad he went on vacation for a week and left me with absolutely nothing to do. 2 days after his return he fired me to cover himself for his failure to follow through with his promises to me and order the proper parts for the job. It was his negligence and ineptitude. I took the blame, got a bad reputation for it among coworkers and got fired.
Damages:
At the time I my pregnant wife was one week from immigrating to the U.S. from europe and we figured we couldn't afford the health insurance here and without work wouldn't be able to make the petition for support to immigrate her with the Dept. of State so she cancelled her immigration and I went there instead.
I couldn't claim unemployment abroad and didn't have time to arrange legal residency yet so I had to take any work I could get as a carpenter assistant for 10 euros per hour. After a year that job dried up and I had to return to the US to work again. Only now, my most recent position was carpenter assistant instead of Electronic Engineer and the economy was in shambles, nobody was hiring, and my recommendations at my previous job ( the best one on my resume ) wouldn't give me positive reviews.
So I have a great Engineering education, and great experience but the black mark of being fired plus no recommendations from the best job on my resume and another year of unemployment which no employer wants to touch. Now I'm on the level of searching fast food positions, a career lost. All because I was sabotaged by one twit?
I was defamed and embarrassed without just reason.
Is this a normal thing that can happen in the work force or is there potential for legal action?
Any advice, legal or not, is appreciated.
Thanks.
Termination:
I was employed as an Electronic Engineer for 1.5 years before being fired in 2009 for what my boss claimed "he couldn't trust me". Initially he was happy with my performance in the engineering department. After six months, given a big bonus, then after a year given a meeting with the president and a raise. There was a big engineering project we were working on and I was responsible for putting the electronics together. My boss, the chief engineer said he would order some important pieces and for me to make due in the meantime with used materials. He told me to make due with scrap parts and put together what I could, so I did. I nagged several times about the needed parts but was essentially ignored and I had to use old parts and wires from abandoned projects. About 3 months later the project was completed and a big success. The company was celebrating its new product and the client was very happy. But then there was a communication problem in a communication bridge (which we bought off the shelf and didn't assemble ourselves and was not our fault). The technician team was called to the site to fix this prototype that I had built. When they returned from the field they spread the word about how makeshift and unprofessionally it was assembled and how they couldn't believe it was so unprofessional. My boss stopped giving me the usual assignments and my time went unutilized. Then after 3 more months of going crazy trying to find anything to do I was called outside and fired. The last week I was there felt very strange. Everybody else knew I was going to be fired because everyone was cold and distant and unfriendly to me, even my friends. It was so clear to me what he had done and I already knew it was coming. He even felt so bad he went on vacation for a week and left me with absolutely nothing to do. 2 days after his return he fired me to cover himself for his failure to follow through with his promises to me and order the proper parts for the job. It was his negligence and ineptitude. I took the blame, got a bad reputation for it among coworkers and got fired.
Damages:
At the time I my pregnant wife was one week from immigrating to the U.S. from europe and we figured we couldn't afford the health insurance here and without work wouldn't be able to make the petition for support to immigrate her with the Dept. of State so she cancelled her immigration and I went there instead.
I couldn't claim unemployment abroad and didn't have time to arrange legal residency yet so I had to take any work I could get as a carpenter assistant for 10 euros per hour. After a year that job dried up and I had to return to the US to work again. Only now, my most recent position was carpenter assistant instead of Electronic Engineer and the economy was in shambles, nobody was hiring, and my recommendations at my previous job ( the best one on my resume ) wouldn't give me positive reviews.
So I have a great Engineering education, and great experience but the black mark of being fired plus no recommendations from the best job on my resume and another year of unemployment which no employer wants to touch. Now I'm on the level of searching fast food positions, a career lost. All because I was sabotaged by one twit?
I was defamed and embarrassed without just reason.
Is this a normal thing that can happen in the work force or is there potential for legal action?
Any advice, legal or not, is appreciated.
Thanks.