Wrongful Termination?

[spaz6623]

What is the name of your state? New Hampshire

I am a programmer/analyst and was hired by this company in August 2003. I was hired fresh out of college.

Last summer, around August 2006 I started having problems at home because I was in an abusive relationship. I went to my supervisor and explained my situation to her. She appeared to care and lended a listening ear. My doctor took me out of work for a week because of the mental stress I was under. I got a restraining order on my ex that week and started to rebuild my life the best I could. I started counseling and still to this day I am in counseling.

When I got back from my week off (doctors orders), I was asked to come to HR, where I was put on a Performance Improvement Plan. I felt hurt by this, but because I was in the situation I was in, I just went with the flow and was determined to do whatever it took to keep my job.

My immediate supervisor was taken off of her role as a supervisor for misconduct (which I reported to her superior). Part of my PIP stated that I can't talk to my supervisor or co-workers about my personal problems. I was asked to write weekly status reports as well as a lot of other overhead that (prior to my doctors note) I didn't have to do. After 6 weeks I was taken off of the PIP but my supervisor stated that she still wanted me to continue doing "extra" things that I had to do while on the PIP. I continued to do this in hopes that I could prove myself to be a valuable employee.

NOTE: my new supervisor and "previous" supervisor (the one that got demoted because of me) are friends at and outside of work.

I have been continually been harrassed by my new supervisor to a point that I had to start taking anxiety medication because of the stress it was causing me.

The moral of the story, my employment got terminated Feb. 09, 2007 because they said it took me too long to write a piece of code, and that it didn't meet standards (they had the code reviewed by a senior engineer).

I saved all the harassing emails from my supervisor and have copies of them. I had talked to my counselor prior to being terminated, and she felt that she was harrassing me as well.

Side Note: There are no code standards here, and no code ever goes through a code review.

I feel like they were looking for a reason, ever since I was taken out on medical leave and my immediate supervisor got demoted, to get rid of me.

It took me longer to write the code because my supervisor (who is friends with my old supervisor) kept changing the scope of the project as I finished the code, and she was asking me to do extra things for her because she didn't have enough staff to complete those tasks.

Prior to the medical leave, I have had no performance issues, and never had any problems at work. I feel they let me go simply as retaliation because I reported my immediate supervisor for misconduct and harrassment. I believe when they put me on the PIP they already knew they were gonna get rid of me, but couldn't legally, so they waited until the time was right.

Do I have a case against them?

When they let me go they gave me 4 weeks severence if I sign a paper agreeing not to talk to the media, not to talk to my co-workers, and not to sue. What are my legal rights?

 

[mlane58]

What is the name of your state? New Hampshire

I am a programmer/analyst and was hired by this company in August 2003. I was hired fresh out of college.

Last summer, around August 2006 I started having problems at home because I was in an abusive relationship. I went to my supervisor and explained my situation to her. She appeared to care and lended a listening ear. My doctor took me out of work for a week because of the mental stress I was under. I got a restraining order on my ex that week and started to rebuild my life the best I could. I started counseling and still to this day I am in counseling.

When I got back from my week off (doctors orders), I was asked to come to HR, where I was put on a Performance Improvement Plan. I felt hurt by this, but because I was in the situation I was in, I just went with the flow and was determined to do whatever it took to keep my job.

My immediate supervisor was taken off of her role as a supervisor for misconduct (which I reported to her superior). Part of my PIP stated that I can't talk to my supervisor or co-workers about my personal problems. I was asked to write weekly status reports as well as a lot of other overhead that (prior to my doctors note) I didn't have to do. After 6 weeks I was taken off of the PIP but my supervisor stated that she still wanted me to continue doing "extra" things that I had to do while on the PIP. I continued to do this in hopes that I could prove myself to be a valuable employee.

NOTE: my new supervisor and "previous" supervisor (the one that got demoted because of me) are friends at and outside of work.

I have been continually been harrassed by my new supervisor to a point that I had to start taking anxiety medication because of the stress it was causing me.

The moral of the story, my employment got terminated Feb. 09, 2007 because they said it took me too long to write a piece of code, and that it didn't meet standards (they had the code reviewed by a senior engineer).

I saved all the harassing emails from my supervisor and have copies of them. I had talked to my counselor prior to being terminated, and she felt that she was harrassing me as well.

Side Note: There are no code standards here, and no code ever goes through a code review.

I feel like they were looking for a reason, ever since I was taken out on medical leave and my immediate supervisor got demoted, to get rid of me.

It took me longer to write the code because my supervisor (who is friends with my old supervisor) kept changing the scope of the project as I finished the code, and she was asking me to do extra things for her because she didn't have enough staff to complete those tasks.

Prior to the medical leave, I have had no performance issues, and never had any problems at work. I feel they let me go simply as retaliation because I reported my immediate supervisor for misconduct and harrassment. I believe when they put me on the PIP they already knew they were gonna get rid of me, but couldn't legally, so they waited until the time was right.

Do I have a case against them?

When they let me go they gave me 4 weeks severence if I sign a paper agreeing not to talk to the media, not to talk to my co-workers, and not to sue. What are my legal rights?

Nothing you posted rises to the level of illegal harassment as defined by law. You would have to be harassed for your gender, race, religion, age, etc... for it to be illegal.
NH being an at-will state means you can be terminated from your employment for any reason not prohibited by law.

 

[spaz6623]

Nothing you posted rises to the level of illegal harassment as defined by law. You would have to be harassed for your gender, race, religion, age, etc... for it to be illegal.
NH being an at-will state means you can be terminated from your employment for any reason not prohibited by law.

Ok, but what about the fact that I was taken out of medical leave by my doctor because of abuse at home, and the day came back I was put on a performance improvement plan? They have the right to do that? Then my troubles at home were gone, but my stress and anxiety was not coming from my immidiate supervisor. Not to mention that prior to my medical leave, I had no performance issues at all even though I was in this abusive situation for at least 6 months prior to this. Point being, my performance wasn't slacking, the PIP was a direct result of reporting my immediate supervisor for harrassment and misconduct, and she was removed from her roll as a supervisor; then she filed a PIP on me.

 

[eerelations]

It doesn't matter - none of what you state happened was illegal. In addition to being legally able to fire you for these reasons, and practically any other reason, your former employer is not required to offer you severance pay. And in fact, many employers don't offer severance pay in this type of circumstance, so you are lucky that you have been offered severance pay. Finally, it's perfectly legal (and SOP) for your former employer to require you to sign a release such as the one you've decribed, in order for you to receive the severance payment.

 

[Gadfly]

Anytime your personal life overflows into your professional life you can expect that your employer will begin to find you less of an asset to the business. A new employee who has already begun to have issues will be red flagged and placed on the short list for termination.

I'm sorry that your situation at home is bad, but that is not your employeer's problem.

 

[Beth3]

I saved all the harassing emails from my supervisor and have copies of them. I had talked to my counselor prior to being terminated, and she felt that she was harrassing me as well. I doubt your counselor is well-versed in employment law. What you describe does not meet the definition of prohibited harassment - not even close.

I too am sorry for your situation but nothing in your post remotely suggests your employer acted illegally.

 

[spaz6623]

I saved all the harassing emails from my supervisor and have copies of them. I had talked to my counselor prior to being terminated, and she felt that she was harrassing me as well. I doubt your counselor is well-versed in employment law. What you describe does not meet the definition of prohibited harassment - not even close.

I too am sorry for your situation but nothing in your post remotely suggests your employer acted illegally.

yeah i believe that to be true. what disturbes me the most is not that they fired me because they considered me a liabilty to the company, but that I worked hard in spite of what was going on in my life, to keep my job. i proved myself, and then they fired me. also what distrubes me is that women dont go to people and talk about their abuse for this reason alone. the fact that i went to them and was up front with them and was able to open up and talk about the abuse and devoted myself to my job should have said something about my dedication to my job. i got a restraining order, didn't miss any time, and worked long hours and pretty much put my focus on my job instead of my messed up life. i was in counseling and working through my problems and instead of supporting me they just treated me like i was nothing when i was there for 2 1/2 years.

they came up with a lame excuse, and why have my code reviewed when it worked and produced the desired results? they dont review anyone elses code.

i actually caught her spying on me once and was in my office poking around and when i came back to my desk her face turned red and she made up a lame excuse why she was looking for me, but it wasn't valid... then a couple weeks later i was fired. it was outright harrassment. nothing i did was good enough even though i created a new procedure that was never in place and got good feedback from everyone except her. when i did stuff good, she just overlooked it, but if I forgot to dot an i in an email i got a nasty email from her. it was outright harrassment and my troubles at home were gone, but the new trouble was harrassment and anxiety from my work situation. people around me were telling me that she was causing a hostile environment and that I should go to HR, but HR wouldn't even meet with me. I sent a request and they ignored it. I requested to meet with the director and it was ignored; and then i got fired for reasons that were not even valid.

i get that it is an at will employment and that is the crappy part of it all. they have the right to do it even though it was seriously a poor judgment on their part.

 

[Gadfly]

It is great that you came forward an spoke about your situation, but your employer was not the one ot open up to.

There are agencies and organizations and law enforcement people for that. Your expectation that your company should have been your safety outlet is just unreasonable.