QUESTION
Can an employee be terminated for removing product that is already paid for AND can they be expected to pay what funds they made back to the company?
Asked on Apr 13th, 2017 on Employment Contracts - Ohio
More details to this question:
Leftover, or, unclaimed & unopened bottles of oil already sold to the customer was removed at a later date as that product was taking up too much space in the employees work space. It was then resold to the public by the employee that removed it from their companies store. The company is now threatening to terminate employment and is requesting what ever funds that were made be returned to the company along with any unsold product. 1. Is it technically theft if the product was already sold and profited by the company BEFORE it was removed by the employee? 2. Can the company expect the employee to "pay them back" if they already mde a profit?
1 ANSWER
First, absent a contract which limits the employer's right to terminate an employee, or a termination for a reason prohibited by statute (e.g. race, religion, etc.), an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason. Second, the employee breached his duty of loyalty to his employer by taking the employer's property and profiting from it. Had the employee not done this, the employer could have resold those goods and made the profit, or donated them to charity and gotten a tax write off. I believe the employer is well within its rights in demanding the profits the employee made on his/her sale of the employer's property, and it would likely be awarded this amount if it sued the employee.
Answered on Apr 13th, 2017 at 10:19 AM