Wrongful Termination Legal Questions

If you were a full time employee and working for the company or municipality for more than 1 year, your condition should provide you protection under FMLA and FFCRA.  If your employer failed to offer you as a qualified employee FMLA protection, for up to  12 weeks of your job, your rights would be interfered with, and if you are terminated, that as well would be a violation of FMLA.    Consult an employment lawyer.  Ask your employer for the FMLA paperwork and to process FMLA for you if you meet the qualification of 1 year or previous work and 1250 hours.    See https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla/final-rule/faq#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20be%20eligible,for%20the%20employer%20for%2012... Read More

Maybe. Did you request an accommodation because of your apparent disability? What did your doctor say? How long did you need to be absent from work? What date or approximate date did you inform your employer that you  would return? You will be collecting short term disability benefits correct? One year of service gives you protection to keep your job if you require up to 12 weeks of Family Medical Leave Act leave. Of course, your employer must employee at least 50 employees. But even if the above does not apply to you, you might be protected by the New York State Executive Law also called the New York State Human Rights Law. If an employer knows that you require an accommodation or should know that you need an accommodation (i.e which could include time off from work with an anticipated return date) which accommodation does not cause an undue hardship for your employer due to almost any medical condition which incapacitates you, it might have to provide such an accommodation to you. Your key issue may be whether you asked for an accommodation, when you planned on returning, and whether your employer engaged in an interactive process if it knew or should have known that you needed some type of accommodation. Best thing is to call some employment lawyers or view some videos on YouTube at Employment Law Reality Check which always suggest calling many employment lawyers. Legitimate,  nondiscriminatory reasons for terminating "at will" employees are OK. But your facts at least suggest that there may have been an improper motivation in terminating you. A skilled Employment Lawyer needs to ask you some tough questions. These are never slam dunk cases, even with strong facts. Speak with Employment Lawyers.... Read More

Technically wrongful termination is misleading.   Were you covered by an employment agreement, either private or collective, such as a union CBA, which was breached or broken?   If not, were you discriminated against? Not just treated badly but was the motivation to fire you discriminatory? For example, the employer used or considered your age, race, sex, national origin, disabilities or regarded you as disabled or discriminated against you because you associated with persons from protected classes? There are other protected classes but these are the majority of what many refer to as wrongful terminations. There are many wrongful terminations but few unlawful or discriminatory ones. Have your facts ready when you call many employment lawyers. If you hire one make sure you discuss what you want and what an employment lawyer reasonably thinks you might receive several months or several years down the road.... Read More

If you are fired for telling the truth do you really want to work there? If that happens and you told the truth as long as you did not commit gross misconduct doing your job you should receive unemployment benefits if you apply honestly for them after being fired.   The big question might be what your own motivation was for doing what you did? Most employees are honest and work that way. But if in your next job you are promised something and then your supervisor does not follow through the best thing is to get another job.   All employees owe a duty of loyalty to employers. You were not asked to lie. Your manager did so. If you were interviewed you would tell the truth. Your manager may not admit what the truth is but that is for your employer or the state to determine. Not really your job until you become a supervisor and decide what you must do to keep that job.... Read More

Before you touched the youth you did not know whether the youth would find your touching them offensive. Rephrased, the youth did not ask you to touch them around their neck area. None of us knows what another person may or may not find offensive. And offensiveness is not defined by what you or I may find offensive. Therefore, no employee should ever touch anyone else at work unless that employee is saving the other person's life with CPR or protecting them from some obvious, imminent danger. Otherwise, touching another for any reason is completely illegal in any workplace; especially in New York. Also, an employer can make a mistake when terminating an employee. The most frequent mistake I hear about is stealing. An employer reasonably believes that an employee stole goods, embezzled monies, took tips, removed monies from registers, etc... That list goes on. Then after termination, the employer realizes that it made a mistake. That's perfectly legal. The employee might still, in some circumstances recover unemployment benefits, but they very rarely are reinstated to their jobs. No employer is perfect. Employees need to make sure they do not place themselves in situations where employers need to make judgment calls which turn out to be wrong.... Read More

Sorry to hear that. Many terminations are wrong or not fair. What we need to uncover is whether an employment contract was broken or whether you were discriminated in the way you were terminated. Yes correct not easy. On youtube I have about 44 videos which talk about common questions which employees ask. Employment Law Reality Check is the name. Before COVID many of us might charge $500 to meet a potential client for a consult in our offices. Today many of us represent employees across the state who we may never personally meet. If you call some experienced employment lawyers we recognize strong facts when we hear them. Everyone needs a plausible theory to recover. That's more than a hunch or a guess. Call some employment lawyers and both you and those experienced lawyers will probably recognize a claim worth more than nuisance value. Good luck.... Read More

You need to gather all relevant information (such as emails, texts, and other documents) that proves that you did not do anything wrong and that the allegations are false and present it in a persuasive manner to defend yourself.  Your efforts might not prevent your termination, but it makes sense to make your best effort to defend yourself.  Hiring an attorney at the attorney's hourly rate or for a flat rate is something you should consider doing.  If interested in discussing further, feel free to contact my office at 440-543-0670 ext. 8.  ... Read More

So she is now "stalking you"? Go to the police and file a report so that a judge can potentially enter an order of protection to have her stop. If your employer makes a mistake, believes you are a harasser and fires you, having your own honest facts police report, hopefully followed with an OOP, might help? Your issue is frankly more in line with a domestic relations or family law matter. Family law lawyers might help you the most? They can give you suggestions on these types of very messy issues. Employers today must investigate. If they treat everyone with similar allegations the same way how would you prove discrimination unless the police investigate and help you prove it's her and not you? This is a good example for why any personal or intimate relationship at work regardless of consent is very rarely a good idea.... Read More

Whether or not you have a legal claim is based in part on why they are harassing you. Have you reported this to you supervisor, manager, HR department or someone else with authority at the company? Trying to resolve it internally according to company policy before hiring a lawyer is probably your best next step.... Read More

Know that an employer has no obligation to extend FMLA benefits beyond your end date. Return to work if possible. If not, do you have any short term disability benefits? Also, if you can do your job but need an accommodation (a midday break to take medications for instance) ask your employer if they can accommodate. But, you MUST be able to do your job. ... Read More

Good afternoon, I am sorry that this has happened to you, however, your situation is a commonplace today and most employers are or have let employees go.  Absent any discrimination, and there are many types of discrimination, you may not have a case, especially if your contract with the employer is at will.  I would suggest you should apply for unemployment for now, but more information is needed from you to determine if there was discrimination involved.  For example if all older employees were let go and younger ones were kept; or if more females / or males were let go, or only if certain ethnicity was let go.  You first need to concentrate on staying safe, then if your time permits you need to consult an attorney to know your rights.... Read More

Forward the email with your application for benefits. The 7day waiting period has been lifted. Unless you were protected by some contract or have evidence of discrimination you will need to seek a new job while on unemployment. Many of us will never retire nor do we have a desire to do so. Good luck.... Read More

Maybe. You need to stay in close contact with human resources. Respond to all their requests immediately. Complete necessary paperwork timely. And aske them for extra time if you need it. The type of work you do, the size of the employer, and the hardship your absence might cause all play a role. There are no guarantees. If they discover something you did on the job which has nothing to do with your absence then they can take action on that also. Call them regularly and work with them toward a return date. Especially if you are at will which most employees are.... Read More

This may not make you feel much better. But employers do not have to investigate theft. They do not have to be right. They can and often do tell employees lies. The reason most employers conduct investigations is to have some evidence that they did not discriminate. When employees file discrimination charges that often does cost employers lots of money win or lose. Then defense lawyers earn their money because they end up doing the investigation that was never done. You gave no facts of discrimination nor hostile work environment nor anything else that may have been illegal. If you have such evidence you can file with the EEOC for up to 300 days or with New York State's Division of Human Rights. They both do good work. But unless an employment lawyer helps you it may not result in a financial recovery for you. And most of us stay busy and we have to select the best claims because we too have to earn a living. Good luck and thanks for asking. Fairness is generally not written. We just do our best to make it happen if the facts are strong and the law is on our side.... Read More

If you want an answer to this question, you are going to have to provide some more detail.  Are you an at-will employee or does the jurisdiction you work for have a civil service system?  Do you have any idea why your employer thinks you have a knee injury? Does your employer think you suffered the knee injury on the job or off the job?  How long ago were you fired?  How long had you been with this employer? Do you think the real reason for the termination was a mistaken belief that you had a knee injury or do you think the real reason is something else and if so, what?... Read More

Many employers will offer a 'settlement agreement' to avoid litigation. The goal is to offer sufficient monies so that the employee will settle. You must decide if the amount is sufficient. Litigation is expensive and the employer, if smart, will offer an amount which will cause you to sign. This is the norm. Please call to discuss. Ed Dimon, Esq. 732-797-1600 ext 235... Read More

You can ask to be reinstated, but it is unlikely. Ohio is an at will state, so employees are generally employed at-will. As a result, they can be terminated for any reason or no reason at all as long as they are not terminated for an unlawful reason. You would have to claim and prove an unlawful reason for your termination in order to have a legal claim for wrongful termination. The ODJFS has a different analysis - whether you were terminated for just cause. In the event of a just cause termination, the employee is not entitled to unemployment compensation benefits. However, if there is no just cause, then the employee receives benefits. The lack of cause for a termination does not give rise to a legal claim though. This does not mean that you shouldn't discuss your terminationo with an employment attorney to see if your termination was unlawful.   One thing I should mention since you worked in a call center is that this industry regularly also has pay issues included in it. We would be happy to speak with you about your termination and pay to see if we can help.   Ohio overtime lawyer https://mcoffmanlegal.com/practice-areas/overtime-lawyer-columbus-ohio/... Read More

Has your employee filed for FMLA leave or any kind of disability?  Generally speaking, if they qualify, an employee can take up to three months of FMLA leave if they are approved.  The other option is disability if they are approved for disability.   And how big is your company?  That does affect how the law applies.... Read More