Recent Feedback
How do? I was just terminated (state of VA, and to be more technical I was offered a chance to resign but declined) for an alleged case of bad customer service. My issue is that I was let go without having been asked prior to this about my take on the situation, nor did I have a chance at the time I was let go; the conversation quickly turned to aspects of termination, as in the offer to resign, a requested Transfer, and such. In short, the two managers decided this on the basis of an emailed customer complaint (though not much was told to me regarding specifics of said email), possibly what they heard from a key manager who was not present but was working that day and was aware of the situation, but without speaking to me prior to making a decision or allowing me a defense to either confirm or deny the allegations. To me it seems obviously reasonable to get all sides and takes of a situation before any decision is made, and by that I mean to refer to the one's making the decision, so at the least this is bad management skills. I am simply curious if VA law requires such.
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: Virginia Already Tried: Nothing, this just happened an hour and a half ago.
Hello,Thank you for using JA. Without being too specific, what type of job is this?.Are you under any type of written Employment Contract for a set period?.Is this a private or govermental employer?.
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Thanks.
Barrister
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I don't mind specifics. I am (or was) a server, no contract, and private company.
Ok, I just didn't want you to throw out the name of the company.
You aren't going to like this, but unless you are a governmental employee or are under an employment contract, all employment in VA is considered "At Will". What this means is that an employee can quit or an employer can fire or change the terms of employment (change hours, location, duties, pay, etc.) at any time for any or no reason at all.
To have a wrongful Termination case you have to relate your treatment to unlawful discrimination. And, unfortunately, absent a written agreement to the contrary, an employee can be treated differently or discriminated against for any reason, as long as the reason is not prohibited by law. .
While what the employer did may have been inequitable, it was not illegal. Wrongful Termination only comes into play if you were terminated for being part of a protected class (gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, national origin).
So literally, an employee could walk in to work with a shirt on that an employer didn't like and they could terminate them. Similarly, an employee can quit at any time they choose to.
Experience: 12 years practicing attorney
I figured, but I had to check! I have another question, though. Until I find something else, am I elligible for unemployment even though the company obviously has a "technical" reason for termination? I could be dead wrong, but my understanding so far is that a person who resigns is inelligible, hence the reason I declined and told the manager to make it a termination.
As long as you are not Terminated for Misconduct, then you should be eligible for unemployment. .For future reference, if someone is given the choice to either resign or be fired, and they choose to resign, they are still eligible for benefits because the unemployment office does not consider this a "voluntary quit" for purposes of disqualifying someone..
Sorry to bother you again. I just had an argument with my brother who swears up and down that I should get a lawyer because I have a "case". While I have no intention of actually doing this, out of curiousity for how the law works, would someone in my position have even a civil case to collect damages or some such. My bro is adamantly, though probably misguidedly, claiming that an employer can only cite reasons for termination only if those reasons had written documentation signed by both manager and employee (a write up), and can only use those reasons. As such, according to him, since I was never written up for anything, they have no legal reason to fire me, so at the least I have a civil case.
No bother. But brother is wrong. In an "at will" situation, an employer can fire for any or no reason at all. They don't have to even give a reason if they choose not to. So legally they can fire on a first offense or no offense at all as long as they are not basing the termination on a discriminatory reason. (race, religion, national origin, physical disability, gender, or age.).