Was I pushed out of my job illegally? Have I been discriminated against?
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Was I pushed out of my job illegally? Have I been discriminated against?
I live and work in Georgia. The department I worked in was outsourced overseas. My particular position, of which there were 3, remained local, however I lost the position. I was the only 1 of the 3 who did. My position was given to someone whose prior job was sent overseas, however who only had one year with the company – I had 4 The excuse I was given at one point was that he had an additional skill my team would now need, not having the others in the same room anymore but this was something I could have easily been taught in a day or so. I was forced back to my previous entry level position which I had worked hard to move out of because I was turned down for every other position I applied for. Later, in addition to the less senior employee who was given my position, 2 more outside hires from a temp agency were added to the team, showing that they clearly needed the extra manpower, yet I was never offered my job back – instead of bringing back someone who already knew how to do the job, they hired 2 contractors they would have to train from scratch. I also recently was blocked from receiving a merit raise, now that I am back in my previous job. My manager submitted a raise, and it was modified to 0 by HR after he submitted it, without any explanation to him or myself. I don’t know if this is in any way connected to my losing the other position. I happen to be physically disabled. I am not saying that I believe I have been discriminated against because of my disability – I honestly don’t know if I have or not. However, I definitely feel that something dishonest has taken place, I just don’t know what the true agenda is.
Asked on August 14, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Georgia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
If you were discriminated against because of your disability--that is, your disability is the reason you were singled out--that is illegal, and you would likely have a claim for compensation and/or reinstatement. If you were let go for any non-discriminatory reason (e.g. not due to your disability), even that management did not want to bother teaching you that additional skill or simply likes the other person better than you--you have no recourse, because employment in this country is employment at will: you may be terminated or let go at any time, for any reason which is not illegal discrimination. If you believe discrimination is possible but are not sure, contact the federal EEOC and file a complaint--let them investigate and look into it.
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