Could I have a possible wrongful termination suit?
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Could I have a possible wrongful termination suit?
I was terminated after coming back from a
business trip. We were remote employees,
salary. During that meeting the owner got in my
face to discipline me regarding my ear bud
during the meeting. I was humiliated and felt
violated of my personal space. About a week
later, I was called with my direct manager, the
owner and the owners wife who is HR. I was
told I was no longer a fit for the company,
because of me complaining. Those were the
direct words said to me.
I went in immediately to apply for
unemployment. My unemployment was held up
because they would not return the phone call.
After giving unemployment other phone
numbers I had, the owners wife finally
responded to unemployment and told them I
was not fired for the complaining, I was fired for
poor performance and supposedly there were
several instances where they spoke to me
about it. This was not the case, and an obvious
lie. When they asked about the incident and if it
was the reason, she said no she was not
mistreated by the owner I was there the whole
time along with other people. She was indeed
not there the entire time, as she did not stay at
the hotel. My response to their response, was
simply, If I had poor performance why was I
getting bonus pretty much each paycheck
which was for hitting numbers, along with the
fact that I had just gotten a raise.
More information with this company, while I
Was remote, I worked a lot of hours. Many
days working from 530 am to 10 pm at night.
While I did have Thanksgiving off, that had
actually been the first and only day full day I
had had off for the 6 months I had been
working there. Even during the annual meeting
expectations of we would have a day off, were
do not put your Dialpad on do not disturb, if
your phone rings, you answer it.
My salary was not covering the amount of
hours they were having me work. A few weeks
before I was terminated, I was in my paychex
flex account and found out I was labeled as
part time. They did not cover the cost of our
equipment, computers or phone, or phone
service to answer the phone for work. My
phone was constantly ringing for work. Do I
have any kind of case against them?
Asked on January 14, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
1) Unless you had a written employment contract whose terms they violated in firing you, you would not have a wrongful termination suit. In the absence of a written contract, you were an employee at will, and an employee at will may be terminated at any time, for any reason, even unfair or untrue ones. It doesn't matter if you can prove you were not fired for poor performance--as an employee at will, the reason doesn't matter; all that matters is they chose to fire you.
2) If you were salaried not hourly, it does not matter how many hours you worked: your weekly salary would have been your total compensation for all work, no matter how many hours, during the week.
3) It does not matter how they labeled you if you were being paid the correct salary.
4) They do not have to cover your costs--you agreed to work for them for a certain salary, and if you received the agreed upon amount, that was your entire pay or compensation from them.
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