If I was suspended from work due to an incorrectly stated fact, can I ask for a compensation for the time I was out of work?
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If I was suspended from work due to an incorrectly stated fact, can I ask for a compensation for the time I was out of work?
I was suspended from work because I was charged with a felony (it’s actually a misdemeanor). I am suspended pending outcome of trial. However, as I mentioned before, suspension states I was charged with a felony, when in actuality it is a misdemeanor. At the time I was’t sure if I was charged with a felony or misdemeanor so i signed the suspension notice papers. What should my further actions be? I am a part time employee working for supermarket. Can I proceed with some sort of compensation request because of wrongful suspension?
Asked on April 17, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Unfortunately, while your suspension may be wrongful in the everyday, commonsense use of the word (i.e. it was based on a mistake or error), it is most likely not wrongful in a legal sense. That is because if you did not have an employment contract (and the vast majority of people do not have employment contracts), you are an employee at will; and an employer may suspend, demote, cut the pay of, or terminate an employoee at will at any time, for any reason--even reasons that turn out to have been factually mistaken. Therefore, it is most likely the case that your empoyer may suspend you under these circumstances, and therefore you would not have any recourse.
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