Rico Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 A friend of mine just left her job to work as a supervisor for another company. After working there for only 2 weeks, she was just told today that, due to a change in ownership, her position is being eliminated next week. I've seen horror stories like this on TV, but never to anyone I know, and definitely never heard of such practices in any of the companies I've worked for. I guess it's obvious she should've done more research on the company before she left, but as it stands, does she have any rights at all? She has no contract other than the original offer letter, so I would say no... tried searching on Google without any luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 If it's a work for hire state. You can be fired at any time for any reason except race, religion and gender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 A friend of mine just left her job to work as a supervisor for another company. After working there for only 2 weeks, she was just told today that, due to a change in ownership, her position is being eliminated next week. I've seen horror stories like this on TV, but never to anyone I know, and definitely never heard of such practices in any of the companies I've worked for. I guess it's obvious she should've done more research on the company before she left, but as it stands, does she have any rights at all? She has no contract other than the original offer letter, so I would say no... tried searching on Google without any luck. 79315[/snapback] She should contact a lawyer for a consultation immediately. It may cost a hundred or two, but that will allow her to get the information she needs to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 She should contact a lawyer for a consultation immediately. It may cost a hundred or two, but that will allow her to get the information she needs to know. 79320[/snapback] While not directly related, my wife got this advice and it's saved us thousands. She was on a drug trial and it really did wonders for her. When the drug was approved by the FDA she went to get it approved by her HMO and they denied it. Round and round they went and a trial lawyer friend of ours put her in touch with someone who specializes in this. After a half hour consultation and an hour of research the guy noticed that the medical person they had review her case was not a specialist in the field as was mandated in the review process. Melissa pressed them back on this, they had it reviewed by a specialist, and voila they reversed their decision and are covering the drug. It would've been $1000 per month, now it's a $45 copay. The 1.25 hours of lawyer time cost us about $200 but it was so worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 This reminds me of the situation when I left the Air Force for the civilian life..... I was getting close to my high year tenure....and due to having a security clearance already in place for where I worked the Raytheon Contractor wanted to hire me badly (I lived in Cape Cod at the time) so much so that with the Military's permission I was able to work for BOTH companies (as long as it was for a short while) and the Raytheon company was a very easy job for good money. I could have very easily found another job nearby and worked for Raytheon between me and my wife we were making so much money we couldn't spend it all (and we weren't used to that) so much so that every one of my neices and nephues got a pretty good sum of cash for Christmas presents that year. Problem was....my wife wanted to be with her family badly......and she eventually found a way to talk me out of staying in MA and moving back to California but only if I could land a job out here before my military committment ended..... A company here in Southern California did start up a negotian with me (I flew out once for a interview...everything else was over the phone) and they made me a job offer. so finally I caved and said I would move us back to Cali.....we through everything we had into a U Haul and drove 3000 miles back with the intention of my first day being 48 hours later I would start my new job. I HATED the fact that I was leaving my Raytheon job and Cape Cod. So I get down to Hemet and my wifes parents house and after getting settled in for a day I called my new job to find out what time they wanted me there the next day. "Mr. Herring....we are not quite sure how to tell you this, but while you were on the road the boss gave that job to someone else. We are sorry" I do not know if I have EVER had a meltdown like I proceeded to have with that boss in my entire life. It was like a fricken nightmare come true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerJ Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I'm not saying, don't get a lawyer, but just on the face of it, guest from Hemet (or are you John from Hemet and your computer didn't log you in?) it sounds to me like you might actually have more legal grounds to pursue than the girl who was downsized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I'm not saying, don't get a lawyer, but just on the face of it, guest from Hemet (or are you John from Hemet and your computer didn't log you in?) it sounds to me like you might actually have more legal grounds to pursue than the girl who was downsized. 79379[/snapback] If it's not an offer IN WRITING, it's not a real offer. Always get it in writing. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachChuckDickerson Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 A friend of mine just left her job to work as a supervisor for another company. After working there for only 2 weeks, she was just told today that, due to a change in ownership, her position is being eliminated next week. I've seen horror stories like this on TV, but never to anyone I know, and definitely never heard of such practices in any of the companies I've worked for. I guess it's obvious she should've done more research on the company before she left, but as it stands, does she have any rights at all? She has no contract other than the original offer letter, so I would say no... tried searching on Google without any luck. 79315[/snapback] If it was a change of ownership, and it is a non-union position, she has no leg to stand on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeyebrian Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 A friend of mine just left her job to work as a supervisor for another company. After working there for only 2 weeks, she was just told today that, due to a change in ownership, her position is being eliminated next week. I've seen horror stories like this on TV, but never to anyone I know, and definitely never heard of such practices in any of the companies I've worked for. I guess it's obvious she should've done more research on the company before she left, but as it stands, does she have any rights at all? She has no contract other than the original offer letter, so I would say no... tried searching on Google without any luck. 79315[/snapback] She is also an "at-will" employee, like poster below wrote, she is SOOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 If she lives in an at will state and there is no employement contract (rare unless you are an exec), than she probably doesn't have much recourse. In fact, many companies (mine included) have a probationary period that says they can fire you within a certain time frame (ie., 90 days) for any or no reason whatsoever. It's used to guard against making a bad hire. It sounds like she is a victim of either bad timing or some dishonorable people at the new company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 As Fezmid said.....I had a verbal agreement with this employer and was going to sign the "offer of employment" as soon as I got to the office as they didn't want to fax a official document like that back and forth (and that was supposidly the ONLY reason why...go figure) I have put it behind me now as it was years ago.....but man...at that point I was seriously considering just how much C-4 it would take to turn that fricken business into a parking lot. I had just left everything solid I had behind and felt like a damn fool It ended up working out....I received a better job offer about 2 weeks later...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted October 21, 2004 Author Share Posted October 21, 2004 Thanks, everyone... yes, it does look like she's SOOL. I didn't want to ask my HR dep't., because they know the person involved (sensitive issue for my friend), but it looks like I will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millbank Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 National Employment Lawyers Association Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I am a lawyer and just to confirm what others had said if it is NYS or any other state that embraces the "employee at will" doctrine and your wife did not have an employment contract with a "for cause" clause, your wife has no claim. However, if there is evidence that she was fired as a result of her race, religion, sex, age, medical condition, etc then she may have a claim under the Civil Rights Act, ADA, or ADEA. That is her only hope for any recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I am a lawyer and just to confirm what others had said if it is NYS or any other state that embraces the "employee at will" doctrine and your wife did not have an employment contract with a "for cause" clause, your wife has no claim. However, if there is evidence that she was fired as a result of her race, religion, sex, age, medical condition, etc then she may have a claim under the Civil Rights Act, ADA, or ADEA. That is her only hope for any recovery. 79419[/snapback] So law trumps justice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 So law trumps justice... 79443[/snapback] That's what happens when you add so many laws. Common sense gets tossed out. Welcome to the bastardization of the legal system. Lawyers suck. Politicians suck. Add a $23 black robe to a lawyer who is also a politician and they suddenly don't suck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 So law trumps justice... 79443[/snapback] When people say we don't need unions any more - the above scenerio describes one of the biggest reasons they are wrong. A union contract protects an employee so that they can only be fired with cause and if they are fired they would be entitled to a hearing. The employment at will doctrine simply does not makes sense because it analyzes the employer/employee relationship as a contract matter where both parties are of equal power and influence. The wacky rationale is that the employer is allowed to fire the employee and the employee is free to leave at any time - therefore it is an equal bargain! LOL! However, if a working joe/jane leaves a company, 999 times out of 1000, he will not ruin the company. However, when a company fires joe/jane, joe/jane is greatly harmed both economically and socially. Sounds equal to me! American law screws workers in the worst way. Don't get me started on this topic. GO BILLS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 That's what happens when you add so many laws. Common sense gets tossed out. Welcome to the bastardization of the legal system. 79464[/snapback] The employment at will doctine was not created legislatively, it is an invention of the common law eminating from common law contract and master/servant principals. IT is an old concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 When people say we don't need unions any more - the above scenerio describes one of the biggest reasons they are wrong. A union contract protects an employee so that they can only be fired with cause and if they are fired they would be entitled to a hearing. The employment at will doctrine simply does not makes sense because it analyzes the employer/employee relationship as a contract matter where both parties are of equal power and influence. The wacky rationale is that the employer is allowed to fire the employee and the employee is free to leave at any time - therefore it is an equal bargain! LOL! However, if a working joe/jane leaves a company, 999 times out of 1000, he will not ruin the company. However, when a company fires joe/jane, joe/jane is greatly harmed both economically and socially. Sounds equal to me! American law screws workers in the worst way. Don't get me started on this topic. GO BILLS! 79465[/snapback] It's not supposed to be an equal bargin between one person and the other 999. Allowing every employee who is terminated to sue a company DOES create economic harm to the other 999 employees. A company is nothing more than a collective of individuals working towards a common goal. To say they don't have the right to decide who can and can't work with them is hardly in the spirit of free enterprise that our country was founded on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 When people say we don't need unions any more - the above scenerio describes one of the biggest reasons they are wrong. A union contract protects an employee so that they can only be fired with cause and if they are fired they would be entitled to a hearing. The employment at will doctrine simply does not makes sense because it analyzes the employer/employee relationship as a contract matter where both parties are of equal power and influence. The wacky rationale is that the employer is allowed to fire the employee and the employee is free to leave at any time - therefore it is an equal bargain! LOL! However, if a working joe/jane leaves a company, 999 times out of 1000, he will not ruin the company. However, when a company fires joe/jane, joe/jane is greatly harmed both economically and socially. Sounds equal to me! American law screws workers in the worst way. Don't get me started on this topic. GO BILLS! 79465[/snapback] I guess "cause we don't need your services" isn't "cause" enough? Yeah, the legal system that lets OJ Simpson walk among us should definately be the deciding entity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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