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Fired Mother to be [Update: Winners, part 1]
rfalias
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
This is rf's wife....
So, I was recently let go from my banking job of 5 1/2 years a month after announcing I was pregnant! They state that the reason for my termination was due to an error in paperwork/communication to upper management back in October 2009. In January of 2010 (a few months ago) I was given a good performance review and a LARGE raise, then April 6 they let me go due to the issue in OCTOBER!!! Would this be worth hiring an attorney over or are they justified in their decision?
So, I was recently let go from my banking job of 5 1/2 years a month after announcing I was pregnant! They state that the reason for my termination was due to an error in paperwork/communication to upper management back in October 2009. In January of 2010 (a few months ago) I was given a good performance review and a LARGE raise, then April 6 they let me go due to the issue in OCTOBER!!! Would this be worth hiring an attorney over or are they justified in their decision?
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U.S.? I have no idea.
Were you fired because you informed them that you were pregnant? Probably yes.
Do they have their bases covered to credibly say you weren't? Yes.
Do you have a case? Sucks, but not really. If you can prove they've done this before then you might get a settlement but you won't be getting the job back either way.
To add onto the above.
This is for the best, you wouldn't want the job back after this, the best you can hope for is your slate cleaned and a settlement.
Nothing worse than knowing your bosses are looking for a reason to fire you.
In addition do you guys have something akin to the Better Business Bearau? You can report your company to that.
America #1! Yeeeeeeah!
...
Write your story down, with the best approximation of dates possible before you see the lawyer. Do not bullshit or waste his time. He'll be able to tellk you if you have a case.
What this guy says, except the other way around. Not "Unless you have any evidence" it should be "Unless you think they have evidence." It can be very hard to fire someone who is a minority or otherwise suffering some sort of disability because of the protections in place. As a result, before they fired you if they were doing their jobs well they will have documented every little thing you did wrong. Were you late on several occasions? Did you abuse the internet? Essentially make sure you are covered on not having done things that were against the rules. If you think you're in the clear, I think you have a case and should push on it.
IANAL
Definitely go to the labor board on this. Labor boards strongly are biased toward the employee. If things conspired the way you wrote them, the company is in for it.
Sources:
A. I hire people & deal with lawyers and we would never try to do something like what you are describing, not only because we are decent but because we would be afraid of the labor board decision
B. I was screwed over by a boss when I was 18 and the Labor Board took care of it like no ones business, with no work on my part.
It is not illegal to terminate someone when they are pregnant or on materity leave, if they're being terminated for some other reason.
In a legal challenge, the burden would likely be on you to prove based on a preponderance of the evidence that you were not terminated for some other reason. You don't have to prove it beyond reasonable doubt, preponderance of the evidence just means "more likely than not." In a case like this, it's going to be your word against theirs. What evidence do you have on your side? You say your last review was positive, that's evidence for you. Was there ever a warning given for the October incident? If there was, that again could actually be evidence in your favor, because it shows they were aware of the incident at that time and still considered you a good working at your January review. Was anyone else laid off recently? Do they have a history of terminating pregnant workers?
Bottom line, if you really think they fired you because you were pregnant, talk to a lawyer. Most of the time the initial consultation can be worked out for free, and they can look at all the evidence and decide if you have a case or not.
I am not a lawyer, I'm definitely not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
Talk to a lawyer.
but they're listening to every word I say
Getting a lawyer would be wise.
What kind of paperwork occurred in October of 2009? Termination paperwork they missed when giving you a raise?
Come on. That stinks of all kinds of bullshit, they've probably covered their ass, but a good lawyer will probably cut right through it.
Far more then most people realize. More then it should be, for that matter.
Likely the paperwork that was misfiled stated that you didn't have a coochie, and instead had a wingding. And because it was misfiled, they fired you. Or someone didn't understand that babies come out of the coochie and that sometimes, when babies come out of there, there needs to be a hospital and fees involved. And sometimes, just sometimes, if your employer offers health coverage, these things have to be covered and raise premiums, etc, etc.
This, seriously. They gave you no good reason for your firing other than saying the equivalent of "whoopsie we made a zero on a form somewhere instead of a one and now that means you no longer work here." Which aside from being ridiculous, is also ridiculously easy to sort out if you've been a good worker and they wanted to keep you.
None of us can judge from your circumstances, we don't know whether you've got a history of other problems at work, but if everything is as you say it is and nothing significant has been omitted, then yes, I'd say lawyer up.
Was there any other unpleasantness after you told them you were pregnant? Did they start treating you differently in any significant ways or make you feel unwelcome in any way that's quantifiable? If they did, then whatever it is, no matter how small or insignificant these details may be, tell your lawyer about those as well, and let them decide whether it's something that you can use.
That's the problem. So much of this ultimately comes down to things that you simply won't have a record for, and they would've been sure to try and cover themselves in preparation for the dismissal. Even so, getting a raise and a good performance review, and then getting dismissed almost immediately after telling them you're pregnant is going to look extremely suspicious to any impartial review.
At the very least they'd need to come up with a stronger argument than "we make booboo on paperwork".
In staffing situations like this, they usually come down on the side of the employee if a discriminating factor exists and there is not a documented reason for firing. It's how it is. It's absolutely worth pursuing as long as OP knows she didn't do something that merited firing.
I'm still waiting to hear what this BS is all about. What was the "issue?"
At this point she should really be talking to a lawyer, not us.
That being said, I am not a lawyer (in fact I am a law student, with just enough know-how to really mess stuff like this up), but I do have access to Employment in Florida: Guide to Employment Laws, Regulations and Practices and here is what I found (bolded emphasis mine):
§ 1-1 EMPLOYMENT AT WILL
§ 11-2 TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964
- to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise to discriminate against any individual, with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
[...]
Title VII applies to employment agencies and labor organizations as well as to employers. It covers all forms of discrimination in all aspects of the employment relationship. It applies to training programs and apprenticeships as well as permanent employment. Under 1978 amendments, its prohibition against sex discrimination includes discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition.
[d] Who May Seek Relief
[e] Procedure Under Title VII
An individual cannot bring a suit in court under Title VII unless he has first filed a charge with the EEOC. A charge must be filed within 180 days of the occurrence of the matter complained of, unless there is a state or local agency to which the EEOC will defer the charge. [...] Where such an agency exists, as in Florida, the charge must be filed with the EEOC within 300 days of the occurrence.
[4] Litigation
An individual may bring a suit in U.S. district court under Title VII if he or she has filed a timely charge with the EEOC, has received a notice of right to sue, and files his or her own suit within 90 days of receipt of the notice of the right to sue. […]
The plaintiff in an action brought under Title VII bears the ultimate burden of proving that the employer discriminated against him or her on the basis of the employee's status as a member of a protected group. The plaintiff may satisfy this burden either by producing direct evidence of intentional discrimination or by satisfying the four-part indirect proof standard set forth below in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green.
Under the four-part indirect proof standard in McDonnell Douglas, the plaintiff must show that (1) he or she is a member of a class protected by Title VII; (2) he or she was subjected to an adverse employment action; (3) at the time of the adverse employment action the plaintiff was performing up to the employer's expectations; and (4) someone outside the plaintiff's protected group was treated in a more preferential fashion by the employer under similar circumstances.
If the plaintiff is able to establish all the elements of the McDonnell Douglas test, a presumption arises that the employer unlawfully discriminated against the plaintiff. At this stage, the burden shifts to the employer to articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory basis for the adverse employment action. If the employer does so, the burden shifts back to the plaintiff to establish that the employer's proffered reason is a pretext for discrimination.
§ 11-10 SEX DISCRIMINATION, PREGNANCY, AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT
The long and the short of it is:
1) Call a lawyer, and/or the EEOC and local labor groups.
2) An employer is presumed to be able to fire you at-will, for no cause.
3) Pregnancy (and women in general) are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal anti-discrimination statute. There might also be applicable FL state statutes, but I don't know of them.
4) The plaintiff in an action brought under Title VII bears the ultimate burden of proving that the employer discriminated against him or her on the basis of the employee's status as a member of a protected group.
5) The plaintiff may satisfy this burden either by producing direct evidence of intentional discrimination or by satisfying the four-part indirect proof standard set forth below in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green.
6) The Green test is that
(i) you are a member of a class protected by Title VII;
(ii) you were subjected to an adverse employment action;
(iii) at the time of the adverse employment action you were performing up to the employer's expectations;
(iv) someone outside your protected group was treated in a more preferential fashion by the employer under similar circumstances.
Again--IANAL (yet!), but here is some info that I hope might help. Get a real lawyer and they will know what to do much better than this cursory runthrough.
Edit: Still not a lawyer, but is familiar enough with retail to know that firing someone usually means a three month campaign of documenting how terrible they are down to the most minute detail.
Florida is an at will state, they don't need to give you a reason to fire you at any time unless you're on a contract or there is an implied contract like if your employee handbook says you will not be fired without cause or something similar. Also, family and medical leave are both also exceptions to at will employment, so an employer is not legally allowed to fire someone because of or during family or medical leave unless there is another reason behind the termination.
Employee handbooks make things funny, regardless of the wording. Once they give you guidelines on how to act on the job and what needs to be done, the at-will status tends to fly out the window. Then employers get to do shitloads of paperwork to make sure their ducks are in a row in order to fire someone.
Yeah... Exactly.
I have to say, while I am typically not a big fan of suing the crap out of someone, I hope the OP gets what she deserves and 10x more on top of it for these guys being total jerks.
You know, it's customary to at least read one or two of the replies before chiming in. This has been covered completely.
Oh I read them I just thought it needed to be stated again from get a lawyer replies.