I received an email from our Human Resources Director stating that I was being terminated for misconduct for two reasons. The email said:
“We have made this decision in light of the text messages you sent to XXX employees demanding a pay raise and/or promotion in exchange for not revealing personal information you held.”
The second reason was described as:
“In addition, in a call to me this morning you threatened to release information damaging to individuals and XXX unless you were given a severance payment.”
The problem is I didn't do either of those things. I didn't send text messages to anyone or discuss a severance payment when I spoke to HR.
How should I respond?
In light of the fact that you have been given notice of termination, I would suggest you do NOT respond. Instead, you should seek the consultation of an employment attorney to best determine how to address the situation. Many attorney's in this area provide free consultations. Good luck.
Most private sector employment is purely "at will" and as such can be terminated at any time for any reason not amounting to discrimination on the basis of a legally protected trait (race, religion, gender, etc) or retaliation for engaging in certain protected activity (filing a workers comp claim, taking FMLA leave, etc.), regardless of whether the basis for termination is fair, reasonable or true. This means you could be terminated based on the sort of false allegations you describe.
Now, if these allegations are objectively false, you might have a claim for defamation if your employer repeats these allegations to prospective employers who call for a reference. But that would most likely be the extent of your recourse.
If you think the employer's accusations are merely pretextual, then the question to ponder is "what is the real reason for their actions?" If you're being targeted for discriminatory reasons (race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, disability, complaining about the employer's unlawful conduct - such as depriving you of lunch/meal periods, failure to pay all your wages/overtime, etc), then a consultation with an employment and/or labor lawyer would be worth it. In any case, this matter is worth looking into. You might also want to make a written request to this employer for your personnel/employee file to try to figure out what might have happened and why they are bringing unfounded accusations against you.
