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Am I protected as an employee ?
Anonymous2 views2 answers
I was working as a store manager for years and 1 day the owner sent someone to the store as a consultant who eventually said he is the new manager. He was touching the workers, using very bad language and all the workers were complaining. one day he informed me he that is going to replace all of my workers . My answer was that he can start from myself and that’s what he did. He fired me with text message from unknown number. I showed up next day to work because I want even sure if that was a real text message. And this guy called the police on me by saying that he fired me but I still came to work. I was in shock because he is not the owner and everything I got was s text message nothing else. Now he is claiming to other workers that I was stealing the business and that I did a lot of bad things because they keep asking him about the reason of firing me. I have no clue what he is talking about and I don’t know how I can stop him about telling those lies to other people. He also informed All the employees that they can’t have any communication with me. Is this all legal to do? I am kind of confused about all this.
It certainly sounds like some fo your co-workers may have claims for sexual harassment. Whether you have a claim is unclear. If you complained about his harassment of others and were fired for that reason, then you could claim wrongful termination/retalation. You would also have a claim if you were fired because of your race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age or perceived or actual disability.
Telling former co-workers that you were stealing from the business is certainly defamatory. A cease and desist letter from a lawyer would probably put a stop to that. If it doesn't, you could sue for defamation, although you might not have much of a damage claim.
You should consult with an employment lawyer about the circumstances of your termination to determine whether you have a claim for wrongful termination and to put a stop to the defamatory comments. Many of us provide a free initial consultation.
There are several things you raise in your post.
If the owner sent this person to the store, that person is acting as an agent for the owner, and he presumably had the power to do everything he did.
Your post talks about him touching employees. Far more would need to be known if that touching rose to the level of unlawful conduct. Using bad language is not unlawful.
When this person told you he was going to let your workers go, and you responded as you did, he was fully within his rights as an employer of an at will employee, to terminate you. It is immaterial that the termination occurred by text message. You can be terminated in any manner in which the employer decides to communicate that decision.
If you refused to leave the premises, this guy had the right to call the police to have you removed. Nothing unlawful there.
Telling others that you were fired for stealing MIGHT give you a claim of defamation. However, there are certain privileges that might make such untrue statements privileged. It would be appropriate for you to locate and share all the information you have about these statements with an attorney well versed in defamation law.
Finally, it is perfectly legal to instruct employees to have no communication with you.
Good luck to you.
