Just Fired!
 

Ok ... I need to vent ... Today (Mon. May 2nd) I walk into my work 15min early to find the company owner and 2 other joint owners sitting in our shop ... kinda confused I make myself busy by cleaning coffee cups and taking out the garbage. 10 minutes later they come up to me and ask for my gas card, company Visa, Keys to my work truck and cell phone, and present me with a letter and the words "Your Fired!" ... first reaction ... WOW ... second reaction ... YOUR F****** DEAD! ... luckily I got my witts about me and just chucked my clipboard about 50 yards into a empty lot next to our shop ... cleaned out my truck ... cutting myself serveral times unknownly and shaking. then my Mother and Step Dad arrive (manager and office asst.) They walk into the shop and demand to know what is going on ... then they are forcefully removed from the shop and told they are fired ... then the cops arrive ... the owners called them to avoid a confrontation ... while all this is going on my good friend and fellow empolyee, who is a close family friend is being lead around the city so he is unaware of the happenings ... Now our shop is next door to the local T.V news station, shortly after the cops come a cameraman comes and is asking questions and filming us ... Being smart legally and holding my tounge I told him it was a personal matter and to screw off ... so he goes to the public road and says " try and stop me now" ... bastard ... so I gather my stuff and go home ... then find out from my friend that they talked to him and told him that they have been trying to get rid of my stepdad for months. Now I am just a victim of Guilty by Assocition. They go ... I go ... sucks to be me ... Anyone think I have a "wrongful dismissal" case with this ... the job wasn't great by hey ... it was $18/hr. and I have been doing it for 6 years and 2 for this present company. I'm 20 now so a good chunk for my early working career has been this job ...


ah ... I have mixed emotions but I feel better now ...

You could have grounds for wrongful termination, but it depends on the laws locally. Like in Utah where I'm at the state is an "at will" state, which means that I can be fired because it's Tuesday and the boss needs no more reason than that. Conversely I can also quit with no notice and they can't penalize me.

If you haven't given them reason to fire you and your state is not at will then you could possibly sue them on the grounds of discrimination, but it would be very difficult to prove.

Sorry to hear that you got shafted :( I hope that you can find something even better soon.

Set the building on fire.

/Milton

But yeah, that sucks man... You don't wanna be working at a place that treats employees like that anyway... You should have no trouble finding another job in a similar field if you've been doing it for so long

even if you do get the job back, look for a different place to work. there's lots of good employers out there.

Where one door closes, another opens. Look forward not backwards that way you can never smell your own farts.

Working in an "at will" state does not necessarily rule out a wrongful termination case, especially with a company you have been with for 6 years. Although you would not want to work there again in such a hostile environment, you could be awarded a settlement based on years of service. You can file a grievance with the state employment bureau, or a conversation with an attorney will quickly let you know if you have a case. Good luck.

oh ya ... I live in Canada... and I am meeting a lawyer tommorrow ... so ... cool ...
I am not so much pissed at losing my job cuz I know I can easliy get a new one, it was just the way it all went down, and how they treated my mom, I just wanted to smash faces, but I knew that wasn't going to help and that cooler heads would prevail. Oh well I left a few going way presents such as a nail under a tire ... oops must of fell out of my tool pouch ... heh ... and I was so upset I locked the doors to my truck and then when I tried to open it I accidently broke the key in the lock ... darn ... meh ... just small child-like things like that made me feel better although it obviously never solved anything ...

You've been doing the job since you were 14? damn...
Anyway, you're only 20, man. Most kids who go to college aren't even out of school yet. So I don't think you've wasted your "early working career." There's TONS of time to pick something new if you hate whatever it is your doing. Go back to school, go to a trade school, whatever.
I think 2 years at one place is going to look pretty good on a resume, and 6 years total experience. It shows you can actually do the little stuff that makes a big difference, like show up on time and not screw off.
So, was your stepdad the manager, and your mom the office assistant, or vice versa? It sounded the other way around in your post.

It's good to vent, keep doing it.

In this case, it seems as though firing you was completely unfounded. I would seek for more clarity on the "why" part of their decision to let you go.

that being said . . . this is probably your only job reference and future companies will check with them before hiring you . . . be candid, but gentle in your dealings with this situation.

and i'm sorry, that seems unfair :(

Sweetpea

I am so sorry, definitely look into filing a wrongful termination suit. There is no way that you should get fired because they wanted your step-dad out, that makes no sense to me. I hope you're okay and I hope you can find something else soon.

step dad was manager and my mom was the office asst.
I was going to go back to skool in the fall ... I got 3 semester of Police Studies under my belt. Which being a Police Officer is what I want to do, but skool is going to be too expensive now and student loans are completely out of the question, and you have to be 25 and "non-white" to get into the police without skool here, unfortuntly, but it is the truth, that and you need 3 years clean conscience, and if thats the case I got 2 years of good behaviour to go.

You have obviously not been privy to some of the more fantastic flatulence emitted by human beings.

That sucks man. I don't know whether you've got a case or not, but here they'd have to give at least 2 weeks notice after working somewhere for that long.

You're in Canada, they can't do that here :D Sue the bastards. Did he news crew film any of it?

What did the letter say? Did it include a reason for the firing?

if there is no 2 weeks notice, you should at least get severance pay in lieu. Aslo, make sure that you have your vacation pay owed.

So. . . you say you were improperly terminated, but then you snubbed the journalist who was trying to get your story so everyone in the viewing area could know about how you were improperly terminated, and then direct much public anger at your company, possibly resulting in you either getting severance pay, or maybe even your job back?

You might wanna go find that guy, apologize, and offer your story.

Add to that, chucking your clipboard 50 yards into the parking lot, nails behind tires, and keys "accidentaly" broken off in locks...none of this is helping your case. Look, I know that you're only 20, but you need to calm down a little, and start thinking and acting in a little more calm and mature fashion. Trust me when I say that it'll serve you well as a law enforcement officer. You cannot act out of emotion, in that capacity.
Now...let's face it. I don't know Canadian labor law. I'm at a disadvantage there. However, the first thing that you need to do is to ask yourself if you honestly want your job back. I wouldn't. Not based on the information that you offered. If you do...then you need to calmly inquire, from the owners, the exact cause of you termination. We need that information before we proceed, or even offer you any other advice, other than find a different job. You are, after all, only 20 years old. With 6 years work experience, you should be snatched up like a Snickers bar at a fat camp. Assuming, of course, that your "hot head" doesn't create stumbling blocks. Keep us advised, and good luck.

Well, it depends on the province. Some provincial labour laws are more liberal than others.

I would also echo some comments here, including:

1. I think that you have 2 weeks severance in lieu of notice, plus accumulated vacation time.

2. You want to leave on a good note, since getting fired and being a prick about it can come back to bite you in the ass further down in your career.

3. You want to be a cop and you lost your cool like that in an emotional situation? Where I live, police candidates have to undergo a polygraph exam. Breathe deep and remember with pride the laws you broke by placing nails (mischief) and breaking keys (destruction of property). I think you have a long way to go before you get hired on with the cops. When you say that you have to be 25 and non-white to make it into the cops: Take a step back. Look at what just happened and ask if you would want a cop to act the way you did. If you want it, act like it, in every way and at all times.

4. What skills do you have? It sounds like you have a good work ethic, and to be that upset about losing your job is a good thing, actually. It shows that you put your heart into the work. If it was a "journey" trade then you are golden. Walk across the street and get a better job. If you were getting that much money for something like delivery driver or parts guy then you must have known that the gravy train would end eventually.

The nail under the tire and the "accidental" key breaking probably cost you a chance at a lawsuit. You should have just gone with it and then let the lawyer do his job. I understand how pissed and frustrated you are but you have to keep your head sometimes. Sorry to hear about you getting screwed over. They should at least give you your vacation pay though.

Yeah, thats bullshit man. I just Got "layed off" from a family business, my grandpa has been stringing me along, and want's me to take over the business, and then told me to find another job for a while, second time now, so he can go straight to hell.

Vacation pay is not an automatic thing you guys....it depends on the company policy. I know our company does not have to pay out any unused vacation...its spelled out in the employee handbook.....

Vacation pay is paid when terminated in Canada from what I recall when I worked for "the man".
(and Lyncher is Canadian)

typically it amounts to 4% of your ytd pay, less vacation taken.