Can I SUE??

[nani565]

Heyy everyone

I am so infuriated right now, I just got fired, but thats not why I am upset. I worked at a real estate office and my co-worker was there long before me, he is the one who basically trained me to do the job, so I do what he does and he does what I do, we approach the job in the same way, if ever have a question I ask him. He was caught sleeping on the job about a month ago. Well I got fired and he did not, I got fired for not doing my job properly, but if I am not doing my job properly then he is not either, on top of that he always makes me do the majority of the work, She has told him that if it was not for his mother working for there he would have gotten fired. Now my question is, is this allowed? is it ethical? and most importantly is it legal? Im so mad i dont even know what to do!

 

[VRBeauty]

I''m so sorry you''re having to deal with this! I have zero input from the legal perspective, but I did want to say ((((hugs)))) and wish you all the best!

 

[nani565]

Thank you for the support! I dont even know what to do, that was a weekend job and it is so hard to find a job that is strictly weekends! But everything happens for a reason right?

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Hi Nani,

I definitely understand your frustration. Times are tough right now, especially in real estate. I would imagine your company was trying to find a way to downsize or let people go becasue of the economy, and maybe they just had to find a reason to fire you vs. do a layoff, in which case you would be entitled to unemployment. And, I imagine it sucks to see that guy still with his job and you knowing that he probably doesn''t do his job properly half the time either, but there are probably other reasons they kept him and not you (his mother, years at the company, etc.), which also sucks....BUT.....

...let me ask you - what do you want to accomplish by suing? Money? To punish them? Your job back? Him fired? I can tell you from experience, the "suing" route seems to me always filled with bitterness and negativity, and, even though you *may* get the result you want, it will continue to eat you up inside. It is also very expensive - for both sides - and time consuming...drags on and on and on and on. Additionally, any new potential employer will not look at this too kindly that you sued your previous employer. This stuff becomes public record.

For your own health and sanity, I would try and take this as a blessing in disguise. I''m sure there are many real estate companies out there where you could find a new job...and you may end up being even happier. Who wants to work with a co-worker who falls asleep on the job?? Must not be a very exciting company to work at!! Try and move on with your life and let it go.

If you feel you *have* to do something, write a letter expressing how you feel...and either send it or don''t, at least you will get your feelings out.

Hope that helps...and good luck to you!!!

 

[nani565]

It is just really hard because this is a part-time job, it is so hard to find a part time weekend job. and next semester i am doing my associate teaching which is when i get into a classroom and i teach, and that is from 8AM to 4PM and i was really counting on this job to be there so that I could still pay my bills. I guess by sueing i just want them to realize that what they are doing is wrong, it is not professional to keep someone on the job only because their mother works there, I feel like this is a conflict of interest on the Brokers part.

 

[purrfectpear]

Depends on what state you work in. In "at will" states you can be fired pretty much at any time and for any reason (other than illegal discriminatory reasons).

Obviously the guy was there before you were hired, so a lawsuit would be unlikely to prevail. Your employer would simply say he was kept due to seniority in the job.

I''m sure it''s not fun being fired, but it is what it is. It''s best to move on and put it behind you

 

[JulieN]

I don''t think you can sue for that.

It isn''t even unethical IMO.

 

[meresal]

Nani- I'm sorry that you are going thru this. I don't think that you can sue, but you can file for unemployment and fight for it.

I am in Texas, and I was fired from a job that I had. They couldn't afford two people that were working full time hours, so they made up a bunch of crap and fired me. I filed for unemployment and was initally regected. I submitted an itital rebuttal , so the state of Texas assigned a midigator(sp??) for my case, and I faught everything the store said about me. I ended up getting unemployment because I proved that I was doing everything correct, and most imporantly, the same as the girl that kept her job.

Compile ALL the information you can and then contact the correct state department. See what your options are. Good luck!!

FYI: The girl that was kept on at my old job, had been there about 2 months longer than me. You just have to prove that they fired you for reasons that were not true.

 

[neatfreak]

Unfortunately if you weren''t doing your job properly then they will just claim that was the reason you were fired regardless if there is another reason that someone else WASN''T fired. You were fired for a reason, so you can''t sue for that IMO.

But I am really sorry that happened to you. Sucks regardless. But suing them will only majorly stress you out. It''s a long drawn out, **EXPENSIVE** process and isn''t worth it in this case IMO.

Have you thought about retail? Most retail jobs explicitly look for people who can do weekends...

 

[Fleur_de_Lis]

Sorry to hear your job situation.

As PP said, it depends on what state you live in but I doubt you would prevail in any lawsuit either way. He has more seniority than you so you''re going to be the first person chosen to be let go. Is it unethical? Perhaps but legally they have almost any right to let you go, especially if they feel your job isn''t being done appropriately.

 

[strmrdr]

That stinks.

You are unlikely to prevail in a lawsuit in most states.

Apply for unemployment and use that as your playground to give them a hard time if they fight it.
If they don''t fight it then take solace knowing you are costing them money as they will have to pay more into the unemployment fund.

 

[scarleta]

Sorry Nani:life is not fair sometimes that is a fact.If I were you I would just move forward to the better job and much better future.You deserve to have much better job where you will get recognition.It takes lots of money, energy etc to sue and you may win or loose.
So take your time and concentrate on better things to come.
I wish you well.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

As frusterating as it may be, I think legally there is nothing you can do.

For all the reasons the other posters have pointed out, I think it''s best if you just move on in your career....you''ll be better off in the long run.

 

[kcoursolle]

No, probably not. If you did your job improperly at all, that is reason enough to let you go if they want to and they don''t have to let other people go even if they were doing that. I have a friend that was let go because he sent an email to a friend during work hours (really!).

I am so sorry you lost your job though, I can''t imagine how that feels.

 

[Pandora II]

I'm really sorry about what happened and understand exactly how you feel.

I don't know about US employment law, so I can give you any advice there I'm afraid.

However, I am currently sueing my employer here in the UK - I told them I was pregnant and two weeks later they tried to make me redundant after nearly 4 years.

I'm 4 months in and I'm almost certainly looking at another 4-5 months before things are finished. It has been one of the most stressful, unpleasant and emotionally destructive experiences of my life. It takes everything over, becomes very exhausting and nasty and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

I have no choice about what I am doing - I need to put a roof over our future child's head and the compensation should ensure that for the next year or so - but I would never judge those who choose to cut their losses.

Add lawyers fees into the whole mess and it gets expensive as well.

Unless you have to and unless your case is absolutely water-tight, I would just walk away.

 

[m76steve]

nani-sorry for your job loss-you can sue for just about anything you can come up with-you can sue someone for just bumping into you on the street-your job is to show you were wronged or can show just cause for you being singled out and fired-you have to show some kind of descrimination or item that was used against you-put your case together and take time to think things out-go get um!!!-my 2 cents...

 

[movie zombie]

there is criteria to be met to file a discrimination case and it requires much documentation to substantiate the case. while greatly unfair and technically your situation meets the lay person''s understanding of discrimination, i''m betting a lawyer who specializes in this type of case will say you don''t have a case that will stand up in court. if you''re serious about wanting to know more, find a very experienced lawyer in this field.

as noted above, such a case is all consuming and almost worse than the offense from which the filing of charges arose.

mz

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 2/16/2009 1:03:38 PM
Author: movie zombie
there is criteria to be met to file a discrimination case and it requires much documentation to substantiate the case. while greatly unfair and technically your situation meets the lay person''s understanding of discrimination, i''m betting a lawyer who specializes in this type of case will say you don''t have a case that will stand up in court. if you''re serious about wanting to know more, find a very experienced lawyer in this field.


as noted above, such a case is all consuming and almost worse than the offense from which the filing of charges arose.


mz

I''m pretty sure this isn''t a case of discrimination. For it to be discrimination she would need to have been fired for being part of a protected class (i.e., a certain race or religion), and not being the daughter of another employee isn''t a protected class...

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

If the company has a nepotism policy, you could argue that, but I think they''ll still just say that you weren''t good at your job. I don''t think this would really carry any weight. Sorry.

 

[movie zombie]

yes, and because its not discrimination, trying to prove nepotism is going to be problematic.

mz

 

[BlueSki231]

If you''ve got an extra 400k laying around.. and don''t mind spending the next 3 years in a terribly draining and emotional heartless process then sure.. go ahead and sue!

Don''t mean to sound sarcastic but I wouldn''t recommend a lawsuit.. in this case it doesn''t sound worth it.

 

[diamondsrock]

not worth suing in my opinion. Chalk it up to a life lesson. Unfortunately, there is often favoritism at the workplace and there is nothing you can do about it. I''ve dealt with this before and it is beyond frustrating. Especially when the only reason someone is there is because they are related to someone else. When you see that "special" person come in every day, do almost no work, and you''re working your butt off, it can become hard to bear.
I hope you find something else very soon, something better!