Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with termination

Looking for information about second-trimester abortion

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:12:35 -0800

I am looking for information about therapeutic abortion in the second trimester. I am 18 weeks pregnant and just got back an abnormal result on my quad screen. Today I went in for a level II ultrasound, which showed massive hydrops, pericardial effusion, and several other markers for a chromosomal abnormality. We are waiting on amniocentesis results, but the consensus among several doctors was that this baby would die well before term. We are probably going to have the pregnancy terminated. I am looking for any experiences anyone has with late pregnancy termination, e.g. what the procedure is like, recovery afterwards (both physical and mental), etc. Anyone who doesn't want to post here can email me at losingmybaby@hotmail.com

Really, how screwed am I?

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:13:49 -0800

Am I being fired? I was recently converted from a full-time employee at a $5 billion multi-national company to a contractor working at the same company. Now, my contractor boss has called me in for meetings with the contracting company's HR rep for "issues". Oh yeah, I'm pregnant too. In July, my boss with the large multinational corp (who I'll call Big Company) called me into the office to say that I had two options since my position was being eliminated. I could take the severance package and be "laid off" or I could be converted to contractor and move to a lower level job I previously held at Big Company. My salary would increase a small amount to cover the additional cost for medical benefits with the Smaller Contracting Company. They repeatedly tell me it's not a demotion, but they had to make tough choices and thought that this would be a way to keep me in a job. I have had only positive reviews while being employed with Big Company.

When I looked into taking the job with the Smaller Contracting Company, several issues arose. The medical plan was not comparable which was no big surprise. I would earn less vacation, also not a surprise. However, I would have no maternity benefits. In addition, since I would not have been employed with the Smaller Contracting Company for more than a year I would not be eligible for FMLA. I brought this up as a serious issue and was given 6 weeks paid maternity. Finally, I was told that I wouldn't be eligible for COBRA because I was accepting the contractor role.

The contractor job is at Big Company, which is subcontracted by Small Company. I take the lower level contractor role at a slightly higher salary. My new boss, who is also a contractor, doesn't schedule regular one on ones with me or communicate to me in the same frequency or tone as my peers, generally avoids me, does not provide me the information I need to do my job, etc. Basically, we have some serious communication issues for which we are both responsible for.

I think the turning point of uncomfortable to serious was when I provided her feedback regarding one of my peers about 2 weeks ago. I covered for this person while they were on vacation and discovered many issues. In addition, I was asked by 3 coworkers in other departments to speak up about the issues surrounding this employee because many people feel that concerns voiced to my new boss have not been heard. When I raised the issues, my new boss got very defensive.

Monday she asked me to do something that I felt was unethical (I didn't tell her I thought it was unethical, but that's how I felt). I asked her to confirm with our finance folks on process before I proceeded.

Tuesday I worked from home and came in late Wednesday because we had gotten elevated risks on our baby for Trisomy 18. I was a total emotional wreck after receiving the news and thought it best to work from home. This situation has not helped me in "being cool". Between hormones and this news, I've pretty much cried at the drop of a hat.

Thursday she sends me a invite for me, her and her boss. I ask her boss about it and am told Small Contracting Company HR will be attending as well.

Friday we have the meeting and she pulls out a two page list of everything I'm doing wrong. I didn't keep my shit together and cry. I told her I felt cornered that the meeting came out of nowhere and that I wasn't prepared with my list of issues either. They call off the meeting because I'm a total wreck.

Now I'm sitting here trying to figure out my next steps. The fact there was a written list and the Smaller Company HR folks were there really makes me think they are trying to make a case for me to be fired.

Obviously, there's more to the story, but that's the general jist of it.

Here's the questions:
-Am I being fired?
-The nut in me thinks this may be a complex plot to eliminate me from the company in a manner that would have the lowest liability for the Big Company. Am I crazy?
-How should I meet with HR/bosses? I would like to propose we work on our communicating styles together in one meeting, so that at the next meeting we can discuss the "issues" in an understanding and supportive manner. Is this out of line? I hate the idea of preparing a tit for tat list and worry about delivering something like this.
-I have a multiple high risk pregnancy that makes it likely I may have pre-term labor. I am very worried about the stress on the baby and it contributing to this. My boss's boss has voiced a concern that may stress may be negative for my pregnancy. Should I ask to see if HR would be willing to make temporary medical accommodations for the stress induced by new boss? Ideally, I'd like to report to my boss's boss, although I am open to other positions. I think it would reduce stress dramatically.

Background:
The Smaller Contracting Company has over 50 employees, although maybe less than 150. It's hard to tell the total number because they work with a number of companies in the area.

I was employed with Big Company for 4 years. Big Company has serious financial troubles. There have been several rounds of lay-offs in the last year. In the past the lay-offs got rid of poor performers.

I will call a lawyer on Monday, but the meeting is on Monday, so insight is greatly appreciated.

This is in Texas.

Appealing getting fired from the megamart

fireoyster — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:29:07 -0800

AskingForMyDad Filter: Should he seek a lawyer or are there any other options after he was fired from Buy 'n' Large? This entire story is based on his side of events and, obviously, I have no way of determining what the company has to say. Oh, and you are not his lawyer. This post is primarily to either help stop or encourage my mother from prowling the yellow pages for attorneys.

My father worked for a large discount warehouse store I shall call Buy 'n' Large (based in Washington State) store in Texas until this week. He was called into his manager's office last week and told that he had been stealing from the company because he was refilling soda cups, either to drink while performing his job or on lunch/break, once or twice instead of buying a new one on each break. The manager told him this was theft from the company and that they knew he had been doing it for the past few months and that the company figured he had stolen approximately $40. He was placed on suspension, told to return earlier this week and was subsequently fired.

According to my dad, he would buy these cups--which are the wax-covered paper kind and not very durable, according to him--from the "food court" on his breaks. The cups supposedly (I have not personally seen one) that indicate they are eligible for free refills, and he does admit he refilled them once or twice (in a single day, not spanning days) and buy another one on his next break or lunch. His reasoning behind doing this was because the cups do say they can be refilled for free and buying one takes 10 minutes of a 15 minute break as the "food court" is usually busy.

He is of the opinion that Texas is an at-will employment state, so they are entitled to fire him for any or no reason and he would have no grounds to speak to a lawyer or simply ask a higher authority at the company to reinstate him. He claims there was no written warning and he was not spoken to about this before last week, so he did not continue violating a policy that he was told he was breaking.

I realize this is rapidly tl;dr, so I'll end by asking: Does he have any options?

Why do links to Flickr photos kill my Firefox?

Drasher — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:37:48 -0800

Why do links to Flickr photos kill my Firefox? When someone posts an entry in AskMe that refers to a photo on Flickr, I am forced to copy the link, open IE, and look at the picture from there. I have searched AskMe and Google, I have tried disabling Adblock settings... I just don't get it. If/when Firefox dies because of one of these links, I restart, it comes up and I select "Restore Previous Session", and I need to close the offending tab before it fully loads otherwise it will kill Firefox again.
(I am currently running Firefox 3.0.13)

worried about being fired but might have some leverage

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:22:41 -0800

I am worried about getting fired. What can I do? My company recently let someone go. Apparently it just had to be done. I am worried that if it came down to it, I might be next. I'm good at my job, but have made some mistakes (that I fixed and learned from). My boss hired me alongside another person who has the same job title that I do. He, from the beginning, has always preferred her. He has even given her credit for things that I have accomplished (and that he has no reason to think it was her). There is some reason to believe that he preferered her initially because she is attractive and he is gross like that.

He has somewhat of an inappropriate sense of humor. He has said a racial slur in front of me about people of my ethnicity (I don't think he knew what I was at the time, as my appearance makes my ethnicity kind of ambiguous).

He has a reputation for making sexist and racist jokes.

Can I use any of this as leverage? I would rather not have it come down it that, and I have been working my ass off lately to try to do everything in my power to prevent it from coming to it. But if my hand was forced, is any of this kind of thing useful? Should I be doing anything regarding the things I wrote about above beforehand as some sort of preventive measure? I don't want to screw anyone over, but this is an especially stressful time to be worried about your job security.

How to appeal termination of COBRA benefits?

Macbeth123 — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:43:21 -0800

The company that administers my COBRA benefits terminated me because, they said, of an NSF check, which my bank had told me would clear. But it didn't because the check was put thru literally hours before a hold on a $500 check was released. Apparently the bank rep was figuring that either A) the bank would pay the check (they have before) or B) the hold release would happen before the check came thru. My cyber-statement even shows that the check was paid; then the next day it was sent back. (So when I checked my cyber-statement to confirm the info from the phone rep, the check was shown as having been pd.) Q 1) How and to whom do I appeal? Q 2) Is it worth the effort?

How to terminate an employee for sexual harassment?

Izzy — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:37:07 -0800

I think I need to terminate an employee for sexual harassment, help! Background

I own a small business. I learned last week that one of my employees has been harassing another employee and then made inappropriate, unwanted physical sexual contact with the harassed employee. I can’t condone such behavior in my workplace (and more so, could conceivably open my business to litigation if I did), and want to let this employee go.

Open and shut case, no? Well, it’s a little complicated. The accused employee is (a) learning disabled, so finding a new job won’t be that easy, (b) has a family of three kids and a wife to support on a single income. I feel responsible to not only the employee but to his family, too. Letting the employee go makes me feel bad, but an emotional response to such a situation does not always make for the best business decision.

Question

The professional, decent thing to do would be to terminate the employee with two weeks’ pay, but the employee already has an outstanding loan equal to two weeks pay, and I’m not inclined to reward him unduly for his unacceptable behavior. On the other hand, I need to be fair to the victimized employee, too. What’s the decent thing to do here?

What to say at interviews re: being fired wrongfully

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:40:30 -0800

Four days ago I filed a complaint with the department of labor against my current employer due to unpaid overtime. Today, I was fired. Should I disclose this to future potential employers? When I am attempting to get a new job, should I announce to my potential employers that the reason I was (wrongfully) terminated was that I filed a complaint against my employer with the department of labor? Does this make me look like a disloyal or untrustworthy employee? If so, what should my response be when asked why I left my last job?

How should I terminate this cable?

hxc — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:31:31 -0800

In need of some networking advice, how to terminate a cable on the switch side. As always more information after the jump. I am in charge of networking a switch to ten drops. I am currently deployed and the only thing I could get for the rooms is a dual port surface mounted boxes. I will only be using one port per room. The instructions say to terminate at the box in this fashion

T568B
White/Orange
Orange
White/Blue
Blue
White/Green
Green
White/Brown
Brown

I need to figure out how I will terminate the switch end of the cable. Straight Through, Crossover, or what?

Should I tell someone they will be fired?

reenum — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:55:03 -0800

My secretary will get fired at the end of the day. Should I tell her in advance? I was talking to my supervisor yesterday, and found out that my secretary will get fired at the end of the day.

Over the past few months, her and I have gotten friendly. We're not pals, but we can generally carry on an enjoyable conversation. I feel terrible that she is going to get blindsided by this firing at the end of the day.

Should I leave the situation alone, or should I take my secretary aside and let her know she needs to start packing? Do any of you foresee me revealing the firing as being adverse to me here at the office?

We're leaving and I want you to sign the dotted line saying that we're a-okay after this point.

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:43:40 -0800

Can my company force employees to sign a resignation letter during an acquisition? My company provides benefits and payroll for a company and we are severing our relationship and they are taking benefits and payroll in-house. My company is worried that they have not fully researched this move and will be unable to provide benefits, worker's comp and unemployment insurance to the current employees after we leave next week. My company is trying to determine if we are able to require the employees to sign a letter of resignation that stipulates that they cannot claim and WC/UE/Benefit expense to my company after 10/1. Does anyone have any experience with this, or company contract terminations? I've googled like mad, as well as consulting an attorney, but both have turned up weird and inconsistent results/answers.

Anon because company departure is strictly confidential until the actual day we leave. I know, weird, but the parent company requested it. I guess the whole "keep them in the dark as long as possible" is what has me worried about my company's release.

How to determine the last working day for a laid-off employee

binocularfight — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:20:51 -0800

I work for a very small company that has to lay off an employee due to budget restraints. I have heard that in firing someone, the day of firing should be the employee's last day in the office. This protects the company from any harmful backlash. Does this rule hold true for layoffs as well?

How do you know when you’ve been legitimately fired? No, I'm not as dumb as I sound here...

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:52:17 -0800

How do you know when you’ve been legitimately fired? No, I'm not as dumb as I sound here... Here’s the details. I worked for just over a year at a busy firm. (I’m keeping detailed purposely vague – you can contact me at designcareeradvicefrommefi@gmail.com if you have more questions or comments). I’m in an at-will state and there’s the usual, “we don’t have to give you a reason why we’re firing you” line in my contract.

The place has been stressful, and turnover has been a big issue – people have quit, and people have been fired. I didn’t have much contact with my boss, whom previously had said on all occasions that I was doing a great job. Deadlines increased with all the turnover, and we found ourselves on the same project – apparently a team member brought my boss onto the project when she didn’t like the suggestions I was making.

Both a coworker and I raised concerns about the speed of the project, and were subsequently fired – and I’m not sure if the firing is political or something else. I was giving one reason – “incompetence” – which is a word often used in our company. While I wasn’t happy at the place, I wanted to at least finish the project I had worked on (another one – not the one with the boss) before I had left, and instead I’m left wondering what happened. The coworker mentioned he’s going to speak with a lawyer – should I? I've never dealt with one and yes, I know IANAL etc. etc.

Does a company like this fight an unemployment insurance claim? We don’t have an HR department – just an external consultant who pops buy a few times a year when he’s in the neighborhood. The irony is that my boss didn’t fire me and neither did the HR person. The person who fired me was on the good project that I was finishing up and we had had a meeting in the morning, and he fired me in the afternoon. I feel like I’ve been professionally stabbed in the back and am worried that this firing will follow me since I'm in a small industry. They’ve already replaced me with someone who’s an alumni of the school most of the company has gone to – should I just chalk this up to not being an alumni? People have joked and said that there are 2 org charts there - the official one and the unofficial one. Should I just say, "well, the unofficial one won out"?

What to do? I am already moving on (i.e. networking and ensuring my resume is out there) but wanted to see if anyone had advice for someone in this kind of situation. I’m glad to be gone from this toxic place (I’ve left out the really mind boggling examples) but it’s hard when the rug’s been grabbed from right under you and you don't have a chance to catch your breath.

I need advice on firing two employees!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:07:41 -0800

I need to terminate two employees this week... I need to terminate two employees this week (in the US, Illinois) do I need to contact the Unemployment Administration and let them know, or do I wait until the employees file and assume that I will be notified?

I don't hate my job ... just you.

Anonymous — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:15:08 -0800

How do I tell my work partner that I am transferring away to a new location solely because of our toxic relationship? (semi-long explanation to follow) I work for a US aid organisation that pairs Americans with foreign nationals in their country to do humanitarian work in a specific location for a specific length of time (I'd rather not go into more detail, for the same reason that this question is anonymous--I'd like to employ as much discretion as possible). I've been at my current location for about half of my tenure, and the decision has been made between my organisation and myself that, due to severe personality issues/conflicts between myself and the foreign national I'm working with, that it would be best for my work and myself to transfer elsewhere in the country.
This is pretty much entirely due to her difficult personality. This is something that is known (but accepted) with her colleagues that I have been working with, as well as my organisation, which had severe reservations about granting her request for an American partner because of these personality issues that were evident even in the initial interview process. I'll leave out the gory details, and just say that I've done as much as I can to deal with and try to improve the situation from my end, to no avail, and it's reached the point where the relationship has become detrimental to my health, happiness, and productivity.

My organisation supports me; my worry is how to break this news to her. She is very prone to angry outbursts, and is the type of person who doesn't really listen to what her conversation partner is saying, often to the point of just cutting them off and not letting them give an explanation or even finish a sentence.
From my end, I feel like the only way I'll be able to give an explanation of where I'm coming from and why I'm doing this is in writing, either in email or letter-of-resignation form (as I suspect that the simple introductory phrase of "I'm transferring to another region" will open the floodgates of anger and judgment), but that feels rather .... cowardly. There is also the fact that, because this is coming about directly as a result of a personality issue (and the last person she worked with from our organisation also had a lot of difficulties with her, though they chose to stick it out), she will not be receiving another US partner. The location will still be eligible, but not with her as point person.

So what are some suggestions/ideas/words of wisdom for addressing this situation with a minimum of drama and blowup? Can I state what I need to state in writing, or should I "be a (hu)man", bite the bullet, and tell her in person? What are some good things to say, phrases to employ, approaches to take? We will have to work together for a couple more weeks after I inform her, and it may be another 1-2 months before all ties are severed and I've left the community for my new location.

Business Class VOIP termination

clarkie666 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:24:43 -0800

Can anyone recommend business class VOIP termination that is not a fully hosted solution by the terminating company? So I am pretty new to this area but boy have I learned a lot in the last month. Our small business (50 users, 3 sites) was previously going with a fully hosted VOIP solution but following a full cost analysis the price difference between this and hosting our own was huge which is leading us down the Switchvox route.

We are planning on initially maintaining our 7 inbound analog lines for origination, however the missing link is VOIP termination to the PSTN for our outbound calls. Unfortunately it is difficult to evaluate VOIP service providers since the heavyweight ones provide their own hosted VOIP solutions (and don't seem to offer wholesale termination without using their hardware) and the wholesale providers range from fly-by-nights to what I am sure are reliable companies - but it is hard to tell the difference. Posts to VOIP forums are peppered with sales reps giving glowing recommendations of their own companies.

Can anyone recommend one? How much influence does the service provider have on overall quality and is it possible to buy termination over a private network? Bonus if you are working with a Switchvox or Astrisk system. Bonus bonus for reliable international calling.

Thanks much!

Job loss and FMLA

tickettrader — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:00:59 -0800

My job is scheduled for termination at the end of the month. My wife is pregnant and could possibly be placed on bedrest about the same time. If I apply for FMLA before my termination date, would my employer have to honor my claim? My employer is unaware of the pregnancy AND I'm only speculating that bedrest could be ordered. Why do I care? If I don't find a new job within the company before my termination date, I'm looking at an additional $900/month in COBRA payments for the 12 weeks of FMLA.

Additional Information:

US Dept of Labor Site

I barely know my boss and he works at a different location.

It is a very large US corporation.

My entire department is being shut down so my job loss is not due to my personal performance - at least I hope.

Gettin' ready for gettin' canned ...

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:31:11 -0800

My employer wants to fire me, but I've got a little time. How do I land on my feet before I'm thrown to the street? My supervisor informed me that his supervisor want to fire me. They agreed on a "plan" that I am to follow to stay employed. This is game and I know how it works. The plan is set up so no matter what, I'll ultimately be fired. The upside of this game, is that I should have approximately 3 months to prepare myself for "that day." Any advice on the following would be excellent.

- Attorney. I'm going to be talking to an attorney in the next day or so. I want to be prepared when I am presented with the "plan." I also want to be ready for "the day." Any advice on what I should ask my attorney (Note: I'm a white male under 40, none of the discrimination stuff will work for me.)

- Headhunter and job seeking. I'm a financial analyst with a Ph.D. who does consulting and expert testimony. Job hunting tips or headhunter contacts would be most appreciated.

- Getting by. While my supervisor has been a staunch ally, I've found that some co-workers who I thought of as friends have been backstabbing me. Of course they don't know that I know, but they won't look me in the eye. How do you face these people day-in and day-out?

If you would like more details, send them to my throwaway account: shownthedoor@gmail.com.

How do I fire someone without demoralizing the rest of my team?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 19:07:06 -0800

How do I fire someone without demoralizing the rest of my team? Some background: I work in a call center. I was recently promoted as a team leader, and was assigned to take over a six-month-old team whose leader laterally transferred to a different position. I am new to the account and have never had management experience before, and I feel that the team is quite resistant to my leadership. The company we work for is a large multinational corporation with many rules and guidelines. Their former team leader was very lenient about letting them run willy-nilly against them (constant undertime, overbreaks, bringing in food and electronic gadgets even though they're not allowed, leaving messy desks). I've only been with them for 3 weeks, and I'm struggling to tame the... wilderness. I try to do right by the company and my ethics, and apply things I've been trained for. I exercise my own discretion on most things, and I'm not even that strict, but whenever I try to modify aberrant behavior, they kick and scream or rebel passive-aggressively, and think I'm all about the rules, rules, rules - simply because their former leader never implemented them nor shared the rationale behind them. (My explanations fall on deaf ears since being able to get away with murder before I came along must mean the rules are flexible and I'm not.)

The meat of the matter: While monitoring the team's calls, I accidentally pulled up one which was mysteriously dropped, and for all intents and purposes, it is the greatest mortal sin one could ever commit in a call center. By all applicable guidelines in our handbook, this offense leads to termination. Pretty cut and dry, right? Wrong. In our company, we suspend the employee until further notice while upper management and human resources investigates the matter, and depending on the results, the employee will either get reinstated or dismissed.

Here's where it gets tricky: this particular employee is one of the strong social pillars of the team. They value him, he's got clout. Plus he's gradually been able to start meeting the goals, and is rarely ever late or absent. Terminating him is sure to demoralize the team, and will almost certainly paint me as The Evil Villain in their eyes. It's not going to be pretty. Chaos is certain to ensue. But I can't let it slide; the offense is a grave one. There is no middle ground. Yet it would be unethical to share with the rest of the team exactly why we're suspending, and possibly terminating said employee, firstly because while the matter is being investigated it's confidential, and secondly I wouldn't want to subject him to any further humiliation.

So my question is: how do I fire this guy without demoralizing the rest of the team?

Am I being unreasonable? Am I going about handling the team the wrong way? How do I lead them properly?

My own supervisor has been of little help, so I seek your sagely advice, dear fellow MeFites. I'm dying here. This is a delicate matter, and this will not wendell.

(E-mail is le.peter.principle@gmail.com)

How can I prevent potential employers from getting spooked by a less-than-friendly job termination?

Anonymous — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 07:13:12 -0800

CollegeJobFilter: I have recently left one college job on less than friendly terms with my employer, but not necessarily of my own fault. How can I reconcile this with my resume? I'm a college student at a large American university. Over the summer I worked part-time at a local technology firm (which will remain anonymous). Due to other job offers and scheduling inconveniences with this summer job, I saw fit to quit a few weeks after school started.

I gave notice, and tried to make amends by staying as long as needed to train the replacement. Since the project was more or less at a standstill, I took off until I could meet with the replacement and teach him the particulars of the project. I was supposed to come in within the next few weeks. However, I was informed today that the project was cancelled due to a lack of progress, and as a result my employment officially terminated immediately. I was also informed that I would never be considered for re-hire, and it would be "very unlikely that I would ever get a positive recommendation from anyone at the office". Where this worries me is for my resume: in a few months, I must start the application process for summer internships.

I was never planning to include said HR person or other bosses as a reference anyway (because they do not have any technical expertise or knowledge about my project), but I want to list the job experience because that was my primary employment over summer, and I also acquired some skills. I'm worried that a prospective employer will somehow find the hiring manager and listen to their badmouthing. Is this likely to happen, or would the potential employer only seek to verify dates of employment? I don't want to have my otherwise excellent resume and work experience to be derailed by the unfortunate bridge-burning that was largely outside of my control.

How much notice to give?

Anonymous — Thu, 31 May 2007 10:29:23 -0800

Ontario employment law: I'm quitting my job to go back to school full-time in September. I'm currently employed full-time as an engineer. I want to tell my employer as far in advance as possible that I am leaving so that everyone knows what's going on, but I want to minimize the risk of finding myself unemployed and unpaid early. How much notice should I give? I've worked at this company for six years, and the company is large enough to pass the $2.5M payroll requirement for severance pay. I want to keep working until the latest possible time because I can use the money, so I don't want to give them an opportunity to let me go early and not pay me for some of that time.

But I also don't want to screw them over by giving really short notice, and I would like to stop having to keep my plans a secret, especially while being assigned projects which will obviously run beyond my last day. And I don't want to burn bridges because I may still be involved in the industry a few years from now when I graduate.

If I give months' worth of notice because I'm going back to school and the company lets me go early, will I still collect termination and severance pay under Ontario law? If so, how many weeks' worth? Is there anything else I should keep in mind when choosing how much notice to give?

(The whole matter doesn't seem big enough to actually involve a lawyer, but are there specialized legal information resources for questions like this I should talk to instead?)

In DC, what can a previous employer who terminated an employee say to a job applicant's prospective new employer?

onepapertiger — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:00:58 -0800

In DC, what can a previous employer who terminated an employee say to a job applicant's prospective new employer? I found this on an About.com portal on DC Employment law:

A previous employer is free to provide any non-confidential information about a previous employee, as long as it's true and isn't provided to maliciously harm the employee. An employer, who provides false information that disparages the employee, may be liable for defamation. In order to avoid potential liability, many employers often refuse to comment on a past employee's job performance and confirm only dates of hire and separation, plus wage or salary information.

Is the fact of being terminated considered confidential or non-confidential? Also, is there a number to this statute or rule?

Wrongful Termination question

BillsR100 — Wed, 02 May 2007 19:27:25 -0800

Employmet: Wrongful Termination question. A friend of mine was fired today, he was in the hospital due to a stroke that happend on monday, he's approx 27 years old. More details...... (I'm going to try to keep this anonymous for fear of the employer reading this) A friend of mine at work was fired today. Here's the step by step. On monday he suffered a mild stroke at work. He went (was driven) to the hospital. His wife called the next day to give us an update, he's doing better but will be out for quite a while till the Doctors give the ok for him to come back to work. Today he was fired. I find this morally reprehensible, but beside that, is it legal for the employer to fire him due to his unfortunate sudden health issue?

The closest I can find on this issure is here

Help me determine if something odd happened with my friends's determination

unvivid — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:45:34 -0800

Help me help a friend - wrongful termination? I have a friend who was recently fired from his job less than two months in. The company is a national dealership for industrial equipment. My friend worked for the maintenance side. He's gone to school for what he does and is fairly new to the field but is a great worker and I'm not being biased about that. Kid grew up on a farm and knows what hard work is.

The chain of events leading up to his being fired is what makes me suspicious. He had no warning whatsoever. He walked in one morning on time as usual and they told him he had been terminated. His boss wouldn't even give him the reason right off the bat. He ended up having to call a couple of people from HR to get a clear answer. Turns out that he had at one point in time forgotten to tighten two bolts on a job. The work was minor and no one had ever notified him of his mistake. There was also another incident where he had been told to clean up the shop (move some heavy parts out of the shop). The things he was tasked to move were very big and the way was blocked by several other pieces of machinery which were being torn down. I've talked to him about it and he told me that the other technicians normally let things sit until the path is clear so he was under the assumption that it would be fine for him to do the same. Apparently that irked the boss somewhat but still no one notified him of his error. He came in the next day and was told that he no longer had a job. The incident with the bolts happened about two weeks prior. The shop boss is wanting the shop to be a five star shop and told my friend his actions were not up to the standards of the shop. I've worked in many different places. Every time something bad happens you get written up - there's a paper trail. It just seems really odd to me that something like this could happen all of a sudden. No paperwork, no notification. My friend didn't have any idea that anything was going against him. Also, the shop hadn't given him any real training regarding certain portions of his job. There were no pretenses (my friend was hired straight out of school).

Am I barking up the wrong tree here or do I have something? Also, state is Iowa if that makes a difference.

Termninate a contract = terminate service?

DandyRandy — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 09:30:46 -0800

When referring to T-Mobile, is contract termination the same as service termination? I'd like to use T-Mobile's intention to raise SMS rates as evidence of a material change in service, which will allow me to void my nearly-two-years-to-go contract. However I'm not really interested in terminating my service right now.

The way I look at it, the contract is for providing service at a given rate for a given period of time in exchange for buying my handset at a substantially lower-than-retail price. There are T-Mobile subscribers who remain customers after their contract expires without having to renew said contract. Will T-Mobile allow me to remain a customer if I want to legally terminate my contract?