Unfairly Fired by Feds
October 22, 2010 7:14 AM Subscribe
Need advice for friend wrongly dismissed by the federal government.
I'm asking your assistance on behalf of a friend who was recently fired from their supervisory role with the federal government. Please excuse the blatant anonymity but this is kind of sensitive. I'll do my best to describe the situation. I know you are not my friend's lawyer but...
My friend quit a job to join the federal government almost 1 year ago, was highly successful in this new job, as measured by all relevant metrics, taking their team's performance rating to #1 in the country. This person had no problems with the people that worked directly for them and in fact motivated them to perform at a higher level and was appreciated for the leadership. However, in the course of performing their duties my friend began to receive negative push back from their boss, upon instigation from a counterpart employed in the same role, about being too aggressive in trying to receive better results, although this was the stated goal of department policy. My friend was just performing the job that they were hired to do to the best of their ability. After receiving this negative feedback my friend went to their supervisor's boss to discuss these issues and was assured discretion in expressing their opinions. This assurance was obviously violated and my friend was fired by their immediate supervisor without appeal or specification, in an obvious act of retribution, 2 days before the end of their 1 year probationary period. They were only told that there were issues with leadership.
My friend has documented and saved evidence of their success in this role, as well as, evidence of bias, violations of the whistle blowers act, and unequal treatment in the workplace.
This unwarranted dismissal from this position, in this highly specialized field, will have a severe ongoing negative impact in this person's employment opportunities within this field for years to come. Ultimately they would just like their job back but that is unlikely.
They would appreciate any advice from anyone who has experienced similar. Any recommendations regarding the best legal representation (names of law firms anywhere in the U.S. would help) for this type of case. Also what can this person be doing now to gather all personal information, as well as, more specific reasons for their dismissal that was not provided to them at the time of the firing? Finally any other advice would be appreciated.
Thank you for your help.
I'm asking your assistance on behalf of a friend who was recently fired from their supervisory role with the federal government. Please excuse the blatant anonymity but this is kind of sensitive. I'll do my best to describe the situation. I know you are not my friend's lawyer but...
My friend quit a job to join the federal government almost 1 year ago, was highly successful in this new job, as measured by all relevant metrics, taking their team's performance rating to #1 in the country. This person had no problems with the people that worked directly for them and in fact motivated them to perform at a higher level and was appreciated for the leadership. However, in the course of performing their duties my friend began to receive negative push back from their boss, upon instigation from a counterpart employed in the same role, about being too aggressive in trying to receive better results, although this was the stated goal of department policy. My friend was just performing the job that they were hired to do to the best of their ability. After receiving this negative feedback my friend went to their supervisor's boss to discuss these issues and was assured discretion in expressing their opinions. This assurance was obviously violated and my friend was fired by their immediate supervisor without appeal or specification, in an obvious act of retribution, 2 days before the end of their 1 year probationary period. They were only told that there were issues with leadership.
My friend has documented and saved evidence of their success in this role, as well as, evidence of bias, violations of the whistle blowers act, and unequal treatment in the workplace.
This unwarranted dismissal from this position, in this highly specialized field, will have a severe ongoing negative impact in this person's employment opportunities within this field for years to come. Ultimately they would just like their job back but that is unlikely.
They would appreciate any advice from anyone who has experienced similar. Any recommendations regarding the best legal representation (names of law firms anywhere in the U.S. would help) for this type of case. Also what can this person be doing now to gather all personal information, as well as, more specific reasons for their dismissal that was not provided to them at the time of the firing? Finally any other advice would be appreciated.
Thank you for your help.
The metafilter wiki has an excellent guide to finding a lawyer.
Whistleblowing is reporting illegal or unacceptable behaviour. Is that what your friend was reporting to their supervisor's boss? If your friends boss asked your friend to perform their duties in a different way and, instead of complying with that instruction, your friend complained up the chain, then I doubt that qualifies. It would also be the sort of action that I would reasonably expect to come up in any hiring review at the end of a probationary period.
posted by IanMorr at 8:05 AM on October 22, 2010
Whistleblowing is reporting illegal or unacceptable behaviour. Is that what your friend was reporting to their supervisor's boss? If your friends boss asked your friend to perform their duties in a different way and, instead of complying with that instruction, your friend complained up the chain, then I doubt that qualifies. It would also be the sort of action that I would reasonably expect to come up in any hiring review at the end of a probationary period.
posted by IanMorr at 8:05 AM on October 22, 2010
Ninebelow -- yes, it is. Presuming the OP is in the States, you can't fire someone just because you discover they're pregnant, for example, or married, or Canadian, or whatever. The EEOC protections still apply. You can let them go for no reason, but you can't let them go for that reason.
(IANAEL.)
posted by KathrynT at 8:18 AM on October 22, 2010
(IANAEL.)
posted by KathrynT at 8:18 AM on October 22, 2010
In general, I think www.nela.org is the best reference for finding plaintiff's employment attorneys in your area. I sent you a few more specific ideas via MeMail. You want someone who has experience with the civil service appeals process, which is very much different than the options available to a typical plaintiff in a traditional employment case.
posted by Lame_username at 8:29 AM on October 22, 2010
posted by Lame_username at 8:29 AM on October 22, 2010
The way you get the information about the reasons for the termination and any other personnel information would be during the discovery phase of any wrongful termination lawsuit.
Your friend should run this by a good employment attorney with lots of previous federal employment experience, ideally, someone who knows this particular agency or department. The local bar association website is a good place to start, in addition to other suggestions above. I don't have specific recs on a firm (I'd go local for purposes of knowing how to navigate the local judges, but reasonable minds can differ on that). But, unless you're leaving some key details out for secrecy reasons, you're describing more of a lack of fit between your friend and the agency than a wrongful termination. This is a not-uncommon problem when people enter government service from the private sector and I empathize. When you're on probation, you don't have all the normal civil service protections though, and the boss, no matter how wrongheaded, may have the legal right to say, eh, this person's more trouble than he's worth.
posted by *s at 9:45 AM on October 22, 2010
Your friend should run this by a good employment attorney with lots of previous federal employment experience, ideally, someone who knows this particular agency or department. The local bar association website is a good place to start, in addition to other suggestions above. I don't have specific recs on a firm (I'd go local for purposes of knowing how to navigate the local judges, but reasonable minds can differ on that). But, unless you're leaving some key details out for secrecy reasons, you're describing more of a lack of fit between your friend and the agency than a wrongful termination. This is a not-uncommon problem when people enter government service from the private sector and I empathize. When you're on probation, you don't have all the normal civil service protections though, and the boss, no matter how wrongheaded, may have the legal right to say, eh, this person's more trouble than he's worth.
posted by *s at 9:45 AM on October 22, 2010
Right now all we have is your interpretation of your friend's word on the subject. For all we know, the employer has documentation of circumstances which would justify the firing. And allegations of violations of statutes are a lot easier to make than they are to substantiate. I've had people come into my office claiming that their civil rights had been violated because their landlord posted a rent-due notice on their door. Just because your friend feels put upon does not necessarily mean that there is a claim for wrongful termination in there.
All that by way of saying that this isn't nearly enough to give an evaluation of the case, and even if it were, only a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction would be qualified to give said evaluation.
In short, get a lawyer. But know that suing the federal government isn't generally a terribly rewarding way of spending your time.
posted by valkyryn at 11:54 AM on October 22, 2010
All that by way of saying that this isn't nearly enough to give an evaluation of the case, and even if it were, only a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction would be qualified to give said evaluation.
In short, get a lawyer. But know that suing the federal government isn't generally a terribly rewarding way of spending your time.
posted by valkyryn at 11:54 AM on October 22, 2010
But know that suing the federal government isn't generally a terribly rewarding way of spending your time.You don't generally sue the federal government for employment disputes. You pursue a MSPB claim. It is actually a much more plaintiff friendly system than most other venues.
posted by Lame_username at 12:23 PM on October 22, 2010
Lots of federal jobs are union - was his? If so, he may want to contact the union and see what they can tell him.
posted by dilettante at 1:55 PM on October 22, 2010
posted by dilettante at 1:55 PM on October 22, 2010
My friend was just performing the job that they were hired to do to the best of their ability. After receiving this negative feedback my friend went to their supervisor's boss
IANAL. Supervisor found out your friend went above his/her head. Supervisor got pissed off. Unfortunately, losing a pissing contest doesn't necessarily mean one has been wrongfully terminated. Unless your friend truly believes his/her race, national origin, gender, etc. has something to do with the termination, or unless your friend was a whistleblower, I'm not seeing anything illegal here. My advice would be to negotiate a solid severance package - perhaps with an attorney's assistance - not to pursue a wrongful termination claim. Just my $0.02.
Also, what do you mean by "what can this person be doing now to gather all personal information"? Did they leave personal belongings, documents, etc. at the office?
posted by pecanpies at 2:43 PM on October 22, 2010
IANAL. Supervisor found out your friend went above his/her head. Supervisor got pissed off. Unfortunately, losing a pissing contest doesn't necessarily mean one has been wrongfully terminated. Unless your friend truly believes his/her race, national origin, gender, etc. has something to do with the termination, or unless your friend was a whistleblower, I'm not seeing anything illegal here. My advice would be to negotiate a solid severance package - perhaps with an attorney's assistance - not to pursue a wrongful termination claim. Just my $0.02.
Also, what do you mean by "what can this person be doing now to gather all personal information"? Did they leave personal belongings, documents, etc. at the office?
posted by pecanpies at 2:43 PM on October 22, 2010
Your friend needs to read this from the Merit System Protection Board, which protecst the rights of federal civil service employees.
posted by govtdrone at 7:07 PM on October 22, 2010
posted by govtdrone at 7:07 PM on October 22, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for the input. I apologize for the lack of detail but the reason for this is the same reason that my friend cannot access personal work files of any kind. It's the nature of the beast that they were working with. Still, it appears to me that my friend got the bad end of a vindictive, small minded boss regardless of the probation thing and I'm hopeful there is a remedy available. It is a tough situation and could have been handled better.
Good luck to all.
posted by mbx at 7:20 AM on October 23, 2010
Good luck to all.
posted by mbx at 7:20 AM on October 23, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ninebelow at 8:05 AM on October 22, 2010