Threatened With Termination for Not Cooperating With Investigation

[wwfjdraw]

Wondering if I Have a Case and Need Legal Representation

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: WASHINGTON. So here's my story. I reported unlawful harassment to my employer Tulalip Tribes Resort Casino HR. And they told me that although it's illegal for them to fire me for reporting unlawful harassment of a co-worker, they can still fire me for not cooperating with their own in-company investigation. So in order to cooperate I had to change my story. But then later on they told me that because I changed my story to please them, that what that did was make it so that my original story was therefore considered fraud, and therefore they fired me for committing fraud.

Is it just me or is that illegal and still finding a way to dismiss someone for reporting unlawful harassment? I mean can they really use technicalities like that?

And because now thanks to them I am unemployed I can't even afford a lawyer to sue them. So is it possible to get some sort of pro bono or an attorney that would be paid a percentage of any winnings I would get if I did sue them?

[jk]

So in order to cooperate I had to change my story.

that makes no sense. The truth is the truth no matter who is asking.

[Betty3]

Why did you have to change your story in order to cooperate?

[wwfjdraw]

exactly what I said. But they said that the original story was inacceptable and that I had to either change it or I wasn't cooperating with their investigation. I changed it. Unfortunately I lost my job anyways because I changed it.

I had to change it because I couldn't prove the unlawful harassment. So if I didn't change it then they were going to fire me for fraud. So when I did change it for "innaccuracies found by the company". The company still dismissed me for fraud.

[jk]

I had to change it because I couldn't prove the unlawful harassment.

again, that makes no sense. While I cannot prove many things I say, that does not alter my belief they are true. Again, I see no reason to "change your story". You report what you know and convey what you believe and leave it at that.

[aaron]

You appear to be stating that you reported harassment, and that during the investigation you stated that your initial report was a lie and that the harassment never occurred. You appear to be claiming that you changed your story in order to avoid being fired for "not cooperating" with the investigation. I don't know how much of that you can prove, if any, but you're at a point where you should be consulting an employment lawyer who works with plaintiffs. Actually, you should have done that before you changed your story. Consider calling some offices on Monday for a review.

[ESteele]

At a minimum, you should contact the EEOC or a FEPA to explore filing a retaliation charge. If you originally complained in good faith about workplace harassment, then your employer may have violated the anti-discrimination law by requiring you to change your account and by subsequently terminating you for complying with its unlawful request.

After you have filed with the EEOC or the FEPA (and consequently preserved your rights under federal and state anti-discrimination law), then you may want to renew your efforts at searching for private counsel who would take on your matter on a contingency basis. General websites abound offering to match you with a lawyer or lawyers desirous of possibly handling your case, e.g., www.expertlaw.com. I can also recommend contacting the National Employment Lawyers Association, www.nela.org. NELA can put you in contact with dedicated counselors experienced in employment law who would consider taking on your potential wrongful discharge case. If you can clearly and concisely describe your situation in a paragraph or two, these sites can quickly match you with or lead you to lawyers who have expressed a willingness to take on such cases.