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Was I wrongfully Terminated?

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  • 05-08-2005, 04:49 PM
    bustercat
    Was I wrongfully Terminated?
    What you are about to read may be confusing at times. I will answer anyone's questions if they have any after reading this.

    I think I should explain how I was hired with this company and give a breif description of my roles in this company first.

    This is an 'at will' employer but only as a few months ago. I was not hired as an 'at will' employee. But when they started using a national payroll company a few months ago, I believe I signed an 'at will' employee/employer agreement.

    When I was hired by this company in like 1999 it was disclosed to them that I was an alcoholic, and that I had a felony in my past. They hired me anyway, and I started as just a normal labor type worker, then moved up to management and then finally up to a corporate level. Pretty good I think.

    During the last 2+ years I was in the role as a corporate trainer. I traveled alot but most of the time I sat at home doing nothing but still getting a big check each week. The kind of job that we all wish we had.

    2 weeks ago I was fired. The company was having a convention and I was invited. I arrived, chatted with the CEO, and then he went golfing all day. This day (I have documentation from the company) was just to check in to the hotel and have a dinner for the corporate guys (me included of course)

    So I checked in (we'll come back to this point in a bit). And attended the dinner. I did drink at the bar with the other corporate people, and then attended the dinner. During the dinner I did debate with one person about company policies regarding the collection of royalties. She decided she had enough of my debate and left. Yes I was under the influence (just as most were at the time) and I just talk and talk and talk when drinking. Then I debated with another corporate employee about their role in the company as a corporate person, when his own franchise is doing so poorly and getting bad reviews by customers.

    That debate was heated, he was angry, I was angry. But to make it short... by the end of the night, we shook hands and when I left the dinner at about 9PM everyone appeared to be under the influence, but all including me, laughing and having a good time.

    When I got up to my room at the hotel, I tried to sleep, but was too hot. My wife called the desk to have them send me a fan. They were taking too long, and I had no one there to be angry at but her. I called security and asked them to remove her from my room.

    When Security showed up they could tell I was drunk. And once again, as most drunks do... they just won't shut up. So I yapped and yapped enough to convince them to call the police (I was seated the whole time and was not violent).

    The police showed up and at 11:30 PM arrested me for Disorderly Conduct. And I was taken to jail for the evening. I think it was just a way for the police to sober me up, because in the morning all charges were dropped and I was released at about 9AM.

    I went back to the hotel, thinking I would shower and shave and go to the breakfast, and put on a happy face.

    Well that plan did not work out. Apparently, due to my behavior in my hotel room, the hotel requested I leave, and stay somewhere else. This information was then passed down from the hotel staff to the staff of the organizers of the convention, and then finally down to my boss (the CEO). By this time the story was that I beat up my wife and was sent to jail. And just to clarify... I DID NOT BEAT MY WIFE! I Love her. But this is not the part I'm upset about.

    Once I realized I was locked out of my hotel room, I tucked in my shirt I was wearing, looked as best as I could, and was going to the front desk to find out why I couldn't get into my room.

    It was at this time, that my boss met me in the hall. We sat down, with my wife, and the man I debated with the previous night. So there were 4 people present including myself and my boss.

    He said (verbatim) "You Embarrassed me and the company.. You’re fired"

    I believe... what happened should have been between me ant the hotel. And that when I left the dinner and everything was fine, that is where my role with the company ended for the day.

    And if the hotel told him, then he was embarrassed, not the company. What he did, and who he told after he was told, added to his own embarrassment.

    The convention had not yet even started. My role in the convention was to check into my hotel and go to that dinner, and then in 2 days shake hands or greet people for 15 min. (the entire flow of the convention and everyone’s roles are documented).

    I knew I was drunk the previous night, and he knew it too but chose to ignore it. And if I was too out of hand the night before, he had more than enough time to pull me aside and say "stop". But he chose not to. The company (him) supplied an open bar, and with his knowledge of my disease of alcoholism he should have at least asked me to stop. But he didn't.

    Also the morning he fired me, instead of offering me help with my problem, he just fired me. I asked him if I got treatment, would he reconsider. He said (verbatim) "I'll consider it".

    I drove back home, and the following day I admitted myself into an Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program, and sent him all the information, all the way down to the paperwork I filed there with the doctors.

    And even after I did all this, he told me on the phone again that I embarrassed him, and that he was going to stick with his decision.









    I could go on and on, and believe me, that is the short version of my side of the story. But it contains all the points that I think went into his decision and most of the points that I think make his firing me wrong.

    Other points to make... The company moved me from NY to TX. Now I'm stuck over 1000 miles from my family and home. The CEO told my mother (I know that sounds lame, but she is a stock holder in the company) that as long as he was in charge I would always have a job. He also told me here in TX, that he will Always be on my side, because I stuck with the company even when it was having it's troubles (they tend to not pay taxes and are always right on the edge of bankrupcy). My boss and myself have both been intoxicated on a job site together. And I have been on job sites with other corporate employees while we were all intoxicated. My CEO has a fridge full of beer in his office.

    Just thought I'd toss that stuff in.
  • 05-09-2005, 10:14 AM
    aaron
    The ADA and alcoholism
    The Americans with Disabilities Act excludes untreated alcoholism from its definition of a disability. Also, it will be very important to determine if you were an at-will employee, although it is still possible to be wrongfully terminated from at-will employment.

    You may wish to consult a plaintiff-side employment lawyer about your situation, given the relative complexity of its facts and background.
  • 05-09-2005, 11:51 AM
    bustercat
    I also forgot to add that while I was at a training site once another employee (the CEO's Relitive) was begging the new store owner for vicoden's, and he/she was looking like he/she was jonesing real bad, almost like a herion addicted person. I don't know if he/she ever got treatment, but he/she also embarassed the company, but amazingly... he/she still works there.

    I think I would be entitled to the same considerations that he/she was.

    I am sure that the owner of that location would testify to the fact thet she looked in desperate need of some help for her addiction. It was the topic of conversation durring the rest of the training.

    I think there were a lot of issues that lead up to this event, and my employer had ample oppertunity to warn me, or to say, it is time to get back into treatment. but they ignored all oppertunities to do so.

    I also know that a lawyer on my side would help, but right now in my situation I can not afford one. Let's remember that they just dumped me in the middle of TX, and now pulled my job out from under me.

    Right now, I'm just gathering all the information I can, getting others opinions and soon will be trying to present this information to the Unemployment Insurance people once he denies my claim for un-employment. I think once I get through that (hopefully in favor of me) I will be able to persue this further.

    If you have any links, or advice that will help me out, I would greatly appreciate it. :)
  • 05-09-2005, 01:55 PM
    aaron
    Employment Dispute - Termination
    Lawyers who represent wrongfully terminated individuals ordinarily work on a contingent fee basis, so "affordability" shouldn't be an issue.
  • 05-09-2005, 09:50 PM
    bustercat
    good. :)

    you just made my day.

    of course I'd be happier if you said they all do these cases pro-bono
    then I'd be really excited :)

    Thanks.
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