Incorrect Pay, and Termination

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: California

I was recently terminated from my job due to Misuse of company time. When I went to work, one of my programs were down, and my password was changed without my knowledge. They were not reset until a supervisor came in four hours later, and it took him three tries. Before that, during those hours, I took calls, subbed in other departments, called our communications desk to change it, and they could not, created a ticket to our tech service who is supposed to be on call 24 hours, and he did not correct it, and called our assist line to change it, and he could not. Because of this, I stayed after for two hours trying to catch up on my main job.

I was spoken to about it two days later, and then was terminated 10 days after I was spoken to (12 days total after my systems failed). When they paid me out, they paid me incorrectly (I worked the day I was terminated for three hours because my supervisor was late to work and they paid me for two, and I was missing overtime on my final check). I had no written warnings, no write ups at all. I was there for almost five years.

Their reason for termination was 'misuse of company time' however I wasn't just sitting there, I was doing other aspects of my job I was trained for that were severly behind. Should I speak with Human Resources about this? Or if I can proceed with something else otherwise?

If you are asking what legal recourse you can take, I'm not seeing any except possibly to file a wage claim if you were underpaid. (However, it would probably be a good idea to ask Payroll about it first.) You can certainly contact HR if you wish and explain what you've just told us.

However, it's not illegal to fire you for what the company terms as "misuse of company time" even if you do not agree that the time was being misused. I'm not saying don't go to HR and I'm not saying they won't do anything; I'm saying that if they do not do anything, it's still legal.

I'm pretty sure there is no legal recourse. However, I did call Payroll, and they did send me a check for my overtime. However, not the correct payout wages, but I will deal with out two hours.

I feel it was retaliation. I was being harassed by one of the leads there, who is extremely close to my supervisor. This lead, I discovered, is mentally unstable. She has Bi-Polar, sees 'things', takes a strong anti anxiety medication and mixes it with painpills, and she drinks a lot. She has a lot of personal issues occuring, and is abusing her medication (I, and others, have witnessed this). She also shares her medication with my former supervisor. During this time, she had made facebook posts harassing another girl, while on company time, had sent me texts on my days off while she was at work accusing me of things I have not done, and I and others have brought this up to our supervisor. It was around this time that I was terminated. For the overtime I worked, I DID tell my supervisor I would work it, and she said "Great, we need all the help we can get."

As for the system issue, I did all I could to bring it back up, but said supervisor would not come into work to correct it. I had to wait for someone else to do so. The tech guy, who is on call 24/7, didn't even fix it.

I understand there is no legal rammification I can pursue. As a matter of fact, Im kind of glad to be gone. The environment was hostile, and people were afraid to even breathe around the lead and the supervisor. The drug use is still occuring, and I still hear from my friends who do still work there, that they are afraid.

Is there something I can do to fix this, and even maybe get the lead some help?

This is not a hostile work environment, legally speaking. The lead's medical condition is legally none of your business.

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Quoting Dogmatique

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This is not a hostile work environment, legally speaking. The lead's medical condition is legally none of your business.

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I respectfully have to counter your statement that it IS a hostile work environment, if the leads medical issues are causing her hallucinations. She texted me repeatedly stating I was against her and to watch my back. And I couldn't exactly bring it to my supervisor when they both are too close.

It is only none of my business when she doesn't involve me. She did.

Please google the term "hostile work environment".

Thank you.

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Quoting Maliceinsane

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I respectfully have to counter your statement that it IS a hostile work environment.

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You're wrong. The term "hostile work environment" means that you are being harassed and/or discriminated against at work based specifically on your race, gender, disability, age (but only if you're over 40), and/or religion. I have read your posts several times and cannot find anything that would indicate that you were harassed and/or discriminated against for any of these reasons at your former job.

If you were indeed harassed and/or discriminated against for any of these reasons at your former job, you need to tell us this before blowing us off for lack of knowledge. We are not psychics, nor does this site advertise us as such.

The term, hostile work environment, has a very specific meaning in employment law. What you have described does not meet the legal definition. It is therefore not an HWE no matter how unpleasant the situation, unless there is something major that you've omitted.

I respectfully have to counter your statement that it IS a hostile work environment, if the leads medical issues are causing her hallucinations. She texted me repeatedly stating I was against her and to watch my back. And I couldn't exactly bring it to my supervisor when they both are too close.

Not even close to the legal defintion of a HWE.

Okay. I'm trying to think of how to word it better. You guys are great. I really appreciate all the assistance you're providing, and I assure you, I am not blowing anyone off due to lack of knowledge on anyone else other than my own - I'm taking it all and understanding more and more and seeing what I can do.

I'm not sure if I've omitted anything. I'll start from the beggining. I just recently spoke with my former employers HR. At the time of my terminationI was told I was fired for Mis use of company time due to the overtime. The overtime was 2 hours. However, I have paperwork and emails from my job stating that they needed the overtime, even on that date. I also have witnesses who can state that I spoke to my supervisor, and asked her if I could work a lot of overtime. Her response was "Yes, please, we're very behind". She approved it verbally less than a few days beforehand, and others can confirm this. I told her I would work a 5am-5pm shift, which I did.

I'm not trying to say no one is wrong, or incorrect in any response. I appreciate the assistance, and your advice is great. The fact is, they told me Human resources said to terminate me. I called Human resources, and they had no clue who I was, or that I even was terminated. I asked him to advise me why I was terminated, since my supervisor wasnt clear on the Misuse of Company Time, and how I misused it, and he said the following:

Your write up and letters of concern should explain it - I said I was never written up for it.
Your termination paperwork will explain it - I said it was never given to me.
Even if you refused to sign your termination paperwork - I said, once again, it was NEVER presented to me.

He became upset, and stated that I should have been written up for the issue. He stated he will call my supervisor and call me back. I'm awaiting that call.