Fired for Notifying My Employees That I'd Be Leaving Soon

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


In January I was interviewing for a Lab Manager Position, in February I was offered the position of Lab Supervisor. In addition I was promised a promotion to Lab Manager, with a $10,000 salary increase in 6 months. Well on July 10th I was called to a meeting to inform me that my Lab was being placed under the Quality Department, that the Lab Manager Position was nixed in the restructuring and that I would not be getting the raise.

Now I was not very pleased because I commute from Syracuse, NY to Herkimer, NY which is an 85 mile trip each way. It cost me $150 a week in gas and tolls. Well on July 12th I had my weekly lab meeting and I hand a memo of the meeting agenda to everyone in my department. In that weeks agenda I discussed the company restructuring, and I also informed my staff that I would be leaving the company in the near future.

The next day the general manager called me into HR and told me that putting I was leaving the company in the near future in my meeting minutes was a problem. He tried to get me to admit that it was a problem and I would not, I stated its the truth. I said to him I'm currently looking for another position, and he turned to me and said then your fired. I never gave a resignation letter, nor did I give the memo to management.

I got a call today from NYS UI and the reviewer has a copy of my memo. She asked me simple questions like do I do a weekly Lab Meeting with memo notes, I responded yes. She asked how did management get a copy of the memo, I said I didn't know and that I did not give it to any of my superiors. She asked did the General Manger explain to me why it was a mistake, and does the company have written policy concerning making such an announcement; my answer was no to both questions.

I filed for UI on July17th, Its now August 23rd. I have no verbal or written warnings, there is absolutely nothing in my HR file and I was a model supervisor. The reviewer stated that she should have this completed by Friday August 25th. I'm wondering what are the chances of my UI being denied. And do I have grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit.



Thanks

I don't know about the UI, someone else will weigh in on that.

Regarding a wrongful termination lawsuit, it's perfectly legal for an employer to fire someone for pretty much any reason, except those reasons that are specifically prohibited by law. Reasons prohibited by law include things like race, gender, religion, disability and/or age (people over 40 only). There are no laws prohibiting employers from firing people because they are job-hunting.

Thanks! eerelations

You're welcome!

Fortunately for you, NY is a state where if you quit, and then are immediately fired, you are entitled to UI at a minimum from the date of firing until the date you'd have quit anyway. If you get denied, appeal the decision. Not all the UI workers understand the concept.

Chyvan,

Thank you! Not sure how it will work since I never gave a formal resignation or date. When my new supervisor called me in to speak to me I told her that I was willing to work until October/November. Long enough for them to hire my replacement and help train them. I guess they weren't happy with that!

Quote:

---

Quoting chyvan

---

Fortunately for you, NY is a state where if you quit, and then are immediately fired, you are entitled to UI at a minimum from the date of firing until the date you'd have quit anyway. If you get denied, appeal the decision. Not all the UI workers understand the concept.

---

He didn't quit. He hadn't put in notice. He was simply in the market for other employment.

Quote:

---

Quoting free9man

---

He didn't quit. He hadn't put in notice. He was simply in the market for other employment.

---

You can argue this all you want. There are states like NM where that "memo of the meeting agenda" would be treated as a quit and the employer firing the claimant would be an acceleration of the quit and would result in a denial with no hope of winning on appeal because they don't recognize the concept.

Its Amazing,


I'm 52 years old, I can remember the first time I collected UI, back in the 80's after separating from the military getting your UI was a given. It was also the same ten years ago. Now I'm seeing that since then they've made it increasingly difficult for people to collect a benefit that we pay into.

Quote:

---

Quoting chyvan

---

You can argue this all you want. There are states like NM where that "memo of the meeting agenda" would be treated as a quit and the employer firing the claimant would be an acceleration of the quit and would result in a denial with no hope of winning on appeal because they don't recognize the concept.

---

I'm not arguing anything. I'm just pointing out you jumping to conclusions that aren't necessarily correct. Is OP in NM? Nope. So what happens in NM doesn't mean jack. Notice is "I'm quitting in a month", not "I'm thinking about quitting sometime down the road but I'm just looking."