posted
So my daughter lost her job a couple of days ago in what we thing was trumped up charges because she's pregnant with her fourth child (due in November) and her former company probably didn't want to pay for her time off work. So what basically happened is she went into work and forgot to clock in. So later that day she e-mailed the time keeper and told her what had happened and what hours she'd worked. The next morning she was called in and the boss handed her a paper with a violation called "time card fraud" written on it, and said she was fired. She told him she'd been working, but the manager said that the computer showed she had not been on it during the time she'd been there (she enters in information for a trucking company, or did do so). So anyway, it's a "she said, he said" kind of thing. Of course, my daughter worked. So they are lying. Anyway, I guess there wasn't any witnesses to see her at work, but I'm wondering if there's a security camera that could be used to prove she was working.
So, anyway, she's out of a job, and at a very bad time because her husband was playing Mr. Mom and she was the bread winner. No insurance, an upcoming C-section, and no way to pay rent etc. He's looking like crazy for a job right now so that she can stay home with the kids.
And is it true that if you're fired, you can't claim unemployment?
Posts: 3194 | Registered: May 2006
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posted
Not in Wisconsin, not in Illinois, but laws change and different states have different laws. She will have to present her self to the Unemployment folks. They might even have some good info for her to go after these employers...not that she'd want to go back, but for justice sake- and what kind of a reference they would give her for a new job...
Posts: 5468 | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
She should apply for unemployment. Her company may or may not oppose it. If they do, they have to prove that she was terminated for cause (in states that do not pay UC for termination for cause). She can testify under oath that she was there (though if her work is solely on computer and she didn't log onto the computer, that is an evidentiary problem).
She needs to go to human resources in her company and appeal the decision to fire her. In that appeal she needs to lay out her evidence, ask for all documentation including security tape for the day and the computer(s) logging and use information for that day and the three days prior she did clock in, and tell them that they have defamed her and she believes this is a straw argument to discriminate because of her pregnancy. Ask for reinstatement and back pay and removal from her file of the charge.
She should also make a complaint to your state's Human Relations Commission who handles pregnancy issues.
And she should figure out what she would accept in a buyout from them, because she isn't going to want to return probably and though they might be willing to extend her insurance, agree not to contest her UC, agree on what any response to references should be, and pay something to her, they probably won't be willing to have her return.
It would be worth consulting an employment attorney --- most states have referral servicees where an atty will consult for 30 minutes for free.
Posts: 2174 | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
I think saying "they fired me 'cuz I'm pregnant" is not the way to go. First, you don't know that, and second, you sure can't prove it.
You can claim you were fired unjustly, without needing to provide a guess or plausable reason why they'd do it.
Posts: 2103 | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
Was the email she sent on the computer? Does she have a copy of that email to show she was at work and on the computer?
Posts: 3145 | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
First, it depends on which state she's in. For example, in California, there are pregnancy-related leave laws, such that if she's eligible for the leave, and they fired her to avoid having to deal with it, you could have a wrongful termination suit (because the firing would be against public policy).
The default situation for most people in most states is that you are employed "at will" meaning that they can fire you and you can quit, at any time, for any reason or no reason, as long as it's not an illegal reason. Consequently, even if your boss straight up lies to you about why they're firing you, unless there's an illegal reason underlying it, you'll never win on a claim of "unjust firing".
If we assume that she lives in a state where she'd have been entitled to pregnancy-related benefits, I tentatively disagree with LM's analysis. You might not have a smoking gun, but there are plenty of cases where circumstances are enough to convince judges and juries that the stated reason for termination was "pretextual" and that the real reason was an illegal one. Usually it involves a model employee who is fired for a ridiculous reason, mere days (for example) after they filed their work comp claim, and the managers claim they didn't even know about the claim...etc.
I would definitely call an employment attorney in your state. Many of them will take a case like this on a contingency basis, which would mean at the least you'd get someone who knows what they are talking about to take a hard look at it.
Posts: 2969 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
In Colorado she would have a case if she can prove she was working at the time. They have already nailed down why the terminated her so they can't credibly change it now. Whatever state she is in, she should see an employment attorney. In addition to her financial losses, being called a cheat or a liar is a terrible thing to have to live with, especially when it isn't true.
Posts: 556 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I agree with the advice to file for unemployment and to get in touch with a lawyer who specializes in employment law as soon as possible. She may also want to talk with someone at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and maybe also the Department of Labor.
Posts: 1098 | Registered: Aug 2009
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posted
Hey, I appreciate all the great advice. I will direct her to this thread so that she can see she has options. We can go from there. Thanks a bunch. As for proving she was there, I think she was working by herself, though there might have been some people she said "hi" to on the way in. I'll have to check with her on that.
Posts: 3194 | Registered: May 2006
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posted
Ask her to write down what she did from the moment her car arrived on the property, and how she knows what time, and whom she spoke with (customers on the phone, email to others, telephone she answered. Tell her to NOT guess about where she was and what files she remembers, leave it blank if she doesn't recall. Describe what the people she saw were wearing and what they were doing ONLY if she remembers. All of that could give some leads to track down and prove she was there.
Posts: 2174 | Registered: Feb 2005
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