Location: Virginia, USA
Hi there, I was recently terminated by a fairly large corporation in the state of Virginia. It was my first offense with the company, I was given no previous warnings, coaching, or feedback, and I was suspended without pay for a week before being terminated. In my termination paperwork, they stated that I violated a company policy, and quoted a policy from the employee handbook that is not actually found in the handbook or in any other literature accessible to employees. After going through a lengthy dispute resolution program, HR offered to reinstate my job but are still claiming that I “violated policy” but are basically saying my job is being reinstated out of the goodness of their hearts. When I asked about the policy I violated, an HR representative stated that “it is not a written or accessible policy, but it’s understood” and that it’s “within their rights to do that.”
I know Virginia is an at-will state, but this company is truly terrible to its employees and I want to know if I could have a legal case against them. There is much much more to the story and the company has behaved seriously unethically throughout the whole suspension/termination/dispute resolution. Do I just suck it up and move on, or is this something I could pursue?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Comments
NAL….no
Go find a new job if this company is so horrible.
Unless the policy you violated was a legally protected activity, like praying or reporting something to a regulator, then they have every right to fire you for breaking an unwritten rule.
Unless you have reason to believe it was because you are part of a protected class (race, sex, religion, disability, etc.) or because you engaged in a protected activity (e.g., union organizing) it would not be legally wrongful. Your employment is at will, so they can fire you for any reason or no reason at all.
It would not be unreasonable to ask HR how they expect you to not violate the policy again if they refuse to tell you what it was.
If you are ultimately let go, file for employment and appeal if denied. If they try to deny it, they will have to justify their reason for letting you go.