Unfair treatment and layoff

Hi

I was recently fired from my company for the reason of breaking company policy. What occured was that i had a relationship with an employee. The girl was my assistant manager and i was the store manager. She was about to be fired and right before her termination she told the district manager about our relationship in the attempt to save her job, which at the end worked. My claim is that how could i of broken company policy if in the polices it clearly states that Gamestop understands that relationships happen and that one of the members of the relationship must be moved to another store. In the case no other solution can be found then a termination will happen.(paraphrase) The district manager had another solution cause pior to his knowledge of finding out about our relationship he admitted to me that he has two other stores that he can transfer her to. Also that exactly what she wanted. No formal investigation was made. My district manager asked me if i ever had a relationship with her i said yes. He then, keeps her home all weekend which i am forced to work 12 hour shift to be then let go. I have a copy of the policy. I have spoken to other store managers in the company who agree that it was wrong for my layoff. Further more, after all this i get laidoff but she keeps her job and no action was taken on her. She is white, the district manager is white. I have proof and witnesses that she came on to me and continued her pursue me.. The district manager also has knowledge of another store manager who is engaged in a relation with his employee too. Again, if my reason for being terminated was for breaking company policy about the relationship at the work place. Why wasn't the steps in the policy followed. The finding of her or my transfer to another store. The district manager never tried to find a store and i was laid off.

I am willing to pay for a consultation if need be and if i have a case.

2 answers  |  asked Sep 1, 2009 10:34 PM [EST]  |  applies to New York

Answers (2)

John Upton
Stated another way, unless you have a written contract for a set period of time, you can be terminated for any reason or no reason, as long as it's not an illegal reason such as for union activity, certain types of whistleblowing, discrimination or retaliation for complaining about discrimination. In your case, it appears that the only thing that could possibly apply is discrimination by you have to prove that the reason for your termination is that rather than the fact that you had a relationship. Unfortunately for you, a court would not consider the company policy a defense to a termination of an at will employee.

John Upton

posted by John Upton  |  Sep 2, 2009 10:54 AM [EST]
Michael D. Diederich
A wise rule is not to date subordinates. Sometimes human nature gets in the way.
Can a lawyer help a person who makes a mistake or indiscretion? It all depends on the individual facts. It's tough for a person in an "at will" state such as New York. But sometimes companies use mistakes as a pretext, in order to take unlawful (discriminatory) action. Then there may be a remedy.
Mike Diederich

posted by Michael D. Diederich  |  Sep 2, 2009 07:20 AM [EST]

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