wrongfully terminated

I told another employee that I would kick her ass if she didnt stop spreading rumours about me so she got in my face and said lets go so I Pushed her away from me because she was so close to me that she was touching me and I felt threatned. So my job terminated me over the incident. My son and my daughter work for the same company and they told me that another employee choke another employee and only got suspended for 2 weeks. So why did I get Fired if they got suspended. do I have a case please help. thanks.

1 answer  |  asked Jan 26, 2012 2:38 PM [EST]  |  applies to Florida

Answers (1)

Phyllis Towzey
You may be able to get unemployment benefits by arguing that this was an isolated incident and that there was provocation. However, Florida is an "employment at will" state which means that your employer can fire you at any time, just as you can quit at any time. The employer is not obligated to treat all employees the same, so the fact that another employee was not fired as a result of a physical fight at work does not help you UNLESS you believe that you were treated differently than that employee because of your age (over 40), race, sex, national origin, disability, or religion. Then you might have a case for discrimination. Otherwise, the employer had the right to fire you, even though it does not seem fair to you. Also, realize that most companies have a violence in the workplace policy that would prohibit you from verbally threatening another employee, so you could have been fired simply for making the threat.

posted by Phyllis Towzey  |  Jan 31, 2012 08:33 AM [EST]

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