FIRED!!!
HR4life
7 Posts
2 weeks ago, I was fired for poor performance. I was offered 2weeks severance pay on condition that I sign a document releasing company of all legal liability, waiving my right to sue. I refused. I had no prior performance issues/warnings whatsoever. I signed an at-will agreement when I was hired last summer as HR Rep.
I know I was terminated for reasons company will care to admit. I was handling a HUGE (one third of workforce) social security no match letters HR had received a couple of months back. Upon consultation with HR Director and company lawyers, I was advised to follow instructions provided by the Social Security Administration. I sent out memos to affected ees, mostly hispanic, to contact HR to verify and correct their information. Some panicked and quit. Others admitted they couldn't do anything about their ss#'s because they bought them off the streets. When I informed management, some managers accused me trying to "scare away hispanic ees". Some were concerned about losing almost entire shifts! One manager questioned my "motives for going after hispanic ees." She indicated that some ees had been with company for 3 years and never had "any of these problems" until I arrived. I thought that was totally ludicrous for them to think that I was intentionally targeting a particular group of ees.
As if I wasn't clueless enough, I made the 'mistake' of implementing a ss validation system for ALL applicants as part of pre-employment process. Result? Fewer hispanic candidates made it. Workforce is composed of mainly minorities (African American and hispanic), jobs are low paying and working conditions are extremely harsh. This is also a workplace where HR doesn't have a whole lot of clout! Management had always openly expressed preference for hispanic workers: "they are harder workers, more reliable and not trouble makers." On the other hand, there's very high turnover among African-American employees.
Long story short, I was called into a termination meeting and there was no documentation or specfics regarding my so-called substandard performance. I really felt betrayed. Here I was trying to save company from the legal ramifications of hiring and knowingly employing undocumented immigrants and I was canned for it. They have known all along that they are employing illegals. In fact, some of the ees who admitted being undocumented were still working there as of last week. I felt pressured to go along with it.
Do I think I was treated unfairly? YES! But we all know that unfairness doesn't always mean unlawful. What I want to know is, did company actually violate any laws/statutes by firing me? If so, what legal recourse do I have? I called several lawyers' offices and it's gonna cost $150-$200/hr just for them to hear my story and determine whether I have a case or not. I don't want to spend money I don't have on a dead end cause. Any thoughts from all you Employment Law gurus will be appreciated. Thanks.
I know I was terminated for reasons company will care to admit. I was handling a HUGE (one third of workforce) social security no match letters HR had received a couple of months back. Upon consultation with HR Director and company lawyers, I was advised to follow instructions provided by the Social Security Administration. I sent out memos to affected ees, mostly hispanic, to contact HR to verify and correct their information. Some panicked and quit. Others admitted they couldn't do anything about their ss#'s because they bought them off the streets. When I informed management, some managers accused me trying to "scare away hispanic ees". Some were concerned about losing almost entire shifts! One manager questioned my "motives for going after hispanic ees." She indicated that some ees had been with company for 3 years and never had "any of these problems" until I arrived. I thought that was totally ludicrous for them to think that I was intentionally targeting a particular group of ees.
As if I wasn't clueless enough, I made the 'mistake' of implementing a ss validation system for ALL applicants as part of pre-employment process. Result? Fewer hispanic candidates made it. Workforce is composed of mainly minorities (African American and hispanic), jobs are low paying and working conditions are extremely harsh. This is also a workplace where HR doesn't have a whole lot of clout! Management had always openly expressed preference for hispanic workers: "they are harder workers, more reliable and not trouble makers." On the other hand, there's very high turnover among African-American employees.
Long story short, I was called into a termination meeting and there was no documentation or specfics regarding my so-called substandard performance. I really felt betrayed. Here I was trying to save company from the legal ramifications of hiring and knowingly employing undocumented immigrants and I was canned for it. They have known all along that they are employing illegals. In fact, some of the ees who admitted being undocumented were still working there as of last week. I felt pressured to go along with it.
Do I think I was treated unfairly? YES! But we all know that unfairness doesn't always mean unlawful. What I want to know is, did company actually violate any laws/statutes by firing me? If so, what legal recourse do I have? I called several lawyers' offices and it's gonna cost $150-$200/hr just for them to hear my story and determine whether I have a case or not. I don't want to spend money I don't have on a dead end cause. Any thoughts from all you Employment Law gurus will be appreciated. Thanks.
Comments
In your pursuit of future employment, don't disclose that you are considering legal action against your former employer unless it's to your advantage to do so.They may assume that they are next.
I'm not accusing HR4life of anything wrong, but just urging caution.
I'm afraid of hurting my HR career and so I'm proceeding cautiously. I'm not planning to be in one of those "In the Courtroom" updates
Just this morning, I received another copy of the Severance and Release Agreement in the mail. The note said my signature was required in order for payroll to cut me a severance check. I thought I turned that down already!
You were treated VERY BAD in my opinion. There is a HUGE RED FLAG if your co wants you to sign a doc like that clearing them of legal liability. Do you have a copy of it?
To me that speaks volumes saying, they know what they did was wrong!!
Get a great employment lawyer and sue!!!
As you look for another job, try not to bad-mouth the former employers, regardless. That's a real turn-off to prospective employers.
Wishing you the best.
How about the bigger picture? I think if the post was accurate, HR4life needs to do the whistleblowing thing on undocumented aliens working at that company so that they will not continue this practice now that she's gone.
What would a lawsuit accomplish? Does HR4life really want to return to this company? Will it clear her name? Does she have the $$ and time to spend on this issue and basically and unfortunately blacklist herself from HR?
It's a tough decision and I think there are attorneys who would listen for an hour and either charge minimal $$ or nothing at all and who would take this on contingency, if the case is as solid as she claims.
HR4life - if you are still reading posts - I do want to clarify that I don't doubt you - but having been in HR for 14+ years and around the block a couple of times, I always put my disclaimers in until I hear all 10 sides of the story.
Good luck.
Zanne
If you had had this meeting and management chose not to follow your advice - then I would leave the company. If they are willing to break this fundamental law - once they know what the issues are - then there's probably 10 more they are breaking as well.
As to a lawsuit. I don't think there's much there to pursue - at least from a monetary standpoint for you, but if your intent on pursuing a lawsuit then you should proceed.
Good luck to you.
If you had received a huge bunch of no-match letters, it would seem very appropriate to implement a verification system from that point forward. Did the HR Director have any input into your decision? Did they attempt to back you up for doing what was right?
Sounds like the HR Director turned a blind eye to non-compliance and is letting you be the scapegoat.
Not surprised that you received a follow-up through mail - they are probably hoping that by not making a big deal out of it that you'll sign and due to your inexperience they won't have to worry about this anymore.
If they call to check on the status of it, mention that you're running it past your attorney. This may also be how you get your foot in the door to an attorney - show him the severence offered and layout your documentation as to why you believe employment was terminated. He/She can then give you an opinion on whether it's worth pursuing. If nothing else, it will give you some peace of mind.
My company received notification of non-matching SSN's, fortunately for me my outcome was more positive. The only mismatch at my location was due to a marriage and the EE failed to submit her new SSN with corrected name, but I am dealing with 6 of our other locations who employee majority Hispanic and Hmong.
Before implementing anything I consulted with our lawyers and discussed with each manager the possible worst case scenerios so they would be prepared and supportive. I also explained to them the penalities if we failed to comply. So far it has been successful. Good luck.
>outlined consequences and legal ramifications BEFORE you began
>implementation? It's not enough to have quick meetings or chatting
>with someone for 10-15 minutes with a quick head nod of approval (if
>this happened) - you have to have a formal presentation with
>management outlining the issues at hand - especially if the action
>will affect the majority of the employees & operations.
>
...
No, I didn't make a formal presentation. I did however bring up the issue in a management meeting and showed a copy of the memo I sent to the ees (I had already consulted with HR Dir. & company attys before starting the project). I also gave each manager a list of their affected personnel. When they realized how many ees were involved, that's when I was attacked. I was told to assure those that had already received the memo that they would not lose their jobs. Also I was to hold on to the rest of the memos until further notice. I had a discussion with HR director and an immigration lawyer was invited to lecture management on the implications of no-match letters and the possible consequences of employing illegals. He also outlined how to legalize them thru company sponsorship. However, there was a catch. Sponsorship had the risk of exposing to the BCIS that they were knowingly employing illegals. Managememt decided there were just too many employees to sponsor. And they continued to be employed anyway!
>issue in a management meeting and showed a copy of the memo I sent to
>the ees (I had already consulted with HR Dir. & company attys before
>starting the project). I also gave each manager a list of their
>affected personnel. When they realized how many ees were involved,
>that's when I was attacked. I was told to assure those that had
>already received the memo that they would not lose their jobs. Also I
>was to hold on to the rest of the memos until further notice."
Was it on these grounds that they terminated you - it almost sounds from your response as though you went against management's desires and followed SSA advice instead. Was this why they terminated you? I'm not saying that the company is correct in their stance - very much the opposite - but were you right in yours? Meaning, you were correct to go with SSA advice - absolutely, but if management was so against it - what did you expect would happen once management found out about your actions?
I'm still not sure if you would indeed benefit financially from deciding to sue - wrongful termination - maybe - but again, I think you should go and see an attorney.
If IRCA ever investigates this company, they will, more than likely, take a major financial hit. Not too long ago in South Carolina, there was a cave in at a worksite and it was found that not only were two of the individuals killed illegals, but were also underaged to be working at a construction site. Needless to say, the company is in BIG trouble.
I would not sign anything without legal counsel looking it over.
The severance/release presented to me upon termination had a 2-week deadline even though I was encouraged to sign it on the termination day. The deadline passed last thursday and today I received a reminder with a copy of the original document.
Here's part of the text of the Release:
.." In cosideration of the Special Severance Package, [employee] agrees, ...that [employee] has been permanently separated from employment with [Company], and that [employee] waives, releases and forever discharges [Company], its owners, officers..., from any and all claims, known or unknown, that [employee] has or may have relating to or arising out of [employee's] employment and termination thereof, including but not limited to any claims of wrongful discharge, breach of expression or contract, fraud, misrepresentation...claims of any kind that may be brought in court or administrative agency, any claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,...the Age discrimination Act...ADA, FMLA...State Human Rights Act, or any federal, state or local law relating to employment..."
After this comes the COBRA, Non-disclosure of business info blah blah blah. Does it look like a standard release? I haven't had one before so I don't know.
>Don,
>
>The severance/release presented to me upon termination had a 2-week
>deadline even though I was encouraged to sign it on the termination
>day. The deadline passed last thursday and today I received a reminder
>with a copy of the original document.
>
>Here's part of the text of the Release:
>
>.." In consideration of the Special Severance Package, employee
>agrees, ...that employee has been permanently separated from
>employment with Company, and that employee waives, releases and
>forever discharges Company, its owners, officers..., from any and
>all claims, known or unknown, that employee has or may have relating
>to or arising out of employee's employment and termination thereof,
>including but not limited to any claims of wrongful discharge, breach
>of expression or contract, fraud, misrepresentation...claims of any
>kind that may be brought in court or administrative agency, any claims
>under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,...the Age
>discrimination Act...ADA, FMLA...State Human Rights Act, or any
>federal, state or local law relating to employment..."
>
>After this comes the COBRA, Non-disclosure of business info blah blah
>blah. Does it look like a standard release? I haven't had one before
>so I don't know.
We too have done our ssn and name mismatch audit and found 3 US Citizens with SSN issues, we found 9 hispanics with SSN issues ( which we knew about because they had confessed and sought our assistance in applying for a change in status through DOL,we are continuing to work that issue). We are currently online with SSA and can validate and name and SSN in "seconds"; guess what the legal hispanics are coming but the illegals are going somewhere else.
For everyone, we HRs have got to get this mess cleaned up. The test program conducted by SSA is a winner, we joined in the 2nd year, my input to SSA was:"get in on line for every company now not later". It will hurt because our congress never consumated pRESIDENT bUSH'S request for an extended AMNESTY PROGRAM FOR ALL OF THOSE GOOD HARDWORKING EMPLOYEES. IT END APRIL 2001, SO NOW WHICH IS WORSE THE FINE FOR WORKING ILLEGAL ALIENS THAT YOU HIRED AS DOCUMENTED FOREIGN MIGRANT WORKERS OR THE MULTITUDE OF LAW SUITES COMING FROM EEOC FOR VIOLATION OF CHAPTER VII UNDER ADVERSE PERSONNEL ACTIONS TOWARD UNDOCUMENTED FOREIGN WORKERS. WE ARE DAMNED IF WE DO AND DAMNED IF WE DON'T, SO JUMP IN THERE AND GET YOU A LITTLE PIECE OF THE ACTIONS. CALL RICHARD SWARTZ OR JOHNNY COCKRAN HE PURSUE YOUR CASE FOR CONSIGNMENT WAGES, YOU MAY END UP OWNING THE COMPANY.
GO FOR IT! PORK
Regarding the severance agreement, in Wisconsin the agreement (generally) would only be binding if there was "due consideration". Our attorney advises us that due consideration is at least four week pay. I would do two things 1) negotiate for a much higher sum - say six months pay and benefits. This will give you time to find another job. Use of an attorney during a negotiation might be wise, perhaps you could give the atty. a percentage of the increased severance funds. 2) Realize that this employer was not a good fit for you and find a better company to work for. Good luck.
I also agree with previous poster who recommended negotiating for additional severance and using an attorney to help you negotiate. While you're at it, negotiate for them to pay your COBRA benefits for 3 months and also require them to pay for outplacement services for you. Concurrently, you could proceed with your "whistleblowing" activities with INS or SSA. If you sue the company, you wouldn't want to be reinstated, correct? What you'd possibly benefit from is additional money, which you could get by re-negotiating the severance amount.
Good luck to you and please keep us posted!