At-Will Employment Archives - The Poliquin Firm

Take This Job and Shove it…Or Don’t

Ron Poliquin — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 18:43:05 +0000

Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com

So, take this job and shove it. You want to quit your job, you are being harassed at work, it’s a terrible atmosphere, it is a hostile work environment, you are the victim of workplace bullying. You are sure something illegal is going on, so you just want to quit your job, and sue the pants off those guys. Put some breaks on okay, take a breather. Here are a couple of reasons you might want to do that or might want to consider other strategies.

1. You may not have a case. Here is a dirty little secret of employment law, most people cannot sue their employers. Because you can basically be terminated for good reason, bad reason or no reason at all as long as it is not for an illegal reason. To judge if it is an illegal reason or not, you have to see a lawyer.

2. Even if you have a case, you won’t see a result for a long time. Your lawyer is not going to pay your bills, in fact, he is prohibited from lending you money. So you have to think about the realities of life. Litigation takes a long time, it could take years before you see a penny from a case.

3. There may be some alternatives. If you are under a lot of stress and it is considered a medical condition, maybe you take FMLA, take some leave. Perhaps you get some disability insurance from your company. Perhaps you can take some time off.

4. See a lawyer before you do anything. You want to be able to strategize and see a lawyer, even if it takes a consultation fee for a couple of hundred bucks, it’s worth it to know your rights.

5. Staying at your company could actually help your case. I have had times when what I have done is have the employee complain to the CEO, the highest up, so no one can say they did not know about anything.

6. Did you go through your company’s mandatory reporting complaint procedure? If you don’t the employer could use this as a defense later on that they did not know the harassment or the discrimination was going on. Therefore the company did not have a chance to remedy that and should not be held liable because the company did not have a chance to remedy the situation. So, you want to look at your employee handbook and see what the reporting procedure is. Let’s say the procedure is to report it to your supervisor but your supervisor is the one doing the harassing, then they usually have an alternative reporting procedure. But you need to let someone higher up know before you leave.

7. You need income. The employment case is not going to provide that and nor will your attorney.

8. Strategize with your lawyer. What is the next best move?

9. Even if you don’t have a case perhaps you can negotiate an exit. Giving some heads up as far as a couple of weeks notice. Maybe you get a good referral or at least not a bad referral. Maybe you can negotiate a severance package.

10. Look for a job while you have a job. A job is like dating, it is much easier to get a new girlfriend while you have a girlfriend than when you don’t have one. Looking for a job is a lot easier when you already have a job, you make yourself a more attractive candidate.

11. I realize I am repeating myself, but lawyer up. Talk to a lawyer, don’t cheap out on it. Spend a couple of hundred bucks on a consult. Know your rights and then you can make your next move from there.

This is Ron Poliquin saying, go to DoverLawOffice.com…exit out!

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Is It Discrimination For a Female Teacher To Be Terminated Over a Topless Photo?

Ron Poliquin — Tue, 21 May 2019 19:01:37 +0000

Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com,

Today’s question, “Is it discrimination for a female teacher to be terminated over a topless photo that was found by a student?” That is what plaintiff Lauren Miranda is claiming. Miranda was fired after a teenage student ended up with a topless selfie of this public-school math teacher, but Miranda did not send the photo to the student. She sent it to another male teacher in the district that she recently had a relationship.

Apparently, the photo was passed around and somehow wound up in the student’s hands. Miranda is suing the school district, superintendent, and other administrators on the basis of gender discrimination, seeking $3 million dollars and to be reinstated at the school.

What she and her legal counsel are arguing, in a sense, is that if the nipples in the photo had belonged to a male teacher, if it was a topless photo of a male teacher, no action would have been taken. In fact, Miranda noted that there are male teachers on Facebook that have topless photos that are easily accessible on social media platforms and never to her knowledge has that been reprimanded let alone fired.

To me, Miranda is focused on the nipples and topless photo. I would ask her some questions as far as to see if this is, in fact, gender discrimination. How has the school handled prior cases of pictures of teachers? How did the picture get into the hands of the student? Did the school do any kind of investigation? A question we have to ask is this topless photo sexual in nature? I think it would be a more clear-cut case if it was a pornographic picture of someone having sex, but here you are talking about simply a topless photo.

It is a very difficult case; I think there is a good argument to make that a topless photo in and of itself does not make you a bad role model. It is not sexual in nature. I also think it obviously helps that she did not pass out the photo, it was passed on by someone else.

If I were a betting man, I would bet that the court would defer to the school, but I would still represent Miranda because I think it is a worthwhile cause to proceed with. What is obvious here is in this day and age with everyone’s private lives not being so private and being on the internet, employers are going to have to make some big adjustments to make sure men and women are treated equally in the workplace. Especially when it comes to issues like this.

If you feel like you have been discriminated against because of your gender, please contact DoverLawOffice.com or contact a qualified employment attorney. Thank you!

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Wrongful Termination

Ron Poliquin — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 18:54:28 +0000

Is there some kind of law that protects employees generally from wrongful termination?

Wrongful Termination

Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com, I am your Delaware Employee Rights Attorney.

I get a lot of questions regarding what the heck is wrongful termination? Is there some kind of law that protects employees, generally, from wrongful termination? Well, it is a common question. Lawyers sometime throw that out there, a wrongful termination. You hear it a lot in the media, but there's actually no cause of action called a wrongful termination. We in Delaware are an at-will employment state. What does that mean? At-will employment state means you can get fired for good reason, bad reason, or no reason at all, as long as it's not for an illegal reason. There is no cause of action called wrongful termination. That is kind of this umbrella term that we use for other statues that have been created.

We already know you can be terminated for good reason, bad reason, for no reason at all, and most employees when they get fired, guess how much they get? Donut Babe. Alright? They don't get anything. Most people get a kick in the butt and they take the little box out and they go to the parking lot and have to look for another job. Most people do not have any rights after they get employed. There are exceptions, notable exceptions, exceptions to the rule. Most employment cases come under the broad statute of Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate based on sex, race, color, national origin and religion. Some states statutes have expanded that. In Delaware that also means sexual orientation.

So basically, you can get fired for good reason, bad reason, no reason at all, as long as its not for an illegal reason, meaning something based on sex, race, color, national origin or religion. A lot of times that also means for retaliation. There is also a whistle-blower statute, meaning if you report somebody that's breaking the law or somebody that's illegally funneling money of some kind - there's also whistle-blower statute protection. There are also common law things; breach of good faith and fair dealing. I'm not going to get in that too much, that is a whole other video. So, for the most part, Delaware is an at-will employment state, but you cannot be terminated or illegally treated for sex, race, color, national orientation, religion, or some kind of other protected status. Also, there are claims involving breach of good faith and fair dealing. Which basically, we cannot be terminated for a fraudulent reason. Promissory estoppel could be another employment term, being there is a promise and there's a breach of that promise and there's damage as a result of that promise.

So anyways, that's generally the umbrella of employment law on why people get illegally terminated. The term unlawful termination or wrongful termination is not actually a real legal term. If you want to talk more about your rights, I'd be happy to talk about it. This is Ron Poliquin, your employment lawyer DoverLawOffice.com.

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