4 ms·

First question is are you sure you were fired with cause and not laid off? If you're sure it's the first you might want to consult a lawyer. Usually a compan

First question is are you sure you were fired with cause and not laid off? If you're sure it's the first you might want to consult a lawyer. Usually a company needs a pretty strong paper trail and a lot of evidence of you screwing up royally before they can fire with cause.

amdavidson 10y ago
Wickr is based in SF. CA is an at-will state. Many companies prefer to have a strong paper trail and a lot of evidence to scare people away from filing wrongful termination suits, but he could have been fired just because the boss didn't like him without any legal repercussions.
scolson 10y ago
Obviously, they should consult a lawyer, but I want to clarify this point, because the parent comment can be very misleading. If you have a specific employment contract, all bets are off and only your lawyer and the courts can really determine what is/is not a permissible dismissal. Assuming no contract, "cause" needs vary by state, so you can't just trust the parent message. In At-Will states, most of the time, you can be fired for any reason (except protected reasons) at any time including "asking too many questions", "asking the wrong questions", "not asking enough questions", or "he/she looked at me funny and I was in a bad mood." All are perfectly valid reasons for an on-the-spot dismissal in an At-Will state. Now where it gets trickier is filing for unemployment. This can be harder to navigate than simple At-Will rules. In my state, all of the following will be docked against the employer for unemployment compensation: * Just felt like firing someone * Asks too many/not enough questions * Constant quality issues * Couldn't actually code and in a developer role In all of the above, it is expected that the employer either should have figured it out before hiring, or should train/retrain to address the situation. If an employer fires you for a policy violation, then unemployment will not be charged back to the employer (and likely the employee is not "unemployment eligible"). Usually this involves a longer paper trail with multiple meetings and "official" written notice of a policy violation in your company file before being terminated. Generally, this is a CYA thing for the employer so you cannot claim "you didn't know." Protip: If there is a bs policy that everyone violates, you can still be fired for-cause for violating it. Chances are if this happens, someone really doesn't like you and they want a good reason to get you out. But in all cases in an At-Will state, you are still out of a job. (PS: You notice I do not name my state. Since this is an already tricky situation, assume my state is fictitious, and the rules and experiences are equally made up. Ask your lawyer or the equivalent of your state's (un)employment department/commission/branch for how things apply in your state.)
- frenchman_in_ny 10y ago
  And if you have a specific employment contract (and you're in an at-will state), take a close look at it since it likely includes an arbitration clause. So going to a lawyer & the courts might make you feel like you're going to get a resolution, but likely you aren't going to get very far.
- JamesBarney 10y ago
  I think you are confusing termination in an at will state with "termination-with-cause" which means that you cannot collect unemployment, and cannot be rehired by the same firm.(or maybe I'm wrong) When someone asks if you've been fired by a previous company usually they are asking about the second. They will call the previous company and ask if you are eligible for rehire.
  - scolson 10y ago
    No, not confusing it. Your original message was WRT paper trail, which is not required in all cases. To your message here, fired means something very specific. Though fired can be for cause or no cause. And the reason of cause matters for unemployment. Laid off means something else. So really, there are four categories from an unemployment standpoint: 1. Fired - policy violation 2. Fired - "incompetent" (note: in the eyes of the employer) 3. Fired - no cause 4. Laid off Both 1 and 2 are bad for new job prospects. 3 is hit and miss from a job prospect perspective, but still generally negative. 4 has no impact. For unemployment in my state, 2, 3, and 4 will all let you collect (and bills back to the company who terminated the working relationship) where #1 makes you unemployment ineligible. Circling back to your original message about paper trail, #1 is the only one that companies essentially always keep (or should keep) the paper trail for in my state, because it is the only one that is needed to to defend the company in an unemployment hearing if it ever gets there. For the other categories, there may or may not be a paper trail, and it certainly isn't required.
    - JamesBarney 10y ago
      Do most companies when contacted by future prospective employers disclose which of these 4 was the reason for termination?
coin 10y ago
> fire with cause Isn't it all at-will employment? Why is a reason necessary?

amdavidson 10y ago

Wickr is based in SF. CA is an at-will state. Many companies prefer to have a strong paper trail and a lot of evidence to scare people away from filing wrongful termination suits, but he could have been fired just because the boss didn't like him without any legal repercussions.

scolson 10y ago

Obviously, they should consult a lawyer, but I want to clarify this point, because the parent comment can be very misleading. If you have a specific employment contract, all bets are off and only your lawyer and the courts can really determine what is/is not a permissible dismissal. Assuming no contract, "cause" needs vary by state, so you can't just trust the parent message. In At-Will states, most of the time, you can be fired for any reason (except protected reasons) at any time including "asking too many questions", "asking the wrong questions", "not asking enough questions", or "he/she looked at me funny and I was in a bad mood." All are perfectly valid reasons for an on-the-spot dismissal in an At-Will state. Now where it gets trickier is filing for unemployment. This can be harder to navigate than simple At-Will rules. In my state, all of the following will be docked against the employer for unemployment compensation: * Just felt like firing someone * Asks too many/not enough questions * Constant quality issues * Couldn't actually code and in a developer role In all of the above, it is expected that the employer either should have figured it out before hiring, or should train/retrain to address the situation. If an employer fires you for a policy violation, then unemployment will not be charged back to the employer (and likely the employee is not "unemployment eligible"). Usually this involves a longer paper trail with multiple meetings and "official" written notice of a policy violation in your company file before being terminated. Generally, this is a CYA thing for the employer so you cannot claim "you didn't know." Protip: If there is a bs policy that everyone violates, you can still be fired for-cause for violating it. Chances are if this happens, someone really doesn't like you and they want a good reason to get you out. But in all cases in an At-Will state, you are still out of a job. (PS: You notice I do not name my state. Since this is an already tricky situation, assume my state is fictitious, and the rules and experiences are equally made up. Ask your lawyer or the equivalent of your state's (un)employment department/commission/branch for how things apply in your state.)

frenchman_in_ny 10y ago
And if you have a specific employment contract (and you're in an at-will state), take a close look at it since it likely includes an arbitration clause. So going to a lawyer & the courts might make you feel like you're going to get a resolution, but likely you aren't going to get very far.
JamesBarney 10y ago
I think you are confusing termination in an at will state with "termination-with-cause" which means that you cannot collect unemployment, and cannot be rehired by the same firm.(or maybe I'm wrong) When someone asks if you've been fired by a previous company usually they are asking about the second. They will call the previous company and ask if you are eligible for rehire.
- scolson 10y ago
  No, not confusing it. Your original message was WRT paper trail, which is not required in all cases. To your message here, fired means something very specific. Though fired can be for cause or no cause. And the reason of cause matters for unemployment. Laid off means something else. So really, there are four categories from an unemployment standpoint: 1. Fired - policy violation 2. Fired - "incompetent" (note: in the eyes of the employer) 3. Fired - no cause 4. Laid off Both 1 and 2 are bad for new job prospects. 3 is hit and miss from a job prospect perspective, but still generally negative. 4 has no impact. For unemployment in my state, 2, 3, and 4 will all let you collect (and bills back to the company who terminated the working relationship) where #1 makes you unemployment ineligible. Circling back to your original message about paper trail, #1 is the only one that companies essentially always keep (or should keep) the paper trail for in my state, because it is the only one that is needed to to defend the company in an unemployment hearing if it ever gets there. For the other categories, there may or may not be a paper trail, and it certainly isn't required.
  - JamesBarney 10y ago
    Do most companies when contacted by future prospective employers disclose which of these 4 was the reason for termination?

coin 10y ago

> fire with cause Isn't it all at-will employment? Why is a reason necessary?