Wrongful Termination - I wouldn't want to be in HR at this facility
cmb
1 Post
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-21-03 AT 08:26PM (CST)[/font][p]I am a HR professional with only three years of experience. My sister and father are in a bad situation and keep asking me for advice. I need some help to make sure I'm not missing anything…….
My father began working at a car dealership in Sept 2002. He really enjoyed the dealership and when he heard of an opening he called my sister. My sister had never worked in sales but went to the interview. They really liked her and hired her on the spot (Nov ’02). In December she was #6 in sales out of 20 salesman (1 is the highest). The dealership employes only two female(including her) all the rest are men.
The problem began about two weeks ago when she had to leave one afternoon for an appointment. She spoke with her manager and he said he would close a deal for her that evening.
That night she found out, each time she sold a car she could earn bonus money by going online and spinning a wheel. She thought she had to be certified to do it, so the next morning she asked her manager how she could become certified. He told her that he decides who becomes certified and that the deal he closed for her the prior evening was a mess (the customer was unhappy, ect.) and he would not certify her. She was surprised and called the customer to apologize, they said everything went fine and they weren’t upset.
Four days later she was called into her managers office and fired for lack of performance. She questioned the termination as she had sold more cars then other salesmen. The manger said the real reason was she was causing him to lose money, but they put lack of performance on everyone termination letter.
After she was fired she went on an interview at another dealership. The interviewer told her she didn’t need to be certified to spin the wheel. The interviewer said the manager provides you with a code and you use that code to spin. (The thought is the manger was taking all the spins for himself, as no one in the dealership had a code- my sister stumbled on to it and he fired her before she found out more). The interview went well and she was told after the reference checks she could start. The next day the interviewer called and told her they no longer had an opening.
Through the grapevine my father learned the manager who fired my sister told the interviewer not to hire her, she was a poor worker, and sucked! Now my father is being harassed constantly by the firing manager, and is very stressed out. Also the person who replaced my sister is a male. Can anyone
help!
My father began working at a car dealership in Sept 2002. He really enjoyed the dealership and when he heard of an opening he called my sister. My sister had never worked in sales but went to the interview. They really liked her and hired her on the spot (Nov ’02). In December she was #6 in sales out of 20 salesman (1 is the highest). The dealership employes only two female(including her) all the rest are men.
The problem began about two weeks ago when she had to leave one afternoon for an appointment. She spoke with her manager and he said he would close a deal for her that evening.
That night she found out, each time she sold a car she could earn bonus money by going online and spinning a wheel. She thought she had to be certified to do it, so the next morning she asked her manager how she could become certified. He told her that he decides who becomes certified and that the deal he closed for her the prior evening was a mess (the customer was unhappy, ect.) and he would not certify her. She was surprised and called the customer to apologize, they said everything went fine and they weren’t upset.
Four days later she was called into her managers office and fired for lack of performance. She questioned the termination as she had sold more cars then other salesmen. The manger said the real reason was she was causing him to lose money, but they put lack of performance on everyone termination letter.
After she was fired she went on an interview at another dealership. The interviewer told her she didn’t need to be certified to spin the wheel. The interviewer said the manager provides you with a code and you use that code to spin. (The thought is the manger was taking all the spins for himself, as no one in the dealership had a code- my sister stumbled on to it and he fired her before she found out more). The interview went well and she was told after the reference checks she could start. The next day the interviewer called and told her they no longer had an opening.
Through the grapevine my father learned the manager who fired my sister told the interviewer not to hire her, she was a poor worker, and sucked! Now my father is being harassed constantly by the firing manager, and is very stressed out. Also the person who replaced my sister is a male. Can anyone
help!
Comments
Also, your case should be against this supervisor personally. He has gone out of his way to fire her and prohibit her from other employment opportunities. He is in no way acting in the best interest of his company and so he could be PERSONALLY liable.
I would think that an employment attorney would really enjoy hearing your sister's story.
Would you keep us up to date on what happens?
Paul
Your father NEEDS to go up the chain of command in that organization. If the manager is taking all the spins for himself, the company that set up the wheel deal (whether it be the car manufacturer or your bosses boss), need to know immediately. Informing higher ups who can take action against the manager is really uor father's only recourse.
Good Luck!
They are:
1. Intentional interference with a business relationship (firing the employee, possibly contacting the other dealer and interfering with the hiring process)
2. Using an improper means or an improper purpose (to keep the supervisor's activity secret i.e. spinning the wheel)
3. Causing damage to the relationship (employee was fired and kept from getting another job)
Whether or not the employee was in a protected class is not an issue to the best of my knowledge. Whether or not the supervisor acted in his own interest and intentionally fired the employee and prohibited future employment is the issue.
I am not an attorney but that is my understanding of how this tort works.
Paul