Situation in South Carolina

System

In S.C. (an At-Will State)a project engineering manager whose project was in the last phases of completion was terminated prior to completion of the project because everything was on target and would complete on time without the need for this position. The employee was employed for twelve years. Heavily recruited right out of college. For seven of these years he was a single parent, and chose not to pursue the career path of manufacturing manager or plant manager due to single parent responsibilities. Based on this, there was no place to transfer him when he was no longer needed to complete the project, so he was terminated with no reason as to why he was being terminated...except he was an at-will employee. (White divorced single parent under 40)

The HR Manager and Plant Manager met with him to tell him he was terminated and went over his severence package with him. Since they did not give him anything in writing, he called in the next day to see if he could come back into the office and meet with someone in HR to go over what they told him & explain his severence benefets were and asked if he could look at his personnel file at that time. HR was told to deny him that request and he was not allowed back on the property. The handbook only states that severences are given in certain situations but are never consistent. These are the times I'm sorry I am part of the HR function. The employee then sent an email to the HR manager requesting something in writing be given to him as to what his severence and benefits would be and how they arrived at their decision. The employee tried to explain that he was in such shock at being terminated he didn't remember what they told him during their talk. The decision was finally made to put the basic information in an email to the employee, but it had to be approved by Corp???.

He was terminated on Jan 2, first day back from the holidays, because the Plant Manager didn't want to ruin the employee's holiday.

The kicker is....with his education, skill-set, and experience, he could have found a job right away. However, his stupid manager made a comment to one of the suppliers working on the project with the employee the day after the termination, that "it was a very bad decision to let the him go" and "the real reason was for past sins." Now what? Managers are suppose to transfer reference calls to HR. It is not HR's wish to keep a person from making a living, but how do you protect the company and the employees from stupid managers (who are untouchable by HR).

Since it appears this was a politcal termination that I have no knowledge of, is there a way to correct this wrong....this employee was highly thought of in the plant. I can understand not bringing him back on the property because of the low morale caused by his termination.

This statement (and who knows what else has been said) has placed doublt in the hiring manager's mind of out least one job the employee applied for...he didn't get the job. What liability does the company have if this employee can't get hired??? He has requested again to see his personnel file. Is there a law is SC that permits this? I don't think there is anything in the file he shouldn't see...it is the comments that were made to outsiders that were harmful.

I am bit a small spoke in the wheel but I a good HR person...should this fire be fought or left unattended???

Rockie

Several observations. South Carolina is an at-will state as you know so an employee can be fired for any reason or no reason. If you truly want to be a blunt SOB, you can simply say "Your services are no longer needed." Indeed, many so called experts in at will environments feel this is the best way to proceed. I worked at a bank where an 18 year employee was told these very words with no explanation.

Second, your manager may be "untouchable" by Human Resources, but not by the long arm of the law. There are many cases where a supervisor or manager gave out false, defaming information about an employee that kept him from getting a job and they were found personally liable. There was a case a few years ago where a former employee won $500,000 because a supervisor told a prospective employer that he was a "psycho". You should definitely have a policy of references only going through Human Resources. If a manager goes against this policy, HE should be terminated.

As far as the personnel file, our policy states that an employee may examine the contents of his personnel file as long as it is done in Human Resources. They may not remove it from the premises. We would not extend this to a former employee unless these records were subpoenaed by an attorney.

Hard headed people sometimes have to learn expensive lessons before they understand what the consequences of their actions are. An HR Manager can only tell managers what could happen if they persist in their conduct, but when they get a visit from a process server with a personal liability suit, they you can expect them to be on your doorstep for help!

scottorr

I would have to agree with Rockie here. The manager should not have said a word, you should let him know that he has exposed the company to a lawsuit. Even if he signs a severance agreement, it wont protect you from defamation. There is nothing like a lawsuit to touch the untouchables.

Now on the flip side you could have let him go without an explanation. But if he was a good ee, why would want to. Some times I just don't understand the decisions some members of the maagement team make.

LindaS

I always TRY to ensure that managers do NOT make any comments regardng past employees to ANYONE. I became involved in a situation last year with a former employer wherein an employee was terminated, supposedly for performance, and when the employee came into the office the following day to retrieve her personal belongings, the manager for the department told her she was "sorry" and didn't understand what happened. She also told the former employee that she could use the manager for a personal reference. Since this employee was female, over 40 and the oldest person in the department, I was contacted by the attorney at my former company (this all happened after I left) to answer some questions regarding performance issues I was possibly aware of because the former employee filed an age discrimination claim against the company.

Make sure the supervisors are told, in no uncertain terms, to forward any calls, etc. to HR to handle. Also make sure they know NOT to make any comments to the exiting employee. You never know what can happen!

System

Thanks for your input. I didn't realize the community had a name for this company - "burn em and turn em before 40" - female or male. I haven't been back in SC long so I was't aware of their reputation. I'm anxious to see how the new generation of college recruits affects this company's hiring and 'for me to know and you to find out' firing practices. I worked for a large company who had facilities nation-wide just as this manufacturing company does. Our hiring and firing practices were consistent nation-wide regardless of whether one lived in an at-will state or not. Copies of our policies were given to all employees. So keeping this information private and for managers only to see...is a step backwards for me. Thanks for letting me vent and your information is helpful.