Wrongfully Terminated, Contrary to California Labor Law
By Jane Mundy
Fontana, CA Last month, Anthony had a dispute with a fellow employee; as a result he was fired from his job at 'Toys R Us'. Although this was Anthony's first job??"he is only 18 years old??"he is familiar with the California Labor Law and believes he was wrongfully terminated. As well, according to the California state labor law, he might also have been discriminated against.
According to Anthony, this is what happened.
"It was 3.45 pm and I was getting off my shift in 15 minutes," Anthony says. "I worked in the electronics department with Amy (not her real name) and the department supervisor. Amy needed the keys to open the display case for a customer so I threw a lanyard (that the keys clip onto) on top of a glass display case in front of her. She said I threw the keys in her face and complained to my manager??"he was in the back of the store and didn't see this incident.
Amy never came back to our department and still had the keys on the lanyard around her neck. Instead she went to guest services and started talking to another co-worker.
I can't leave; my shift ends in 2 minutes and I have customers waiting for service. And I can't open up any of the display cases. I called Amy on the walkie-talkie and asked her politely to return the keys. Instead, she ignored me.
Now I am in a quandary: nobody is allowed to work overtime because of budget cuts and if I don't clock out at 4pm I can get written up.
I asked the customers to please wait; I clocked out and literally ran to get the keys from the front desk??"where Amy left them. I am now off the clock but I came back to electronics and helped those people who were patiently waiting for service. I started to ring up a purchase but my supervisor finished my transaction. As I was leaving the department, Amy approached me.
She got in my face??"she stepped in front of me and raised her voice.' I don't appreciate you talking to me the way you do, or throwing keys in my face,' she said. I didn't reply; I just walked away.
As I walked away, she yelled in front of customers, 'That's right, walk away like you and your little bitch-ass sister.' My department supervisor heard every word. I told her to keep my sister out of it and kept walking. (My sister is a department supervisor next door at Babies R Us and she was Amy's boss at one time.)
I walked to the back of the store to tell my manager what happened and he said, 'OK, I will handle it'.
They gave me the next two weekends off and Amy had one week off while they were investigating the situation. I was never asked for a statement, nor did I receive a phone call stating that I wasn't on the schedule that week. I had to find out from a co-worker. On January 25 I called to find out my next shift and another employee told me I wasn't on the schedule. I called back January 27 to speak with Bob, the manager. Bob said he would call me back??"he never called.
I called the next day and spoke with another manager; he said he was busy and would call me back. Guess what??"no call back. On January 29th, I spoke with Bob again. He told me to work a shift on January 31 at 4pm. Instead of working, I was hauled into the office and terminated by Bob and another manager. They told me to take off my uniform and badge; I walked out of the office and I was done. Nothing to sign, no good-byes…
Their reason for firing me was that they couldn't have another incident like this happen again. They asked for my supervisor's statement, my sister's statement, and Amy's statement, but they never asked me for a statement. It was one-sided.
Not only was I wrongfully terminated; I also feel discriminated against. Amy sold more instant credits, so maybe they thought she was a better worker. We were both seasonal employees but both of us had made the cut to stay on for the rest of the year, so this was quite a blow to me??"I have nothing else to fall back on. With the economy the way it is, I am still looking for work and probably don't qualify for unemployment insurance.
And another thing: The day I was fired, I was given my final paycheck but it was short 2 hours of pay. I was owed for an 8-hour and a 4-hour shift but they only paid me 10 hours. I didn't open my check until I left the building. I called back, requesting documentation of my termination. HR said she would call me back the next day."
You guessed right, Anthony never got a return call. This is an appalling way to treat employees, particularly an 18-year-old's first job. Fortunately, the California Labor Law is in place to protect employees from wrongful termination and discrimination.
Anthony believes this company owes him and his sister an apology, two hours of pay, and his job back??"at the very least.
According to Anthony, this is what happened."It was 3.45 pm and I was getting off my shift in 15 minutes," Anthony says. "I worked in the electronics department with Amy (not her real name) and the department supervisor. Amy needed the keys to open the display case for a customer so I threw a lanyard (that the keys clip onto) on top of a glass display case in front of her. She said I threw the keys in her face and complained to my manager??"he was in the back of the store and didn't see this incident.
Amy never came back to our department and still had the keys on the lanyard around her neck. Instead she went to guest services and started talking to another co-worker.
I can't leave; my shift ends in 2 minutes and I have customers waiting for service. And I can't open up any of the display cases. I called Amy on the walkie-talkie and asked her politely to return the keys. Instead, she ignored me.
Now I am in a quandary: nobody is allowed to work overtime because of budget cuts and if I don't clock out at 4pm I can get written up.
I asked the customers to please wait; I clocked out and literally ran to get the keys from the front desk??"where Amy left them. I am now off the clock but I came back to electronics and helped those people who were patiently waiting for service. I started to ring up a purchase but my supervisor finished my transaction. As I was leaving the department, Amy approached me.
She got in my face??"she stepped in front of me and raised her voice.' I don't appreciate you talking to me the way you do, or throwing keys in my face,' she said. I didn't reply; I just walked away.
As I walked away, she yelled in front of customers, 'That's right, walk away like you and your little bitch-ass sister.' My department supervisor heard every word. I told her to keep my sister out of it and kept walking. (My sister is a department supervisor next door at Babies R Us and she was Amy's boss at one time.)
I walked to the back of the store to tell my manager what happened and he said, 'OK, I will handle it'.
They gave me the next two weekends off and Amy had one week off while they were investigating the situation. I was never asked for a statement, nor did I receive a phone call stating that I wasn't on the schedule that week. I had to find out from a co-worker. On January 25 I called to find out my next shift and another employee told me I wasn't on the schedule. I called back January 27 to speak with Bob, the manager. Bob said he would call me back??"he never called.
I called the next day and spoke with another manager; he said he was busy and would call me back. Guess what??"no call back. On January 29th, I spoke with Bob again. He told me to work a shift on January 31 at 4pm. Instead of working, I was hauled into the office and terminated by Bob and another manager. They told me to take off my uniform and badge; I walked out of the office and I was done. Nothing to sign, no good-byes…
Their reason for firing me was that they couldn't have another incident like this happen again. They asked for my supervisor's statement, my sister's statement, and Amy's statement, but they never asked me for a statement. It was one-sided.
Not only was I wrongfully terminated; I also feel discriminated against. Amy sold more instant credits, so maybe they thought she was a better worker. We were both seasonal employees but both of us had made the cut to stay on for the rest of the year, so this was quite a blow to me??"I have nothing else to fall back on. With the economy the way it is, I am still looking for work and probably don't qualify for unemployment insurance.
And another thing: The day I was fired, I was given my final paycheck but it was short 2 hours of pay. I was owed for an 8-hour and a 4-hour shift but they only paid me 10 hours. I didn't open my check until I left the building. I called back, requesting documentation of my termination. HR said she would call me back the next day."
You guessed right, Anthony never got a return call. This is an appalling way to treat employees, particularly an 18-year-old's first job. Fortunately, the California Labor Law is in place to protect employees from wrongful termination and discrimination.
Anthony believes this company owes him and his sister an apology, two hours of pay, and his job back??"at the very least.
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