Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Fired while on Vacaton

In California, you are presumed to be what is called an "at will" employee. Unless you are protected by a union contract or civil service rules, you employer can generally fire you for almost any reason they want or no reason at all. If you had proof that they were illegally discriminating against you, that would be a different story.

Re: Fired while on Vacaton

You can console yourself with the knowledge that, at companies that fire employees while they are on vacation, your former supervisor will be afraid to take vacations (just like everyone else at the company). Eventually all the employees at the company will learn to never take vacations, lest they be fired, and this will redound to the company's detriment.

Probably you will run into your former supervisor in a couple of years, and her nerves will be shot.

Re: Fired while on Vacaton

Mr. Starrett's post is correct. Your employer can fire you for almost any reason or for no reason at all.

Unless the reason for your termination was specifically prohibited by law (discrimination based on membership in a protected class) or violates a written contract, your only recourse is unemployment insurance.

Re: Fired while on Vacaton

I think co-counsel has missed a few questions that need to be asked.

How long did you work there? Is there a compny handbook? Were you working under contract or some type of contractual agreement? What is the company's normal procedure for terminating people? Do they normally have write ups? Do you know of anyone else who was also terminated without write ups? How about people terminated with write ups?

While I agree that most employees are, in fact, terminable at-will, there is a reasonable expectation of maintaining ones position (basically job security) after a reasonable time (this is arbitrary for a reason) or when told by a "higher-up" that one's job is secure.

If you would like to discuss this matter further in a more private forum, please feel free to contact me directly at the email address provided by LawGuru or through our firm�s website located at PasadenaEstatePlanning.com

IMPORTANT:

No attorney-client nor confidential relationship is created through this communication. You may not rely in any way on this communication, and nothing herein constitutes legal advice nor legal opinion. Your issue may be time-sensitive and may result in a loss of rights if you do not obtain an attorney immediately.

Re: Fired while on Vacaton

You've now learned the reality of the term and your status as an "at will" employee. You can be fired any time for any or no reason, with or without warning, with or without cause, other than for illegal discrimination or retaliation under the civil rights laws, like for race, age, gender, etc. You have described no case.