Legal Question in Employment Law in California
I was fired on July 7th, 2011 from my job working as a bartender/server in a large chain restaurant. I was fired for allegations that I was selling/using drugs. On July 6th my GM asked me four questions.
1) Did I see any two crew members use drugs or with a manager
2) Did I see any two crew members sell drugs to each other or to a manager
3) Did I use drugs with any manager
4) Did I sell to or buy from a manager.
My answer was NO to all four questions, and my GM had me write a statement with my NO responses, along with date and signature. A day later On July7th I was terminated. I wasn't given a exact reason except a thorough investigation was done and I had to be let go. I guess based on the questions I was suppose to know why. I applied for unemployment and was scheduled for a phone interview. It wasn't until this interview and the EDD personnel informing of what I was actually discharged for.Based on the allegations of the employer I could be denied unemployment benefits as "Selling Drugs" is a dis-qualifier. I had never had any interaction with management regarding these lies. I was awarded unemployment benefits based on the fact that the only material the employer had was hourly employee statements. There was no management seeing actions that were alleged or any police report or drug test. These allegations were false and caused me lost wages and harm. I also took my concerns of theft and drugs to the management for five years with no response. I almost feel as if this was something that got me fired. I had good work reviews and good work ethic.
I believe I was terminated with prejudice and also because for five years I brought attention to management by always telling them who was stealing money from registers and also bringing to attention that drugs were being used on work premises and also theft of product inventory. My name was falsely slandered and fired for this slander, do I have any recourse?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Sounds like you were caught in the middle. As far as reversing the decision its going to be almost impossible as the employer would almost have to admit negligiance and by doing so they are setting themselves up for a law suite. As far as immediate action you are still withing a good time frame of filing a claim under Workers' Compensation Laws.
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