Legal Question in Employment Law in California
My husband's employer moved their factory from one part of CA. to another. A percentage of the employees were offered their positions at the new factory, if they wanted to move. They gave us trips & tours to the new location...packets with Real Estate/Relocation info, etc. My husband was pulled aside by the VP & told how much they hoped he would move, & was given a $10,000 bonus for staying on with the company, and $6000 more for additional expenses. We made it clear we didn't want to move, but would to keep his job (especially in this economy!!). Obviously my husband was well thought of by his employer.
So, we purchased our first house, draining his 401K to do so (and using the after tax $ from his bonuses), and we moved to the new location. He worked for several months traveling back & forth between the 2 companies. Now he is full time in the new company location....and he is no longer in the position/overseeing the product he has for 13 years with this company. They took him from Lead of Production & have him Planning. he hates it & is very frustrated. The company has a new VP in the new location & they want to do things "their way" (this was a company buy out & the smaller co. doesn't want to give in to the new, bigger co. way of doing things). Because of my husband being placed in a Planner position, his production team is no longer meeting their goals (8 Milllion dollars revenue per quarter). His supervisor & the other Engineer who ran this line originally ,who also transfered from the company's other location, are also being "shunned" and not allowed into their original positions which have been taken over by friends of the new VP. In fact, the old supervisor was just demoted & given a pay cut (now he can no longer afford the house he bought to move with the company!!). We are afraid my husband is next on the list for demotion once they don't meet the quarter because they were not ALLOWED to run the line...
There has only been one other quarter missed in my husbands 13 years with the co. & that was the last quarter, during the transition. It was missed by $5,000 dollars.The coming quarter will be missed by MILLIONS. The new place has a more laid back attitude & does in a week what the old company expected in a DAY. Nothing has changed, other than the players handling the workload. My husband, his former supervisor , and the former Engineer at the old company have ALL given the new VP advice that they need to get back to running things, or they WILL NOT make the quarter. He says not to worry, the new person now running it has it under control. However, it is obvious, by phone calls fielded by all 3 from the other location's VP, that things are falling hopelessly behind. The new co. also excludes them from emails/meetings regarding "their" product making doubly sure they can't get it back to running smoothly.Their hands are essentially tied , yet their jobs are on the line!
If my husband is fired or let go, is there anything we can do? I am not the suing type, but we incured hundreds of thousands in debt for this move, and turned our lives upside down (we left behind elderly parents)....and we are not allowed to sell our house for 2 years per our mortgage agreement. My husband also signed a 1 year employment commitment for this bonus!
I am so scared & frustrated, as is my husband! Are we really just "stuck" and have to suck it up...whatever "it" the company dishes out since is is simply an 'at will hourly employee'?
ANY advice is appreciated.
2 Answers from Attorneys
The employer is entitled to set and change hours, duties, titles, compensation, benefits, leaves, vacations, holidays, policies, rules, etc. just not retroactively. Employees have the 'right' to pay and employee benefits per the minimum wage laws, and company policy as agreed, to be provided a 'safe' workplace to minimize risk of injury, and sometimes are entitled to certain medical/pregnancy leave rights. That's about it. In general, unless an employee is civil service, in a union, or has a written employment contract, they are an 'at will' employee that can be disciplined or fired any time for any reason, with or without �cause�, explanation or notice, other than for illegal discrimination, harassment or retaliation under the ADA disability, Civil Rights [age, race, sex, ethnic, religion, pregnancy, etc], Whistle-blower, or similar statutes. The employee's goal should be to keep the employer happy. Your choice is to make the best of this, or seek other employment.
I don't agree entirely with Mr. Nelson, though I usually do on these types of questions. You need to sit down with an attorney and go over everything that was promised in writing or verbally that induced your husband to make this move. If there was a provable misrepresentation or broken promise that was an inducement to move, then you may have a case.
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