Legal Question in Employment Law in California

wrongful termination

i have worked for home depot for 18 years, in April i was helping a customer unload, i had to leave him because it was the end of my shift and i needed to clock out, i was given a warning that this was not good customer service and if this happens again i will be terminated, on May 22 a customer called in looking for a barbeque grill that she couldn't find in her city, she spoke to the store manager and arranged something with him, on may 23 and 4:30 the end of my shift i purchased the grill, i did not see any note on it which the manger said it was, on sunday the customer came in and they had to give her another grill and mark it down $200 to match the other grill. On june 6th i was called into the office by the HR manger and store manger and was terminated because of these two incidents. about a week ago i approaced the HR manager and told her I felt I was being harrased by the store manager and was tired of it, she said she would check into it, she approached me about 15 minutes before my shift ended but didn't have much to say, until my termination and she felt it was valid. I need to know what my opitions are and if there is anything i can do.


Asked on 6/08/09, 12:34 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Arkady Itkin Law Office of Arkady Itkin

Re: wrongful termination

Obviously, the fact that you have been employed for such a long period of time at Home Depot, makes your termination at least suspicious.

Assuming that you were an employee at will, your employer may have terminated you for a reason, no reason or an arbitrary reason, as long as it's not an illegal reason, such as discrimination, retaliation, etc...

In your case, it's possible that your employer retaliated against you for complaining about harassment which is unlawful. The short timing of just one week before the complaint and the termination is a strong evidence. However, timing alone might not be sufficient to prove the case of retaliation. More facts need to be established to determine if you have a claim.

Thanks, and feel free to follow up.

Arkady Itkin

San Francisco Employment Lawyer

http://www.arkadylaw.com

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Answered on 6/09/09, 3:55 am


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