Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

Can we be fired?

We ladies work for the county library system. We are being told that we are closed for a day since the hurricane came through. We were all called tonight and told to come to work tomrrorow and bring rubber gloves. We are afraid that we will have to pick up heavy outside objects and do the general cleanup of the grounds, downed limbs etc. We are all mostly in our 50s, 60's and 70's. We don't think this is right and it's not in our job discription but they have a phrase that is a catch all ''and other duties as described'' at the end of all job descriptions. we've refused to do other things and have been told I was ''insubordinate.'' Can they fire us for refusing to do the heavy work? They also want us to do the cleaning of the toilets as we are without a janitor right now. I think they can intimidate most of the women as they are divorced and need the work. We are the only department too that works 12 hour shifts to mann the phones at the emergency center. NO other dept. in the county does it. I think the prisoners should come and pick up the limbs and debris, can they make us do this or fire us if we say no??


Asked on 9/06/04, 10:03 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Keith Stern Shavitz Law Group

Re: Can we be fired?

I think the unfortunate answer is: Yes, the County can ask & require you to perform duties which may not specifically be part of your "normal" job description as a result of the hurricane or other circumstances. However, if you personally believe that lifting something will endanger your safety, you should be careful in how you handle the situation. Technically, while your employer cannot force you to do something that may cause you to harm yourself, cleaning the restrooms (although unpleasant, etc) would not seem to fall in that category. Accordingly, my recommendation is to be careful and go with the hopefully temporary nature of the clean-up work b/c you could end up being labeled as "insubordinate" for refusing legitimate instructions. Finally, if you are a member of a union, immediately contact your union rep about whether your union contract prohibits the types of actions you've described.

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Answered on 9/07/04, 11:15 am


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