Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

I was fired yesterday for what I think is a ridiculous reason and was wondering about it. Last week I was confronted by my Human Resources department that they were made aware that I was "speaking negatively about my coworkers" and even showed me emails I had sent to another coworker talking about said coworkers. Because I said I wanted to "smack that girl" they considered that a threat of violence. So I got talked to by mangers and HR. They warned me not to talk about this issue with anyone because it is an "HR issue" and was considered confidential. I chose to share this information with a coworker through text messages ON MY OWN TIME, AT HOME. She turned around and told the managers and HR that I had told her what was going on in my HR issue and the things that I said. This is why they fired me. I talked about it at home, in my off time to another employee who was also off through our private cell phones. Is there anything to this? I am just curious because it is absolutely ridiculous.


Asked on 3/12/10, 10:18 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Labovitz Labovitz Law Firm, P.A.

As you just found out, HR departments take "threats" very seriously. Even something that you might consider to be a joke, may be interpreted in other ways by other people. In a work environment, saying you want to "smack that girl" is not treated the same way as if you had said it to your friends in a casual setting.

I believe you also had a duty to keep the matter confidential, as was requested. I don't think there's much for you to argue against your firing.

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Answered on 3/17/10, 2:48 pm


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