Legal Question in Employment Law in New York
Illegal Job Termination?
My brother was employed at a restaurant where he worked part-time. One night he went out with friends and he mentioned how he was dissatisfied with the way his current employer managed employees and other responsibilites in the workplace to his group of friends. One of his co-workers, unbeknownst to him, overheard him say that he did not like how the restaraunt was managed. The very next day, the co-worker alerted the manager of the restaurant about his remark. That same night my brother went to work, and the general manager immediately fired him for his comment he made while off the clock. This termination was not the product of any deficiencies in his work performance, as such, he is a model employee. Should he seek legal action, as he is now out of work for reasons that lacked any actual relevance? Please offer me any insights into this matter!
Sincerely,
Nick
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Illegal Job Termination?
Unless your brother has an employment contract, or is represented by a union, he is an "employee at will." This means that they can fire him for any reason, no reason, good reason or bad reason. They can even fire him because he is a fan of the Buffalo Bills.
There are some exceptions. An employer cannot fire a person because of their race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military status or sexual orientation. If you believe that any of these factors played a role in the firing, you can file a charge of discrimination with either the federal (EEOC) or state (NYS Division of Human Rights) within 300 days from the date of the firing.
As for "off duty" behavior, this is generally irrelevant. NY has a law that protects "some" off duty type behavior (such as cigarette smoking and political activities), however, it does not appear that it would apply to the situation you described.
He should file for unemployment insurance benefits. We will get them unless the employer can prove that he was fired for "misconduct" which generally means intentional "bad" behavior.
Good luck.
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