Legal Question in Employment Law in Utah

Do I have any legal ground to sue my ex-employer for unfair treatment and hold their management responsible for discrimination�.

I only worked for this company for 15 months, but that was long enough to work myself up to third in seniority. I watched others come and go, 3 months was the average length of employment that most could stand. I never missed a shift and I was never more than 5 minutes late for a shift. I volunteered to work 4 extra shifts on Thanksgiving so that my co-workers / friends could be with their families. I am a very hard worker and I am an honest person.

Here�s the story�

Three men (refer to as R-man, J-Man and Mitch) and I, all started working at the same c-store within 30 days of each other. Within the first 60 days, a few of R-man's shifts were caught on camera of him snacking but not paying for the product . R-man was called into the office and confronted. He was reminded that what he did was theft and if it happened again that he would be fired. R-man paid for his stuff and then quit voluntarily.

Two weeks later, J-Man was called in to the office for the same reasons as R-man. J-man was just fired.

During the first few months of my training, I made 2 different mistakes totaling $35.00.... AND when I told the FIRST ASST. of my errors, she told me that I needed to pay for them before I went home and not to forget!!! I paid for both mistakes, both times.... out of my own pocket. She even called me from home to remind me to pay before I left.

Almost a year has passed and Mitch makes the very same CC/Fuel mistake that I had made when I had first started with the company. BUT, Mitch's error was around $86.00 in the customer's favor and mine was only $20. Mitch was given the option to make payments because he didn't have any cash on him that day. Three month�s later and Mitch still hasn�t paid so much as a dime towards the $86.00 he owed the company. Another month goes by and the FIRST ASST. told Mitch that the daily cash overages from the registers over the past few month's were enough to cover the $86.00 that he owed the company and that he didn't have to worry about paying it back anymore. (Why was I hounded and forced to pay out of my own pocket and he wasn�t?)

The company states that all money inside the store.. belongs to the company. Ex: If you pick up a few pennies off the floor, don't put them in your pocket, that�s theft. They belong to the company.

I had an energy drink during a 9 hour shift one day. The following day when I arrived at work, I was immediately pulled in to the office and showed video tape of me drinking that energy drink and then tossing the can in to the trash. I remember paying for an energy drink later that day, but I forgot to print a receipt. But, unlike the three mentioned earlier I was not given the chance to defend myself. I wasn�t given any second chances to do or say anything at all. Management had already decided my fate and had the police waiting for me at the store when I showed up for work, so I got charged with Retail Theft and fired from my job.

I know that the special treatment that was showered on the men in my story has nothing to do with the charges against me, but

whether I paid for that drink or not, is no longer the issue to me. Three different men each did something to violate company policy, only one of them was fired on the spot. The remaining two were both given the option to remain employed with the company and the one who owed the company the most money, was forgiven and had his entire debt erased. Not one of those men was legally charged. Not one of those men was even threatened. Two of those men were given second chances, but not me.

The men in my store were treated a lot better than the women, especially me. These men cost the store more money and all went unpunished� because they were men.

I had a customer come in a few month�s ago and asked me what I had done to the FIRST. ASST. to make her hate me so much. He explained that she was standing behind the counter in front of a store full of customers just carrying on and on about me and accusing me of all sorts of things� These things were never mentioned to me personally, because they were lies.

One month ago, I had finally grown tired of being the subject of her cruelty and I asked for a transfer to a different store. (My request to transfer was not taken seriously.) Besides the fact that I am not male and I have children, I have never given her any reason to treat me unfairly. I have always been nice to her and showed her respect.

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