Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

A little bit of history; I was hired as an intern in the OR of a hospital over a year ago and just last week was told I will "no longer be on the schedule after this month," due to the declining business ( basically I was laid off, but not fired). Then just last night I was checking the job opportunities of my local college and my very same job was posted two weeks before I was even told to leave. I was told this is not right, what do you think?


Asked on 9/12/10, 11:08 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Susan Beecher Susan L. Beecher, Atty at Law

Is it fair? Not really. Is it legally wrong? Probably not. If you are a public employee, you may have some recourse. If you are in a union or have an employment contract with the hospital, you may have some rights to protect. Also, if you believe that you were let go for an illegal reason (because of your membership in a protected group or in retaliation for exercising your statutory rights), you may have recourse. However, if you are a private, "at will" employee and were let go for no apparent reason, that is unfair, but it is legal.

Under the circumstances you describe, you definitely qualify for unemployment. If you encounter any resistance to that, watch your deadlines and fight back.

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Answered on 9/17/10, 11:27 am


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