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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Law & Legal |
Wrongful Termination or What? |
my employer accused me that i lied on my application when they asked me if i had any Conviction.. i denied it. 10 days after, they terminated me relating to the misdemeanor case i had in chicago, IL. the thing is, i was never convicted by that state..their law stated that once you finished court supervision, there'll be no CONVICTION. i was just under court supervision which i finished. so it turned out, i didn't lie on that application question. and their reason for terminating me is not valid.. i did appeal to them explaining what court supervision is. but i guess their not open to the idea that some state may have diff. law on convicting a person. The cause of my termination is not valid, i loss my job. What should i do? I think you need to check with an employment lawyer. At least meet with a reputable lawyer to see if you have any grounds. A lot depends on whether you live in an employment "at will" state, where they can fire you for whatever reason with little legal risk for the employer. But even if you DO live in an "at will" state, the fact is they fired you based on their mistake. You did answer the question honestly - you were NOT convicted. Now they're acting like court supervision is same as conviction. You might have a case in an "at will" state too because they are the ones who made the mistake, not you. They would have been better off firing you without a reason which they can do in a "at will" state. So fight it. And don't pay back that loan. Have a lawyer go through the loan agreement and fire back at them with some other technical defense, like inadequacy of disclosure, usury, whatever you and lawyer can come up with. Give 'em he**. The fact that you lied on your application probably nullifies everything. You should have been honest about your criminal background. Why wasn't your record expunged? Why was it still on your record? Appeal to them in writing and ask that the letter be put in your file. Explain that you answered everything truthfully-as it was explained to you. How bad can a misdemeanor be anyway. . .If your contract says you don't have to pay it back, don't. You relocated for the job and they refuse to listen to reason. Get that explanation in writing from whatever court it was. They will threaten your credit rating. When they cause that problem, take then to small claims court and ask that they stop and restitution for damages. I moved to Texas and they do that stuff here. Wrongful termination is not in question here -- they have the right to fire you for any reason at any time -- except for certain special situations. While there may have been a misunderstanding here, they have the right to make that choice. Unless you had a contract, it is likely that your state is an AT WILL state meaning that you and your employer can part ways at will -- yours or theirs. Pick up the pieces, move on, and don't make the same "mistake" again. Better to be explaining yourself than to be accused of lying. Many employers will look beyond the crime to the fact that you took appropriate action afterward. As to the "termination without cause" you may have them there. Since you "were not convicted" of a crime, and you did not intentionally lie on the application, you may be able to get out of the loan. You would need to speak to an attorney -- with them representing you -- to get that information. Don't trust what you see here on Y!A, because you never know when someone is lying and can fake it really well. Having a record is not a protected class, and even IF the employer is wrong, you don't have grounds to sue. It sounds like you are referring to an expungement, but I find it odd you didn't use that term, so I am suspecting that you didn't understand the terms of your conviction, and it doesn't sound like you actually received an expungement. the reason they are asking for the monies back is because they considered the firing for good cause connected to the work now on the case, without knowing the paper work, it maybe that you plead guilty to something in exchange for the court order supervision , which upon completion would show no conviction , but at one point their was a plea which is a conviction in a legal sense Surely if you were not ''convicted'' then you were not convicted, and thus had no criminal convictions. A good lawyer may be able to argue this successfully. But you must remember to be honest from here on in throughout this case, and if in doubt, always seek legal/trade union advice on what not or what not to answer to ANY questions. |
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