Wow! My wife got let go last week. She's 6 months pregnant and was a Registered Nurse for an OB/GYN. This is unbelievable... When they let her go they told her straight up, It's not anything that you did we hired other more experienced nurses that can do your job, and because your pregnant it is risky. I thought all this was crap but sure enough my wife was for real. What the heck is going on?
Do you really need the stress of a lawsuit? I would get a lawyer to get the initial paperwork together, see if you can call their bluff. Your wife may get her job back. I've worked for Colleges/Universities for 10 years and they need a reason to fire people. And I've seen them generate BS to do it. Also, I've seen people get cut when their peers should have gone- the people who stayed just knew the right people. It's government work. It's also why a threat of legal action may work. It may be easier and cheaper to take your wife back on. At any rate, sh!tty situation. I wish you the best. Just remember that your child is more important than anything else.
I would get an attorney and see what they think but if you guys can swing it...having her stay home is better for the kids than sending them to daycare at 2 months. DD
I could have sued the pants off of a former employer about 15 years ago but didn't. It was one of the best decisions I made in my life.
HR, in general, are full of ****eous people. Their job is to support the company's bottom line, not the employee. Are you or the OP referring to one of our local, private universities; or institutes?
I appreciate all the words of advice. Right now im in the stage of disbelief and anger. I want to do anything I can to stick it to them. But at the same time, if I do something I want it to be worth it ... I want something to come out of it. Like some of said, I dont need the stress right especially if it comes to nothing happening. As far as some of the questions brought up ... yes it is in Texas and the company is a huge company. I forgot that Texas is an "at will" state but still to let a pregnant woman, one with good medical coverage through the company, go for no reason and no warning has to be against something. They have phone calls recorded and Im assuming they know who she calls and when but thats not the part we disagree with. If someone is doing something against policy then tell/warn them and see if they stop. As soon as my wife found out they were doing an investigation, all personal calls stopped. So that right there should be proof that once my wife knew it was wrong, she stopped and Im sure they have the stats or proof for it.
As everyone said already, I would talk to a lawyer. It looks like they were just waiting for some opportunity to fire her. They knew she was going to have to take maternity leave and they probably didnt want to pay that out. Whether they just didn't want to, or were forced for financial reasons beyond their control. In the end though, something sounds a little fishy.
Dang man sorry...im not one to be well versed on Law so I wont attempt to sound like I know anything, but hire someone who does.
That is not entirely true. They cannot fire you because you are of an ethnic group, because you are old, etc etc. The way I have heard is that they can fire you for a good reason or no reason at all. They cannot fire you for a "bad" reason. I vote for him to talk to a lawyer that is well versed in employment law.
Are you sure you are getting the whole story? I don't mean to offend and the reason I ask is because I was in a somewhat similar situation. My girlfriend got into some trouble at work and although she was not fired they let her know it was coming (she quit first). Now to hear her side of the story they singled her out and she had done nothing wrong. The problem was that I worked with her and saw all the stuff she did. She was a horrible employee and didn't even realize it (or admit it maybe). She spent her days on the internet, took her shoes off at work and walked around barefoot all day, took 2 hour lunches...you get the point. It seems to me that they have whatever they need to defend themselves should you try legal action. The fact that they documented her 30 calls in 30 minutes means they have been watching her and probably collecting whatever they need to let her go. To be honest, 30 calls in 30 minutes is ridiculous and even if the phone is busy I can't imagine ever having the time on my hands at work to (or the will) to repeatedly dial a number over and over and over and over.
There is nothing you can do but unemployment. Don't waste your time messing with a lawyer. I was fired from a job under similar circumstances several years back(other than pregnant) that I had been at for years. They offered me the supervisor job, and I declined because it was more hours at less money. Later in that week the guys started filing in for me to train from the newly contracted temporary service. I was let go the next week for failing an audit. I had never failed an audit in my 4 years there and never been written up for anything. I was praised for my work at every safety meeting and used as an example for others. They said that they had to call it a firing for paperwork reasons, but I was welcome to come back in a month for the wages they were paying the temporary service for each guy, which was major paycut. This is Texas, they don't need a reason but always give one just to cover their aces in case. Depending on the city, it doesn't matter anyways. If you live in a white collar town, you will never win one of these cases. On the other hand if you live in a blue collar city, it is a possibility. Considering you said it was a Univerisity, I am assuming it was a Bigger, white collar town. Anyone can see it is wrong, but it doesn't matter. Happens everyday to many people, and even moreso now in this economy. Suck it up, make sure you get some kind of insurance, unemployment, and move on. In a way it may be a blessing, as She can now pull unemployment and stay home with the baby.
File unemployment ASAP if you haven't already... and appeal, appeal, appeal if they don't pay you on it first try. And file the COBRA thing ASAP as well. Not much you can do otherwise, but asking a lawyer can't hurt... just to be safe anyway.
rush, First let me say I'm really sorry to hear this. Just terrible. As for advice, I only got about halfway through your story before I knew my response was going to be "get a lawyer". It definitely sounds like her employer was up to no good, and if so, you need to go after them to the full extent of the law. Good luck with it all.
Not knowing the laws in Texas I would still advice the lawyer route as well. While you probably may think its not worth the extra hassle at this time in your lives, that could also be what they were banking on you thinking at the time. If you can get yourself a decent lawyer to take on your case for a payment on win only then I would do it for sure, you would be surprised how quickly some companies will backflip just when they find out you are willing to take it to court. While a completely different set of circumstances, I myself got laid off after an injury at work(their fault). They fired me the week I came back after 6 weeks on workers compensation, I got myself a lawyer and straight away they were offering me a job back. In the end I ended up with a years worth of pay and everything related to the injury I sustained paid by them for as long as it causes me problems. My point, at least talk to a lawyer!
Definitely talk to a lawyer (aren't there some good lawyers here on the board like MadMax and perhaps Refman (?)). I don't know about Texas law, but under German law, they would never get away with that.
