employer found out I applied for another job

[peachpie95358]

I need advice quick! I am an administrative assistant/accouting clerk/customer service rep at a family owned business. I have just completed my 7th year of employment this past July 26th. I applied for employment at another company that knows my employer, in fact, they are associates socially. They felt the need to "ask his permission" before deciding to hire me. I told them they could get a reference of my ability to do the job only if they were going to hire me. My employer and this person met 2 weeks ago and spoke of my wanting to work at their facility. I was not hired. My employer proceeded to hire a temp to replace me even though I was not offered a job elsewhere and they are pushing me to take part time work and harassing me every day. I had a talk with my supervisor today who has always had an open mind with me about a report I could no longer do and expressed my frustration with certain aspects of every day life there and she told me I needed to take Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off stress leave and come back with a better attitude. Before 2 weeks ago, I was their princess, every word I spoke today was said in an employee meeting 3 weeks earlier and was taken to heart by my employer, now I am being treated like a traitor. I need this job until January 2002 because of my medical insurance. I feel I should go to work on Monday to show them things are business as usual and I am not a loose cannon. Please help!

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'm not sure I understand the problem. It sounds like you were leaving work and your employer hired a temp. Since then work has become obviously stressful and perhaps shows the sign of a strained relationship after a long term employment. However, unless you are being legally harassed, I'm not sure what you are seeking for here.... it might be best to decide whether you want to work at your current place of employment and work it out with your employer. That may relieve you of the stress and hopefully you can move on with things.

 

[peachpie95358]

Thank you for replying.
I did not intend for my current employer to know that I was seeking employment elsewhere. I only gave permission for the interested party to contact him for a referral upon them making a job offer to me, with the understanding if they indeed did contact him, they would hire me because of the awkwardness of the situation. After they spoke to my boss, I did not get the job. This was 2 weeks ago. I am being treated differently than before they found out I applied for employment elsewhere.

I wanted to know what rights I have regarding this "3 days off because of stress" leave I was told to take this coming week. I do not want to leave on a bad note here and flush 7 years of hard work down the toilet and I do not want to be labeled for future employers as a "stress case".

Also, I wanted to know my rights as far as COBRA goes, if I quit, can they deny me COBRA coverage?

Thank you very much.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

This is a difficult situation. First, regardless of any agreement you may have made with the potential employer, it might have been better to obtain an offer and your acceptance, subject to verification. The way it sounds here is that if employer 2 was satisfied he would probably be making you an offer. I'm not sure there is any practical remedy here. Employer 2 can always say he decided not to hire you based upon certain reservations that could be well justified. While not entirely different, if you have an offer and acceptance subject to verification you do have a deal. In scenario 1 you may have a deal.

Regarding COBRA, my understanding is that you could be entitled to COBRA coverage if you were laid off or quit assuming that your company is one that is required under COBRA guidelines (I think it's 20 or more employees). There are too many variables that are unknown here to answer this question and best to ask your insurance company.

I'm not sure what rights you have with regard to the "take 3 days off" because it seems that you are an at-will employee and they can terminate you. I'm not a labor specialist but I don't see an issue of discrimination. It sounds like you took a gamble and might be best off dealing with the repercussions. Perhaps things might not be that bad in time and right now there might just be some embarrassment for looking elsewhere. Additionally, they might feel uneasy because you are looking to leave and they would need to hire someone else. Perhaps it might be best to discuss your reasons for leaving and what could be done to keep you if you are interested in staying employed there. After all, the cat is out of the bag.

 

[peachpie95358]

Thank you for your replies and information. I don't feel there is a simple solution for this problem. I am going to consult with a lawyer tomorrow who specializes in protecting employees. Right now I am only concerned with leaving on the best of terms as possible and how to protect myself for the future against any backlash from this employer saying negative things against me because he is angry because I left. I was considered family here. He trusted me with a great deal in this company and to be quite frank, he acts this way when anyone wants to leave his company to work somewhere else, competetion or not. I am having trouble finding any information about stress leave and the reprecussions of stress leave on the internet. I am afraid if I do indeed stay home for the next 3 days, it will make a black mark on my work history and they can report to any potential employer that I am a risk because of stress. I am worried about my reputation in the future, not how to repair my relationship with my current employer. I have my reasons for leaving and wanting to move forward, it is a hostile work enviroment and too demanding of my energy, time and peace of mind. Life is just too short. I will update this thread to let everyone know what happens as it happens so maybe I can help someone in the future if they are in my situation.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Well, I wish you the best of luck. You are going to speak to an attorney who will be in the best position to determine whether such a case or other remedies exist, as that person will have a great deal more facts than we have here.

On a side note which does not seem to be the case here, I have read several casebook cases that deal with former employers tortiously interfering with a former employee's right to work.

 

[peachpie95358]

I have an update to my situation. According to the lawyer I saw this afternoon, I am entitled to COBRA benefits for 18 months either for quitting or termination regardless. They cannot deny me if they are at odds with me, it is against the law. Regarding my worry of the stress leave syndrome of my 3 days recommended off: He stated that they are not allowed to disclose that information to someone asking for verification of employment, I was not given written disciplinary action, I did not sign anything. I was verbally requested to take time off to clear my head and I agree I needed to do that. If someone calling for employment verification presses the previous employer by saying, give me the dirt, would you rehire them, what do you think of them is where the trouble can be. There is no guarantee that this will not happen. What he recommended was to have my friends and family make a few calls to get employment verfication for me, in other words, see what they say, make sure that person writes down the date, time and name of the person they spoke to at your previous employment and exactly what was said, you can take this information to a lawyer from there. He was confident that I would have no problems in this arena, my employer is well aware of the consequences of employment references and I think all will work out in the end. I have already typed up my letter of resignation and will give it to my employer tomorrow morning. By the by, I found a website www.mycounsel.com that gave out information on employee rights that gave me some helpful info.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Thanks for updating your situation and keeping us informed of the good advice that it seems you received. I hope it works out for you and it seems that this might be a good time to take a break and move into a new environment.

That is a good site and there are a number of sites that cover many areas of law. I find that each site will have different things and sometimes you need to search comprehensively on the web to find info that meets your particular situation. We will be providing a really nice new legal assistance area here shortly, much of the delay having to do with the change of management, hosting and the delays caused by transition.

Best of luck to you!

 

[peachpie95358]

You are right on the new enviroment insight. I turned in my resignation and gave two weeks notice yesterday and was asked to leave and not return. It was not a pretty picture to say the least. That's the way the ball bounces.

When I returned home, I called the lawyer I spoke to and informed him what happened and my concern of my employer saying they had terminated me instead of me resigning. He said, "You gave them a letter of resignation and a two week notice?" I said yes, he then asked"Did you keep a copy of the letter?" I said of course! He said "You made the best attempt you could make in this situation and go on with your life, they can say they terminated you but that is not the truth. Give them the test I told you about yesterday and check out what they say in a couple of months, go enjoy the rest of your day."

For now, that will be my final update. Unless something else comes up in the future, this is a closed issue.

Thank you for all your help and being a listening ear.