Help what is retaliation?

[gina68]

How do you prove retaliation? I have worked for the same company for 18 years. My file reflects and outstanding employee. Recently was asked to go to a new store to help open and then take a postion in HR field. Immediate supervisor was always lying was 80% of the time not in the store doing the things that were required for her to get done. She was out drinking with an hourly and when she told me about that and that was why she was late one morning which in turn held the rest of us up that morning to get a specific job done on time I went to a manager and voiced my concern he in turn spoke to the store manager regarding what had happened. Few weeks later I was written up for 5 major work violations which made no sense because 4 of the items per the company handbook if ok'd by a manager which all 4 were and I have them to vefiy this. The 5th item was ok'd by the immediate supervisor and she didn't get written up for that but I did. Then I find out that the job she said I was getting was being fazed out she knew this before I transfered but did not tell me. The new job per the district was a job that usually would work M-F if done on time you could take friday off and work on Sat. All the stores in the district about 10 other stores all worked around the same hours but not me she had me work major different schedule and on top of that she would not give me any information to make sure I could get my job done. Alot of her work would contruibute to my job getting done which I had a weekly deadline of thur. to be done. I tried to talk to the store manager numerous times about the schedule and the lack of communcation from her but he did not want to get invovled. Numerous times I was asked to help in other areas of the store which I did and or store manager would ask to cut hours which I helped to do. But immediate supervisor did not like this. Not sure why but per company policy manager on duty can approve a schedule change usually immediate supervisor approves your vacation every change to my schedule was approved by a manager if not by store manager to cut hours or by store manager to help in other areas then by the immediate supervisor and if she could not be found which was quite often then the manager on duty approved. Like I said was getting no where with store manager to help resolve issuses so I was told by another asst. manager to call the aware line the company had set up if you feel you are getting no where at store level so I did. Now they had to do a formal investagtion about 1 week later I was fired for attendance. Things stated in the final termination where not things I was written up for before. For attendance this company has a points system in place which states verbal then written then termination. I have never been written up for attendance and have no points how could I have been fired for that? Per their own Code of Conduct book I did break 1 major work rule that was working off the clock which my immediate supervisor verbally approved and she did not get a write up herself for that otherwise everything was approved per their own handbook by the managers how could I be fired? I think because I complained the first time then I finally called the awareline I was fired. I knew alot of things in the store where not being done correctly and they did not want me there. They thought I would just go with the flow and when I tried to stand up for myself they constructed the first write up that led to my termination few weeks later do I have any case? If so do I use the EEOC or do I get a lawyer if a lawyer what kind of lawyer? Do you think I should pay out of pocket for a lawyer is this a good enough case for that? And if the EEOC why what could they do more that a lawyer could do? Thanks for your time.

 

[cbg]

ILLEGAL retaliation occurs when you are fired, demoted or otherwise adversely treated BECAUSE you reported illegal behavior, and in most (not quite all) situations/states that means reporting it to the appropriate regulatory agency, not internally.

Unless you have a valid and supportable reason to believe that you were fired BECAUSE OF your race, religion, national origin, gender, disability, pregnancy or because you are over 40, the EEOC will not be interested.

Legally you can be fired for any reason not specifically prohibited by law. The company is not required to follow their own internal policies unless those policies are provided in the form of a binding contract.

Your post was very hard to read (some paragraphs and white space would have made it much easier) but on the basis of what I was able to determine you were legally terminated. If you want to follow up with an attorney you would look for an employment law attorney.