Termination without cause?

[LDMBZ]

My husband was asked to resign from his company in the middle of May. They cited performance issues, but he was never informed of any. No one ever spoke to him and he was never given the chance to fix what he was doing wrong. They also stated that he did not have enough experience on the system he was working on, but they fired him 2 days before he was supposed to start training for that system. It all came right out of left field. Also, they cancelled insurance the day he was terminated, but on his last paycheck, they withheld the premium. When we asked for documentation on his performance issues they refused stating that it is their policy that they do not disclose that information. When asked to resign, the HR person told my husband that if he didn't resign, they would be forced to terminate him, but if he did resign they would not fight him on benefits. Am I correct in thinking that if you resign you are not entitled to any benefits such as unemployment? If so, they tricked him into resigning so that he could not apply for unemployment. My husband has never been fired or asked to resign so he panicked. He's an incredibly hard worker and currently pursuing his masters degree from Stanford University in Electrical Engineering. He's smart and dedicated and hurt that he was not given a chance to correct his mistakes before they made him leave. This was his dream job and he had only been hired 8 weeks earlier. He was also not on trial or the 90 day whatever where they can terminate for any reason. They had ordered him a company car! I don't think they would have done that if he wasn't expected to stick around for awhile. Some of our family members are speculating that they caught wind that we have an autistic son, and didn't want to pay the insurance for him. It's hard for me to believe that any company would be so ruthless, but they have refused to provide any documentation stating otherwise. Help! Do we have a wrongful termination case against them?

Also- the company is based in Wisconsin, my husband was traveling 75% of the time, and working from home the other 25% since we live in Colorado. His managers never saw this coming either, and neither did his VP, who called to see how he was doing the day before he was asked to resign.

 

[KatDini]

Yes, they can terminate him for any reason and he can quit for any reason. Seems he quit. He can apply for UI, but because he quit he's not likely to get it.

 

[Betty3]

They don't have to wait any 90 day period or any trial period to terminate. (unless there was a binding employment contract saying this which would be very, very rare)

When he applies for UI, he should tell them he was told to resign or be terminated - he'll have a better chance of receiving it. The state makes the final decision though whether he qualifies for UI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobloss/g/wrongfultermination.htm
(Here are a couple of links for informational/educational purposes.)

 

[cbg]

Based on what you have said, no, he does not have a wrongful termination claim. In 49 out of 50 states, unless you have a legally binding and enforceable contract of employment for a specified period of time, you can be fired at any time and for any reason that does not expressly violate the law. (And in the 50th state, the at-will doctrine applies in some circumstances - those circumstances DO apply here) While it MIGHT be against the law to fire him expressly because of your son, you would need far more than speculation before you would have a viable claim. There is NO requirement in 49 states that an employer have cause to fire, and even in the 50th state they would not need cause in the circumstances you have described.

As for the insurance, for some reason everyone always assumes that when an insurance premium is deducted, it is for the next pay period going forward. More often than not, it is for the period just past. As an example, suppose you are paid monthly, on the last day of the month. When you are paid on May 31, that is for the month of May, and the insurance deduction is also for the month of May, NOT for the month of June. I have never worked anywhere, where the insurance deduction rolled forward rather than back. Assuming your husband's company did likewise, and the odds are in favor, the deduction taken from his last paycheck would have been for the last period he was employed, NOT for the next period when he wasn't.

Cancelling the insurance on the last day of employment is both legal and common.

 

[army judge]

Human beings are predisposed to speculate, ruminate, and gossip.
To SUCCESSFULLY pursue legal action, a human being has to PROVE, not simply assert.