Virginia Lee Hardwick's Answers

Wrongful dismissal

We need more facts to know whether you might have a cause of action. The fact that they hired someone else makes it appear that your lay off was pretextual -- in other words, it was not really for economic reasons. The question is whether you were let go for an improper reason. If the employer's real motivation was discrimination for an unlawful purpose, then you have a cause of action. For example -- If you are over 40 years old, you may have an age discrimination case, especially if...

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NJ state employment law, employer's right to terminate employment in NJ state

The short answer is yes you can fire an employee for this reason. On a response to an unemployment application, you will want to say that he was fired for wilful misconduct and describe what the misconduct was. If you have a written policy that theis employee violated, attach it to your response. In terminating an employee, be careful to see that there is not a basis for a claim that this is a pretext for discrimination. If the employee might have a claim that he is being fired because...

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If my employer terminates my employment in Pa, how long to they have to give me my back pay?

This sounds like a violation of Pennsylvania law, which requires pay within 15 days. The failure to pay on the regular pay day may also violate the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. You may want to contact the Department of Labor or Pennsylvania's Department of Labor and Industry. (Warning: I understand that it is difficult to get through to PA's Department of L & I, which is very backed up now because of the large number of unemployment claims.)