Fort Lauderdale Employment / Labor Attorney.
I'd suggest contacting a lawyer who handles cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act to see if they think you have potential claims.
1 person marked this answer as helpful
Since you can show that you have more experience and are better qualified than the younger employees hired, you might have an age discrimination claim. The employer will have to show that it had a reason other than discrimination for choosing these candidates. If they had experience with different products than you or had a degree that you don't have, the employer might be able to show that discrimination didn't occur. I'd suggest contacting an employment lawyer to discuss your options. If you...
1 person marked this answer as helpful
Unless it has been expunged, you need to answer yes. If it has been expunged, for most jobs you can legally answer no. However, for some public jobs you may still have to disclose a conviction even if it has been expunged. It sounds like you never went through the process to get it expunged, so you probably have to answer yes. I hope this helps!
1 person marked this answer as helpful
There are online reference checking companies you can hire that will call the employer and ask for a reference as if they were potential employers (the one that comes to mind is badreferences.com, but there are many others). If you use one that has court reporters calling, you can get an exact transcript of what was said. Others do summaries of what was said. If the employer is making false statements of fact (not opinion) such as saying you stole or did something criminal, you may have a...
1 person marked this answer as helpful
The text message should be admissible in the unemployment hearing, so I suspect you'll qualify. You’ve been fired or disciplined without justification. You want to sue for wrongful termination. If you lived in New Jersey, California, or some other states, your employer would need to have cause to fire you. Not so in Florida. Florida is an at-will state, which means an employer may fire, demote, hire, promote and discipline employees for pretty much any reason, or no reason at...
1 person marked this answer as helpful
If she doesn't like you due to your race, age, sex, national origin, disability, age or other protected status, then you should complain to HR about being harassed due to that protected status. Otherwise, bullying isn't illegal in Florida. The only thing you can do is report her behavior to HR to get it on record. In Florida, anyone can be fired for any reason or no reason at all.
1 person marked this answer as helpful
General harassment and bullying aren't illegal in Florida. If they are singling you out due to your race, age, sex, national origin, disability, marital status, religion, whistleblowing, worker's comp claim or other protected status, you have to report the illegal harassment to HR. I suggest you report it in writing so you have proof you reported something other than just "harassment." Call it "FORMAL COMPLAINT OF RACIAL (or whatever category) HARASSMENT" and make sure you keep a copy. Ask them...
1 person marked this answer as helpful
Once the conviction is expunged, you can legally answer that you've never been convicted of that crime for most jobs. However, there are exceptions. You'll need to look at the expungement statute carefully to see if that position is one where you'll need to disclose it. Unfortunately, even if you are allowed to state you weren't convicted, there's still no law in Florida allowing you to pursue a lawsuit against an employer if they fire you or refuse to hire you if they do find out about the...
1 person marked this answer as helpful
If you've worked at least a year and the employer has at least 50 employees, you're probably covered by Family and Medical Leave. However, smaller employers don't have to abide by this law. If they're not governed by FMLA, then you may lose your job if they can't hold the position open for you. However, if the position is still open when you are ready to return, or if you're qualified for another available position when you return, and they have 15 or more employees (5 or more in Miami-Dade...
1 person marked this answer as helpful
If you have a written offer letter which you accepted, then it is a contract. If the employer breached that contract, you may well have a potential lawsuit. If the employer unilaterally changed the terms of the contract after you started, then they may or may not be permitted to do that, depending on what the contract says about how it can be modified. You'll probably want to have an employment attorney review the contract with you to discuss your options. Other potential claims you have...
1 person marked this answer as helpful
