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Wrong termination laws in WA state
Renton, WA
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Posted about 1 year ago in Wrongful Termination
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Wrongful termination?:
I was recently terminated. A complaint of harassment and teasing was brought by a team member against other team members. I informed my store manager, and interviewed all involved, no evidence was found everyone said there was no problem. 1 month later another complaint. My store manager brought in regional staff to investigate. After the investigation, myself (ops mngr) store manager, admin manager, warehouse manager and 4 team members were terminated. I was specifically told that I did nothing wrong, but that I did not do enough.
I understand that Washington is an at will state, but I feel what was done is wrong. Do I have a case? Any recourse? - Is this your question? Add additional information Answers (1)
Oscar Michelen
This attorney is licensed in New York.
Posted about 1 year ago.
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You kind of answered your own question when you stated that Washington (like NY where I practice) is an "at-will" state. In at-will states, no notice or reason is required prior to termination,so unless you are in a union or working under a written contract, you normally have no cause of action for termination. Sometimes, however, the termination is merley a pretext,or false reason,for the firing and is used to cove up termination due to age, sex, ethnicity, race or sexual orientation. From what you have told us, it sounds like they really cleaned house and took out the entire management team. It may very well be that the company has had prior complaints and to avoid any liability is taking a "take no prisoners" approach. One avenue that sometimes survives "at-will" situations is if they violated some rule or provision in their policy manual, (though most manuals now start with apage that states that nothign in the manual changes your position from "at will.") Your best bet is to consult with a local employment or litigation attorney to see if you have any remedy. They may know about the prior history of the company as well.
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