After 25yrs of working, I got fired while on sick leave!

June 27th was the last day I went to my job of 25 years. I began work in 1982 as a CNA but after a back injury I started working various jobs until finally placed in social services. I worked in the social service department 8 peaceful years until 2 years ago when I trained my new supervisor. Shortly after I began to work under her, I started to notice differences in the way she treated me. I was assigned extra duties, constantly wrote-up, and singled out from my peers. Although this was discouraging I worked harder to complete all task and avoid confrontation. I went to the doctor on June 27 and was instructed not to return to work for a week due to illness. When I called my supervisor with this news on July 3 she told me she would call me back. When she called me back she had the assistant administrator, and a woman from the personel department with her and I was fired. They said I was fired for a paperwork error, but I am almost certain that these allegations are false and/or premeditated due to obvious dislike. All my co-workers and the residents that I worked with can vouch that I am a good worker. Can YOU help me?

I would ask for a formal termination notice in writing and if the circumstances are as you've posted, contact your local labor board. You don't indicate which state you reside in; some are "at will" employment states, which means you can be terminated at will (as long as it can't be obviously linked to discrimination.) If you can document you were singled out at your place of employment for any of the reasons stated on the following link, you can also contact the EEOC and file a formal complaint. You can also contact them for further information.

http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html

Thank you for your respond, As much as I would like to blame discrimination on the way I was treated, the definition of discrimination with the labor board and EEOC probably cannot be proven with my case. However certain documentation proves I was treated differently than others working in my department. Will this work or does discrimination only apply when it revolves around sexual orientation, race, age, and gender?

That could work, if it can be proven you were treated differently and if it can be argued you were treated differently based on any one of those factors. That's won't be easy. Unless you can document, for example, a subtle policy of treating other employees in the past similar to the way you were, you probably can't document a discriminatory policy. That being said, I'd be curious to learn what's happened to other employees nearing 25 years. Have others in the past with approximately that length of employment suddenly been terminated or forced to resign suddenly? If so, and they were all the same approximate age, I believe it could be argued that age discrimination exists. While I'm not remotely inferring this is your company's unwritten policy, there are documented cases of employers terminating retirement-age employees, simply to avoid paying out any company benefits. This is simply an example.

I think I'd be more concerned by the reasons given and especially, the procedure followed for your termination. Again, I'd get the reason specified in writing. I'd also request the reason be provided to you. You indicated a "clerical error." Were you ever shown the error before you were terminated? Do you know what your company's standard policy is regarding employee termination .. and most importantly, was that policy followed in your case? Are you a contract employee terminated before the end of your contract? (Yes, there are a lot of questions .. depending on your circumstances and the state you live in, it may be worth discussing this with an employment attorney in your area. Your local labor board can also help answer some questions as well.)

The following link may also be of some help: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-librar...minations.html. The other links to "Reasons for Firing" and "Employee Firing Procedures" may be of some interest here.

Good luck.

When I was checking my phone messages I heard a message my employer left before she called and fired me. I guess she thinks the phone call was ended cause I heard her and the assistant administrator saying something that I can't make out, but I can definitely distinguish their laughter. I saved the message. Although I resign at a "at will" termination state, I have never been suspended, but while under my current supervisor I have been constantly wrote-up but never for what I was accused of, and fired for!!! Because of my current situation I probably need a cheap lawyer or someone who takes my case pro-bono. Can you refer anyone?

I've forwarded a link via private message above. You can click on your state for access to links to federally funded agencies and other services that may be able to assist you. Good luck.