During my 3 year employment, I never received any of the agreed upon yearly reviews. Prior to losing my position due to Termination of Position as VP of Marketing. Another "VP of Marketing" was hired 6 months prior to my release. When I asked, I was told this was a mistake and this person was hired to assist me due to having too much on my plate. 1 month later that person was let go. 2 months later, I learned that a written offer for this position was given to another person. 2 months prior to my dismissal this person came on board as VP of Marketing (the same position I held). Not knowing that I was aware of this, my employer explained once again that "I am getting you some additional help, to free you up." I never had any discussions, demotion, counseling, input or notification of any change of my status. 2 months later, I was released without notice, where I was told: "We are eliminating your position." I asked if I was being fired but was once again told: "No, we are just eliminating your position." If my position as VP of Marketing was being eliminated, why did 2 people hold it at the same time, but onlly I was terminated?

Unless you have a written contract with the company they can let you go for any reason.
Sounds like they wanted to know they had a good replacement for you before letting you go and they didn't want to tell you up front that they were going to fire you. Two people held it at the same time to give them time to evaluate their work.
You can fight it in court but it most likely will not do you any good. You would have to prove that you were fired specifically because of discriminating reasons, retaliation and things like that.
Work is basically employment at will where either party may terminate at any time.

In "most" States it's employment at will - you can be let go whenever the employer so decides (unless, of course, there's an employment contract or it's discrimination). I don't think I would push the firing issue; I'd rather have the "eliminating your position" statement in my personnel file.

I think I would have been gone long before they released you - when the VP of Marketing arrived, I would have picked up my "VP of Marketing" stuff and headed for the door.

Didn't you see this coming?

This was not a case of wrongful termination, but a case of they just went about replacing you in a real sneeky manner. I've seen this done time and time again so your story is not new to me. Unfortunately you did not see this coming as Judy said. You can't take them to court as they could terminate your services anytime they wished and replaced you with whomever they wish at any time leaving you out in the cold. Recently employers have been pulling a lot of "fast" ones on their employees - it's just the times. Don't take it personally. Life goes on. Just use the "eliminated my position" on your resume and you'll be fine.

Hello bat:

I agree with the above posts, in that they can fire you for any reason. What they CAN'T do, is lie about it.

Now I can't tell from your story whether they did or didn't. Sounds to me, frankly, that they did.

So, let's say that you can prove liability. What are your damages? Did you lose your 401K? Did they badmouth you so you can't get another job? Did they fire you (YES - YOU WERE FIRED), just short of your retirement? Did they replace you with a younger guy?

If they just acted badly, and even if they lied to you, if you have NO damages, then you won't win. If you DO have measurable and provable damages, then I'd visit a few attorneys. They won't charge for discussing your case.

excon

[QUOTE=excon]Hello bat:

I agree with the above posts, in that they can fire you for any reason. What they CAN'T do, is lie about it.

Now I can't tell from your story whether they did or didn't. Sounds to me, frankly, that they did.

So, let’s say that you can prove liability. What are your damages? Did you lose your 401K? Did they badmouth you so you can't get another job? Did they fire you (YES - YOU WERE FIRED), just short of your retirement? Did they replace you with a younger guy?

If they just acted badly, and even if they lied to you, if you have NO damages, then you won't win. If you DO have measurable and provable damages, then I'd visit a few attorneys. They won't charge for discussing your case.



I'm not sure that advertising "your" job twice, hiring people twice, having them get to know "your" job, explaining to "you" that it's all some sort of mistake OR you will be getting an assistant is necessarily lying to you - short of slapping you alongside the head OR saying, "This is the guy who's going to do your job when we fire you in two weeks" I think it's a pretty clear signal.

Also EEOC is getting really, really tough on age discrimination lawsuits - they went from pro-employee to pro-employer. Maybe because of the economy? I don't know but I just did a massive review of documents. Appeared the discrimination was clear cut but EEOC took the position it's nothing THEY care to sue and, by the way, hire an Attorney if you wish to pursue the matter...

Which is impossible for the poor guy who just got terminated at age 60 and never saw it coming.