[grandma123]

I had been working at a company almost a year, after seven months I was promoted one week after that my immediate supervisor was terminated. They never replaced my boss (they were "trying") so I was all alone with no one to train me I literately had to learn on my own, I worked at a high end car dealership and I was a service advisor . It was a extremely busy shop and I was forced to work with out any help. There was a GM of the dealer but he always came in late around 11am (rush hour is 7:30-11:00) so he was no help. Even when he was there he was not involved with service his primary concern was sales. The GM had told me over and over what a great job I was doing and how much he appreciated me. This being said four months prior (a month prior to my promotion) I told them I had a vacation scheduled and they were fine with it, they signed my vacation authorization sheet so you can imagine my surprise when my boss asked me two weeks before the trip to cancel and stay telling me that it was "not fair to leave on vacation when the company is shorthanded" I proceeded to tell him that while I was sorry for the inconvenience, I had worked really hard the last three months, working through my lunch and staying 2 hours past my shift everyday and also I had already paid for my vacation, he was furious and told me with me not being there that it forced him to be there everyday and four hours earlier. I apologized but told him I had to go. Again two weeks before my vacation the GM suggessed it was not a good idea to go and again I told him I had to. Three days before my vacation I was fired. They came up with a bogus story that I was 2-5 minutes late every day. This came out of nowhere and is completely false! I do not have even one write up! Im disgusted. Is there anything I can do legally?

[jillianleab]

I'm sorry to hear you lost your job. Your options really depend on what state you are in and what employment-at-will exceptions your state has. In some states, an employer can fire you for any reason or no reason at all (not discriminatory, of course), making their excuse of "5 minutes late" valid. Unless there is a company policy of writing people up, it makes no difference if you never received a warning.

Perhaps someone with a legal background will have some additional information for you, but it's my guess there isn't much you can do.

[grandma123]

Thanks for answering, I live in Chicago. The 5 minute late thing was BS, I was never late.
Im a salaried employee therefore do not punch a clock. They have no proof of any supposed tardiness because of that and because it never happened. This was 100% retaliation. I really want to know if I have a legal leg to stand on.

[jillianleab]

According to the information I have (it's in a textbook, sorry I don't have a link), Illinois does NOT have a "covenant of good faith and fair dealing" exception, which means your employer can fire you without "just cause". Since you were salary and didn't have a time card, you'd also have to prove you were never late, which would probably be pretty difficult to do. It's my understanding the burden of proof is on you if you end up in court.

I understand you feel this is retaliation, and from your story, that sounds like a reasonable assumption! Again, maybe someone with a legal background can give you some different information than what I've said. But I have to ask; what do you hope to get if you sue? Do you really want to work for a company who will behave this way? If you are in Chicago aren't there other dealerships you could work for?

[grandma123]

I want to thank you again for your answers, I really appreciate all your investigating! To answer your question about what Im expecting to get from this, to be honest with you I truthfully loved working for this company (before it went to hell when they fired my supervisor) and I worked harder for them then I have ever worked for anybody, and they knew it. For god sakes they even acknoweleged it! I stayed late, worked overtime, went above and behond for them and I feel used! What do I want? I want them to be accountable, I want validation. They flat out LIED and they need to know they can't get away with that, but they probably won't. Im so damn mad that I cared about this company and everyone in it. No, I would never take my job back but I would like a apology and some justice. This was a very traumatic experience for me as I have worked In the dealership business for over 11 years and my reputation is golden, In this business that's all you got. I just feel so betrayed. Unfortunately Im sure nothing can be done. But if by some miracle someone with law experience reads this and helps that would be great. As far as me finding another job, Im sure I will be OK especially with my experience.
I do have a question are you studying law? Just curious.
Thanks again for your help.

[jillianleab]

Have you thought of writing a letter to the corporate office? Since the law doesn't appear to be on your side, I'd write a well-thought out letter to the GM of the dealership of your experience (when you enjoyed being there, and when it turned sour) and also send one to the corporate office (Ford, Chevy, whoever the maker of the cars is). You should be able to look up where the district office is (or corporate HQ), and who a point of contact is. You probably won't get your job back, but at least you will be able to inform the dealership and the parent company of your unhappiness, and you might get an apology (at least a half-a$$ed one!). I understand feeling betrayed. It doesn't seem fair we can get fired for no good reason, especially when it seems like it is in retaliation like in your case. Then again, on the flip side, we have the right to quit at anytime... I've worked in a dealership before, and I loved the environment, but I was a contractor and not employed by the actual dealership, so I sort of know where you are coming from. Reputation is very important, but maybe you can give a point of contact for future jobs who will vouch that you were a good employee. Is there another manager who might write you a letter of recommendation?

I hope someone with legal experience looks at this too - but it's hard to say if anyone here knows a lot about employment law. There's quite a few familiar with real estate law, but employment law is a lot different! I'm a business student myself; but I've taken business law and recently completed a course about labor unions which incorporated a lot of law into it. I also recently completed a term paper about employment law (EEOC mostly), so I've been doing a lot of reading lately!

Good luck to you!

[grandma123]

Because our dealer is not corporately owned I didn't think there was anyone
To talk to about this, I didn't even consider the fact that I can call the car lines corporate office (which is Land Rover) and let them know how they treat good employees. Im sure I won't get anything but a sorry a$$ apology but I can at least let them know the BS that is going on over there like them not hiring a service manager, cars not being fixed for weeks and lets not forget warranty fraud and much more. Im sure Land Rover will love that. I may still not have a job at the end of the day but I will sleep better knowing that my boss is in huge trouble and his job is on the line! Who said revenge was overrated? Lol.
Awesome advise, thanks again!


(again, if anyone else reads this and knows something more please let me know)

[ScottGem]

Just to sum up here unless you can prove that your termination was due to discrimination on the basis of race, age or religion, then you weren't "wrongfully" terminated. Maybe unfairly, maybe unethically, but not "wrongfully" (as a legal term). Therefore, you have no legal recourse to either get your job back or be compensated for the termination.

You can contact Land Rover corporate offices to let them know how poorly the dealership is run. They may take some action as a result. But you need to be VERY careful that you can prove anything you tell them. Otherwise you could be sued for slander.