If I was wrongfully terminated and I was an at-will employee am I completely helpless or can I do something?

Question

I was a store manager and personally responsible for about 25% of my store's sales. My boss came to help out for this July amd August because we are in a resort location and the extra help is useful. However, this was my first season working for this company and I got the feeling my boss and her husband (who is also the President/CEO of the company) did not like me. I was just fired yesterday and was told the reason was because my sales performance wasn't up to par with what they were paying me. This is 100% false and they obviously have sales records to prove it. I sold more than any other staff member with the exception of my boss. She sold about twice as much as I did. The reason being is that she would come on days she wasn't scheduled to work (she worked 7 days a week) and sell and she would work a 10-12 hour shift (in comparison to my 8 hour shift). So, I feel like she maniuplated the situation to make it look like she was out performing me and I was underperforming and it gave them a reason to get rid of me.Because I was an at-will employee can I do anything or do I just have to suck it up and move on??

Answer 1

Wrongful termination suits and complaints can still be brought in at will employment states, but you still have to prove you were wrongfully terminated.  If you have a written job description, or a record of sales expectations you may have a case.  This does not sound like one of those situations.  Your employers probably did not break any labor laws in terminating you - the stated reason was that your performance was not up to expectation.  I am sure you are very good at what you do, and you believe your performance was excellent, but that really does not matter.  I think it would be a waste of your resources to challenge your former employers, and I would not want to work for them anyway if I were you.  Go get a better job that is worthy of your skills and dedication.

Answer 2

You can file a case with EEOC, small claims civil court or the employment office in your state. Try the employment office first in your state, then EEOC for wrongful termination, then civil court.

Answer 3

all though what happened to you was unfair there is no legal action you can pursue at will employee they can fire you for any reason or nothing at all unfortunately think of it this way you will find a better job they pays more money good luck to you  

Answer 4

suck it up and move on

file for unemployment, if they can't show cause for terminating you then at least you will have some income while you search for a job.

the only wrongful termination in an at-will situation involves discrimination or retaliation, which you have not shown any sign of here.

why would they want to get rid of you?

do you think they really want to hire and train another manager?

do you think they want to do the work themselves?

they obviously felt you were not worth the investment, sorry to say that, because i don't know you,  but it is pretty obvious that they have concerns about your ability to improve.

Answer 5

Unless their reason was illegal, it's best to just move on.  

Here's the thing.  You might be right.  You might have reached 100% of your goals for the month or the quarter, and their stories about you being an underperformer are just that - stories.  But if you were to try to take them to court, the burden of proof is all on you.  They don't have to prove that you weren't terminated wrongfully - YOU have to prove that you WERE.  And that's a lot harder than it seems, especially if you don't have daily or weekly sales records generated every day or once a week.

Even if you prove to a judge and jury that they were wrong and they lied, you won't get the job back.

Did they give you any kind of severance package?  What about references - what happens in the future if a potential employer contacts them for a reference?  

There are several employment attorneys who answer on here.  I'm hoping one of them sees your question and can let you know if there is in fact a case here.  At the very least, one of them may be able to tell you what to do about the situation with future references.

Good luck to you.

Answer 6

you are welcome to feel sorry for yourself, but in the private sector, you are only protected if you have an employment contract. This might be hard to hear, but the fact that your were outsold 2/1 by the wife of the company CEO is not a good sign. I think that they proved the point that you were not willing to do what was necessary to make the store achieve top performance. If you are in retail, the  8 hour/5 day schedules are not in your future - unless you want to be a cashier or stocker. If you want a 40 hour, 5 day work week, look for a job with your state, county, or local government (You will get lunch breaks, too).

Sales management is a highly competitive environment that requires strong commitment and the ability to motivate sales people. Since your sales staff was not performing to your level is more proof that you are not the right person for this type of job.

Of course, you may feel that I am wrong, and you are a gift to retail management, but if that is the case, you need more help than anyone here can offer. Look for a new career, and forget the sales records that show that you did not succeed.

Answer 7

Suck it up and move on...........

Answer 8

If you are an at-will employee they don't even NEED a reason, and you can't do anything about it unless you can show that you were terminated for a legally protected reason, like your race or gender.  They can legally fire you just because they don't like you - that isn't wrongful termination.

Good luck for finding a new job.

Answer 9

Wow, you really want to think this all a conspiracy to fire you, don't you....

You worked, what, 40 hours a week and made X in sales.  Divide this by your salary (plus benefits plus fica/mc, futa, etc) and you'll have an idea of what you cost your company to make a sale.

The boss worked 80 hours a week and made 2X in sales.  While you are not privvy to it, surely she and her husband know what her income was relative to her sales.  If her cost was substantially less than what it cost to hire you, of course they re going to argue that you aren't cost effective.  Why should they pay you more than they pay themselves?

You may, however, still be correct, that you were cost effective and brought in more sales per dollar paid than any other staffer--you say you brought in 25% of the sales, the boss made 50%, how many other staffers made the remainin 25%?  How much do they get paid?

While this won't get you repaid, you made be able to use the info to argue that you were successful at selling to your next employer.  This job, however, you aren't going to get back.

Answer 10

I don't know hun, if you are a member of a trade union, then perhaps your trade union rep could tell you exactly how & where you stand.

Failing that go to your local Citizen's Advice Bureau & see if you have a case for unfair dismissal.

Good Luck. I hope everything works out for you. X :-)