What to do if I was unlawfully fired from my job.?

Question

I am having a problem because I am 16 and I was employed by Bojangles in Georgia. My issue is that I feel as though I was unlawfully relinquished from my job. The reason being is this, I was suspended from my job for two weeks for making a schedule shift without the notification of my shift manager. Up until that point, I was an impeccable worker and had astounded my previous managers with my reliableness, quick thinking, and diligence. Subsequently to that, I was on a vacation for 2.5 weeks which they were well aware of. Upon my return, I was told that I could not return to my job because during my leave of absence, they found someone to replace and can no longer accommodate me. I believe that the true issue is that I reported to negligence of that particular shift manager to the store owner.

What can I do. It has been 2.5 weeks that I haven't been able to go to work and they are not allowing me to get the number of the store manager to call again.

Answer 1

they broke no laws when they fired you.

i assume you are thinking they violated a whistleblower statute, but if you reported this "negligence" only internally, i really think they're in the clear and you will just have to walk across the street and bag groceries for somebody else.

Answer 2

They did not break any laws, unless you have reason to suspect that they fired you because of your race, gender, nationality, disability, etc.

Answer 3

Look in your employee handbook.  There should be some sort of arbitration for wrongful firing.  

But then again, employers can fire at any time, with or without reason.  That is also in the handbook.