What are my rights if I was recently terminated for “gross misconduct” but was not given a clear reason as to why?
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What are my rights if I was recently terminated for “gross misconduct” but was not given a clear reason as to why?
What does gross misconduct mean? And what rights do I have, if I feel the reasons given were not justifiable?
Asked on September 22, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Virginia
Answers:
Micah Longo / The Longo Firm
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Florida is an "at-will" employment state which means you can be terminated for any reason, as long as it is not an "unlawful reason."
An example of an "unlawful reason" would be you were terminated because you are a member of a protected class (i.e. race, sex, religion, national origin, age, etc.)
The courts refuse to look at the busines decisions of employers. This means that the court does not care whether or not you actually committed "gross misconduct." They do, however, care if the "gross misconduct" reason was pretextual, meaning not worthy of belief, and the true reason you were fired was becasue of an "unlawful" reason (i.e. age, race, national origin, sex, religion, etc.)
If you have questions, you should contact me for a free consultation (click on the profile link button)
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