Can I sue for failure to process my termination in quick/efficient manner?
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Can I sue for failure to process my termination in quick/efficient manner?
I recently got a new job, however my new employer due to internal non-compete policies required me to be completely terminated from my old job. Having given the old employer 2 weeks notice, I was assured that I could begin my new job 2 days after I had terminated. It has now been a week and I have to wait until Thursday to start. Can I sue for wages lost from the new employer for the days I had to wait for my termination to process. This would be a small claims case 4 days 8 hour days $12.50/hr and docket and sheriff service fees of approximately $450. Is it worth it? The llocal court does not allow for attorneys in small claims cases.
Asked on June 24, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Kansas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
No, you may not sue your employer fo this. You can only sue when someone violates a duty imposed by law (or by the plain terms of a contract with that person or entity). Your former employer had no duty to "process" your termination in a "quick/efficient manner": not having a duty, there can be no violation of that duty and so no grounds for liability. Further, even if there had been a duty, the "proximate,"or most direct, cause of your inability to start the new job within 2 days was not the old employer, but the new employer's refusal to start you until the older employer's processing was done; that was your employer's choice, and you cannot hold the old employer liable for it.
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