I was terminated for logging on facebook while on my break would that be cause for wrongful termination?
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I was terminated for logging on facebook while on my break would that be cause for wrongful termination?
A few ago I was given a memo that told me that I was not suppose to be on Facebook during work hours, which I Complied. Yesterday I logged on to Facebook during my lunch break and by the end of the day I was let go. Even Though the other employees were on Facebook also, and were given the same memo as me. For the last Couple months I have been single out by the employer and treated in a drastically different way as the rest of the Employees. Would this be grounds for wrongful termination?
Asked on March 16, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
From what you write, you violated company policy--you logged onto Facebook during work hours, despite having been given a memo indicating that doing so was not permitted. Therefore, there is, on its face, nothing wrongful about your termation. If you were terminated or singled out for "drastically different" treatment because of a protected characteristic--such as, for example, your race, sex, religion, age over 40, or disability--that may consitute illegal employment discrimination, and you may have a legal claim. On the other hand, if you were treated differently not due to a reason like that, but simply because a supervisor didn't like you, or because of something you did at work (for example, did you previously tend to go online more than you should?), that is legal--the law does not make employers treat all employees the same, so long as they do not discriminate on the basis of specifically protected characteristics, as described above. Therefore, from what you write, there is a good chance that your termination was not wrongful.
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