What to do if I was terminated from my job a couple of weeks ago because of what they said was a safety violation?
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What to do if I was terminated from my job a couple of weeks ago because of what they said was a safety violation?
I remove my safety lock from the machine because I needed to jog it to check the timing. While the lock was off my manager approached and asked were was the lock I replaced the lock and continued working on the machine. The manager came back 2 other times that day to talk about the incident on a Friday had a meeting with some other company representative. Monday I came to work and after 3 hours they call me into the office and told me my employment with the company was terminated.
Asked on March 22, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Illinois
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you did not have an employment agreement or a union contract which specified a process for discipline or termination, or restricted or limited the grounds for termination in some way, you were an employee at will and you could be fired at any time, for any reason--including for either an actual safety violation or simply something perceived as one. In this case, your termination was, unfortunately, most likely legal.
If there was some contract or union agreement, then you need to review it to see how it impacted your situation--the company must abide by its terms.
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