is demotion legal based on speaking to a family member about a work incident?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
is demotion legal based on speaking to a family member about a work incident?
i have worked for a company for 16 years as General Manager. with no disciplanary issues. recently a party of 3 employees are claiming that im unfair. one of the employees is my neice the other is her boyfriend and their friend.they use to work on graveyard together until they violated policy. human resources told me to seperate them and i did she loved her schedule and he became disgruntled. I had confeided in my brother because we are close and my neice stated that she does not recognize by brother as a father. word got back to them and i was demoted and removed.
Asked on June 27, 2009 under Employment Labor Law, Washington
Answers:
B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
Unless you had a written employment contract, you are an at-will employee, which means that you can be fired and the company doesn't even have to have any reason at all; so a demotion works under the same rules. There are some limited exceptions. If there is an employee handbook that sets out the reasons that you could be fired or demoted, and that is worded in a way that lets it be used as a contract (which is rare), or if there was some other illegal reason for an action (and there's nothing in your question to suggest anything like that), you might have a chance of suing. To look into this further, for an opinion based on all of the facts, please talk to a local attorney. One place to look for a lawyer is our website, www.attorneypages.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.