What should we do if we were terminated for a management approved use of coupons?

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What should we do if we were terminated for a management approved use of coupons?

My girlfriend and I were fired from our jobs for using coupons; the use of which 2 upper members of management approved. The coupon was $3 off of a product that was $1.97. In total we made $400. We heard about the coupon from another employee who did a transaction for a customer who used the coupon, resulting in that customer making over $300. Supervisors and management approved that. We decided to use that coupon too. In one of the stores we went to we showed the coupon and the item to the assistant mgr and the co-manager, to which they both said it was valid on that product, in fact the co-mgr went to the back and got more product for us to purchase. The asstistant manager overrode each transaction, giving us cash back.

Asked on February 12, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Iowa

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

Unfortunately, if you did not have employment contracts, you were employees at will. Employees at will may be terminated at any time, for any reason. That means that even if the use of the coupons was approved by one manager (or managersa), or at one location, or at one time, you could still be fired at a later time if your direct supervisor or a more senior manager disapproved of the action. Therefore, in the absence of contracts, there would be nothing illegal about your termination.

For future reference, it is common for businesses to disallow or disapprove of their staff doing things which customers or clients are allowed to do.


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