S
Sartois
Guest
- Jurisdiction
- New York
I'll make this super short. In speaking with a co-worker while waiting for our morning coffee, I said "when I don't get my coffee first thing in the morning I sometimes feel like I want to punch someone." We both laughed. The girl working the coffee counter made a formal complaint with my HR department that I threatened her with physical harm. I wasn't even talking to her. I was called in to speak with the HR manager and my boss. During that meeting my boss said there had been another complaint - alleging that I said "I would never let my kids date colored people". I was shocked. First off, I would never say something like this. Second, that term is not even part of my vernacular. Lastly, my extended family is bi-racial (which my boss did not know until this meeting), so I feel like he was just making things up to upset me. None-the-less, he said these things in front of the HR manager and when I told him he should know me better than that, he said I wasn't being honest. I felt bullied. I felt as if they were building a case against me so they could terminate me and withhold unemployment benefits. If I am wrongly terminated based on a string of false accusations, do I have grounds for a defamation suit?