Sam's Club-terminated after 21 years for taking lunch 1 min late

[lrestaino]

My mother was recently terminated last Friday from Sam's Club in Tinley Park, IL. The reason for her termination was because she was written up 4 times in one calendar year and all 4 of her write ups were because she was one minute late taking her lunch break. The reason for at least 2 of those instances was because the time clock in her department was 2 minutes later than the punch out clock at the front of the store. When she told them that they said that knowing that, she should have taken that in consideration when leaving for her break. The fact of the matter is that she's such a hard worker that she works until the last possible minute and they shouldn't have written her up but they were trying to find a reason to get rid of her because of her pay and age.

She just had her 21 year anniversary last week and the next "calendar year" would have started on Nov 4th. For 21 years she had consistently overachieved her job duties and earned annual merit raises. It was obvious that they have been trying to get rid of her for years as she is one of the highest paid full timers at the store and they have consistently been giving just her some of the most difficult jobs in the dept and she's the oldest one there. After 21 years they wouldn't even give her a set schedule but the part timers were able to work when they wanted.

Seeing that the clock in her department was 2 minutes late and the managers knew and never changed it, I think she was wrongfully terminated. Please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you!!

 

[army judge]

You think wrong.

She was terminated, not for being late once, but four times.

That doesn't matter, anyway.

She was an at will employee.

They could terminate her because her manager just felt the need to flex her muscles.

Either way, she's out of a job, and can file for u employment, while seeking new employment.


Sent from my iPad3 using Tapatalk HD

 

[lrestaino]

you think so? Isn't these a case that can be had for wrongful termination? I just read something about a similar case in CA where a Target employee that was there for 16 years got terminated for being a minute late for her lunch break 3 times and she won her case. I think she had a medical issue where she forgets easily but if what you say is true, she could have been terminated for any reason, right?

 

[disagreeable]

If mom is not sure, she should investigate a free consultation with a local employment law attorney.

 

[cbg]

If Mom was terminated for being late (regardless of the reason she was late or her length of service) that is not a wrongful termination no matter how you slice it.

If, however, Mom was terminated because of her age and they used her being late as an excuse, that is a wrongful termination. A wrongful termination does not mean one that was unfair; it means one that violates a specific law. It is not a wrongful term to fire someone for being late. It is a wrongful term to fire someone because of their age and using tardiness as an excuse.

The employee in CA, just like Mom, can be terminated for any reason except one prohibited by law. I am not familiar with the case you mention but it sounds to me as if the employer did not make the appropriate accomodations for a medical condition. That is a different situation. There is no law anywhere in the US that says you can't fire an employee for being one minute late.

 

[army judge]

Honey Badger don't care.

Sam's Club is Walmart.

Walmart is Honey Badger.

Honey Badger don't care.

 

[miniboohoo]

isn't it the company's responsibility to have clocks in sync with the time clock?

 

[army judge]

isn't it the company's responsibility to have clocks in sync with the time clock?

There is no law that requires such an action.

Besides, isn't 30 minutes, 30 minutes?

Punch out and in on the same clock, 30 minutes remains 30 minutes.

I haven't been required to punch a clock for decades, in fact back in high school.

When I was required to punch in and out, I always punched in 2 minutes early.

As far as clocking out, I always clocked out no later than 2 minutes after my scheduled time to do so.

It isn't hard to do what you're asked to do, if you prepare for it.

 

[guestpost]

She also had to be more then 1 minute late. Their timeclocks round down, making it so she had to be over a minute late each time. Also it is club policy to fire an associate after only 2 late punchs for work. They allowed her 4.

Also it is club policy to schedule all lunches 4 hours into the shift. You can NOT schedule a lunch any later into an associates shift, the scheduling program won't allow you. So she was actually 1 hour and 1 minute late each time.