Wrongfully terminated?

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aprilb2005

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My daughter works in a factory as a seasonal worker. She goes to work everyday, volunteers to work all the overtime she can. She does the job that's expected of her. I work for the same company but in a different building. I have gotten all kinds of compliments about her not only as a person but as a worker. I knew from the time she was placed that the group-leader she was assigned to would give her a hard time not only because she was a seasonal employee , but because she was my daughter. This certain group leader doesn't like me for reasons unknown to me. I didn't tell my daughter this, I figured she would either find out on her own and deal with it or this group leader would like my daughter in spite of how she feels about me.
After my daughter got home from work today a representative from the Human Resource dept. called her and told her that it was reported to him that she was disruptive and was no longer needed.
My question, is it legal to terminate someone over the phone? Is it legal for someone to be terminated without a detailed explanation why they were terminated?
Would appreciate any and all feedback on this. Thank you
 
It depends on your employment contract, if there is any, on how they usually deal with a situation like this and the laws of the state.

Most probably, though, it is legal. Under the theory of "at will employment" an employer (or an employee) can terminate an employment relationship any time without any notice for almost any reason or no reason at all.

Nevertheless it usually is good employer practice to at least listen to the employee if there is such an issue, but it could be that this company simply doesn't bother since she was a seasonal employee. However, she might want to contact HR and try to get the possibility to explain, but legally they are probably not obliged to do that.
 
Yes, it is legal to terminate someone over the phone.,

Yes, it is legal to terminate someone without giving them the details of the reason.

The only exception to the above would be if she had a valid, enforceable contract that specifies that she cannot be terminated over the phone, and guaranteeing that she be given the details of any termination.

You did not indicate what state you are in. In a very few states, if an employee submits a WRITTEN request, the employer is required to provide what is called a "service letter" which gives dates of employment and the reason for the termination. To the best of my knowledge, a service letter does not need to provide details or specifics, only generalities. So if she is looking for a list of, "On Monday, March 14 you did this; on Tuesday, March 15 you said that" I'm sorry, but I can't think of any legal recourse she has to force them to provide anything of the kind.

If you want to post your state, I can tell you if service letters are required there. But what you describe does not consitite a wrongful termination.
 
The state is Ohio. It has also come to light that her employer didn't follow their own "chain of command". She was actually terminated by a supervisor's secretary. Could this be taken as "heresay"? Thank you.
 
This is a reply to NYCex. First of all thank you for your reply. I appreciate the advice.
I talked to my daughter. She says that during the orientation the Human Resouce Manager stated to them that they do have an open door policy. She tried to talk to HR today and everyone was in meetings.
 
I'm sorry, but Ohio does not require service letters.

I'm sorry again, but hearsay only counts in a court of law. She can certainly, if she chooses, call her supervisor and say, "Gloria told me I'm terminated; is that right? Did I lose my job?" but if the supervisor says, "Yes, I told Gloria to call" then she's out of luck. The fact that a secretary made the call does not automatically void the termination.
 
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