Wrongful termination?

[h57zf]

I was dismissed from a job at a small company that I was recently hired at after working there for less than a day.

 

Why do I suspect that this was a wrongful termination?

 

Well, for starters this was an "expat" position. I'm an American citizen, which qualifies me as an "expat" but I also have distant ancestry (as indicated by my last name) in my current location which also qualifies me as "local" despite not having citizenship of the said country. This is apparently a concern for some employers, who often needs someone who is not only skilled but who also "looks the part". Some employers even take the latter as being more important than the former.

 

Here, for reference is the original job posting: http://i.imgur.com/LvefyhQ.png

 

I joined because the company provided a salary that was more than 20% of what I was currently making, and because it's also in a field that I have an intimate knowledge of. I can also speak three languages fluently, with conversational knowledge of 3 more which are vital for business in the region. I also have a master's degree in a field closely related to our industry from a global top 100 university, and an MBA from one of the most prestigious universities in my current country.

 

Because of this, I was hired on the spot by the interviewer (who also happens to be an expat). However, when I arrived on my first day of work, amid the frenzy of getting all my paperwork in order, and before even having the chance to engage in "real" work, I was approached by the owner of the company for less than two minutes. He disappeared after our quick conversation, and four hours later, I get a call saying that Mr. So-and-so decided I "wasn't right for the job," and that they were rescinding my contract effective the end of the day.

 

I highly doubt that the owner of this small company could make an accurate assessment of my personality and capabilities after a handshake and a brief conversation, especially on my first day, without even giving me a chance to do some work on behalf of the company. I'd certainly understand if I'd been there for a while and was making a monthly salary without actually doing any work, or if I'd been showing up at high noon drunk, but in this case I don't understand how I could have done something wrong.

 

And the fact that they had a month to reconsider before I actually arrived, and things were only an issue when I showed up in person leaves a lot of doubt in my mind.

Edited December 3, 2015 by h57zf

[central]

You'd need a local lawyer to figure out if you have a case. Many places don't require any reason to hire/fire you, but even then there may be other laws or regulations that offer some protection, such as discrimination based on age, race, gender, or religion. If you are atypical compared to other employees in one of these, you may have cause. Proving it can be long and expensive, though, so consider if it is worth the effort. Again, it takes a lawyer to advise you.

 

At most, you may be able to give them some bad publicity with a letter to the local newspaper. But this may also make you undesirable to other employers, so be careful what you decide.

[Got it]

It really is going to depend on country laws, the stipulations of your employment contract, etc. Without knowing the country there isn't much more I can advise on. Check out the governmental labor website to see your specific rights.

 

I have never heard of genealogy playing a factor in one's status as a local or expat in regards to employment or tax laws but again, don't know the country you are in.

[h57zf]

You'd need a local lawyer to figure out if you have a case. Many places don't require any reason to hire/fire you, but even then there may be other laws or regulations that offer some protection, such as discrimination based on age, race, gender, or religion. If you are atypical compared to other employees in one of these, you may have cause. Proving it can be long and expensive, though, so consider if it is worth the effort. Again, it takes a lawyer to advise you.

 

The job posting was a bit odd in that it was only open to a certain minority (in this case nationals of a certain country), but I am a minority within that minority as I am often mistaken for a local. Now in theory what's on paper, i.e. your passport should count, but that's not always the way employers here see it. Ethnicity is also factored in sometimes, in practice and the law isn't always on your side if you're a "local-looking" person replaced by a foreigner.

[O'Malley]

Unfortunately, "wasn't right for the job" is the classic CYA move for both petty and viable reasons. If the company really is disqualifying prospective employees based on irrelevant factors, then they're ultimately shooting themselves in foot. While it might have been a better position income-wise, there also might have been drawbacks to working for a company where the boss or other superiors have a narrow world view about both their employees and their clients.

 

You've got good qualifications, so put your focus on finding another position.

[NewLeaf512]

Interesting post. Using these assumptions:

 

You are an American Citizen living in the EU. ( if this isn't the case the following is irrelevant)

 

America has "at will employment" which means an employee can be released at any time with no grounds. An example of that would be "the business is taking a new direction and the position is being eliminated". "Your services are no longer required". If you have been wrongfully terminated for cause an a lawyer who reviews your specific circumstances can advise you if you have an action. If you do, the damages awards can be astronomical.

 

In the UK employment law is very different and settlements have caps which is 2 years of fully loaded package and an injury to hurt feelings award which is likely to be from a few hundred £ to about £20,000 unless it's discrimination. The law has recently changed. To qualify for redundancy the qualifying time in role is extended. If you were let go on the same day in the UK you will be considered in a probationary period which typically I 1 week old salary, senior appointments 1 month and executives 3 to 6.

 

If the image capture in your link is the actual posting, it looks a bit off from the start.

 

Good luck. It's unlikely you will ever find out the truth. The company won't want to open itself up to liability. The owner sounds like a total plonker. Lucky escape, you!

[h57zf]

Interesting post. Using these assumptions:

 

You are an American Citizen living in the EU. ( if this isn't the case the following is irrelevant)

 

America has "at will employment" which means an employee can be released at any time with no grounds. An example of that would be "the business is taking a new direction and the position is being eliminated". "Your services are no longer required". If you have been wrongfully terminated for cause an a lawyer who reviews your specific circumstances can advise you if you have an action. If you do, the damages awards can be astronomical.

 

In the UK employment law is very different and settlements have caps which is 2 years of fully loaded package and an injury to hurt feelings award which is likely to be from a few hundred £ to about £20,000 unless it's discrimination. The law has recently changed. To qualify for redundancy the qualifying time in role is extended. If you were let go on the same day in the UK you will be considered in a probationary period which typically I 1 week old salary, senior appointments 1 month and executives 3 to 6.

 

If the image capture in your link is the actual posting, it looks a bit off from the start.

 

Good luck. It's unlikely you will ever find out the truth. The company won't want to open itself up to liability. The owner sounds like a total plonker. Lucky escape, you!

 

Actually I'm in not the E.U., which probably has more clearly defined laws. In this country the laws are a mix of American and E.U. laws, but probably closer to American laws in structure.

 

Looking over the relevant law, the only way you can get fired on the spot is (paraphrasing this now)

 

1) If you lied on the application form or submitted a fake CV

2) Harassment, slander, or workplace violence of the company or its employees

3) Breaking local or federal laws for which you are sentenced to imprisonment

4) Breaking the terms of your contract (a major breach of contract)

5) Destruction, theft, or embezzlement of company property

6) Violation of non-disclosure agreements

7) Continued absence without a just cause

 

None of the things above apply to me, and of course they'd need proof of their claim. Indeed, I didn't even have the time to do anything wrong as I had signed the contract for no more than a few hours.

 

If the employer doesn't feel you are qualified after hiring you, and has proof of such, you're supposed to have advanced notice of this. But in an ideal world, I guess you would be given time to prove that through his/her work record.

 

Of course laws get thorny when the job was for an expat, but ethnically you're pretty much one of the local guys (the company employs locals, but in a different capacity than what the job description said). There are a lot of us guys here "returning to the Old Country" from the States. A similar thing happened to one of my friends. When he took it to court, the court told him that he didn't have a case because since he was eligible for citizenship through his father, he wasn't technically a minority since he was eligible for citizenship.

 

I guess things would be even more confusing for me since I'm already a dual citizen, but I am eligible for citizenship locally as well.

Edited December 4, 2015 by h57zf

[AnAsianGirl]

Didn't you say you were Asian-American? I'm guessing you're a Korean-American living in Korea.

 

Maybe you made a cultural faux pas. If there's one thing Korean bosses hate it's cocky Korean-Americans guys coming back and acting superior to everyone just because they're bilingual and have some fancy pieces of paper that their parents paid for.

[thefooloftheyear]

Ive let dozens of people go over the years after working a day or a few days...Sometimes its not even about performance or attitude...they just aren't going to fit in with the M/O of the company...

 

 

TFY

[AnAsianGirl]

Ive let dozens of people go over the years after working a day or a few days...Sometimes its not even about performance or attitude...they just aren't going to fit in with the M/O of the company...

 

 

TFY

 

I know where you're coming from on this... my dad and uncle own a company that has 100 people in it...

 

And sometimes they've had to let new hires go...At that level you get to know people pretty well and sometimes personalities are just incompatible...And after a few years you get a feel for what "type" will work and what type won't.

 

I'm going on a limb here but I'm guessing OP probably rubbed the boss the wrong way and lost his job because of it.

[Art_Critic]

It sucks but wouldn't your time be best spent trying to get another job that is a better fit ?

 

Thinking about suing a company when you only worked less than a day isn't something I would think the courts would like to see go thru their system.

 

Besides... obviously the company of head of the company didn't treat you well, be thankful you found out on the first day instead of a year in, then you might be looking at litigation and who wants to go thru that.

 

Be upset but try and let this go, it will just pull you down on the mving on phase of getting another job.

[Got it]

Ive let dozens of people go over the years after working a day or a few days...Sometimes its not even about performance or attitude...they just aren't going to fit in with the M/O of the company...

 

 

TFY

 

This is fine in the US but is not necessarily allowed in all countries across the world. So without knowing the country the OP is discussing it is very hard to tell him if he has any ground to stand on or not. In the US, absolutely, no ground and the employer has the right to let go unless they had a specific employment contract that noted otherwise.

[katiegrl]

This is fine in the US but is not necessarily allowed in all countries across the world. So without knowing the country the OP is discussing it is very hard to tell him if he has any ground to stand on or not.

 

In the US, absolutely, no ground and the employer has the right to let go unless they had a specific employment contract that noted otherwise.

 

That's not true. in the US, it is against the law to terminate an employee for discrimination.

 

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a person may not be discriminated against due to the following:

 

Age

Pregnancy

National Origin

Race

Ethnic Background

Religious Beliefs

Sexual Orientation

 

So if the OP believes she was terminated because of her ethnicity or anything else listed above....she absolutely has grounds for a lawsuit.

[NewLeaf512]

That's not true. in the US, it is against the law to terminate an employee for discrimination.

 

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a person may not be discriminated against due to the following:

 

Age

Pregnancy

National Origin

Race

Ethnic Background

Religious Beliefs

Sexual Orientation

 

So if the OP believes she was terminated because of her ethnicity or anything else listed above....she absolutely has grounds for a lawsuit.

 

Also on that list is disability. I believe the OP indicates he/she isn't in America or the European Union. It seems to me that OP might have difficulty in retaining representation (if this was in fact in America) with the limited information that is communicated here.

 

It's likely if the content of the conversation was posted here. It's important to know the words as accurately as possible, and if any others were a party to the interchange. The burden of proof in the UK and US is on the petitioner. In my view employment law in both countries favours the employer, and the tribunals/suits are often extremely long, emotionally draining, and costly. America has a more favourable award (money settlement) position.

[preraph]

Every place I've applied in the past 30 years has a probation period of usually 90 days or six months during which you sign off that they can fire you without cause. My guess is you signed something like that in your flurry to finish paperwork.

 

On top of that, they may be a "no-fault" place, as others have mentioned.

 

Assuming you did sue, the real problem arises around lost wages. You'd have to prove this maneuver put you out of work for long enough to make it worth some money. It was only one day out of your life. I think it sucks, but that your best move is to leave that completely off your resume (even refuse pay for that time so it doesn't show up on investigation when an employer looks at your taxes) and just keep looking for a better job. Keep that off your resume, even if it means telling them not to pay you for that one day. Otherwise, it can look bad when they see that employer on your taxes but not your resume.

[katiegrl]

Every place I've applied in the past 30 years has a probation period of usually 90 days or six months during which you sign off that they can fire you without cause. My guess is you signed something like that in your flurry to finish paperwork.

 

On top of that, they may be a "no-fault" place, as others have mentioned.

 

Assuming you did sue, the real problem arises around lost wages. You'd have to prove this maneuver put you out of work for long enough to make it worth some money. It was only one day out of your life. I think it sucks, but that your best move is to leave that completely off your resume (even refuse pay for that time so it doesn't show up on investigation when an employer looks at your taxes) and just keep looking for a better job. Keep that off your resume, even if it means telling them not to pay you for that one day. Otherwise, it can look bad when they see that employer on your taxes but not your resume.

 

If she can prove she was terminated for discrimination......then there are all sorts of financial penalties the employer faces.... including lost "future" earnings, among other punitive damages.... which are often very substantial. Despite the fact she worked there only one day.

 

It is very difficult proving discrimination though, unless it was blatant, which in this case, it does not sound like it was.

[preraph]

He very well may have found something in her background check he didn't like.

[h57zf]

He very well may have found something in her background check he didn't like.

 

On the contrary, they conducted a background check before deciding to hire me. I wouldn't have been hired by my immediate boss without one. Here's the e-mail from my would-be immediate boss with the appropriate information blocked out.

 

http://i.imgur.com/0G2xQjC.png

 

It was only when my boss' boss showed up and decided I "wasn't right for the job" that I was given the boot. And that after a very brief meeting with him.

[preraph]

I can only tell you that a background check can be deeper than just one inquiry online. I know I got hired someplace one time and they undid me a week later, probably after finding a nonconviction pot arrest 30 years earlier. He wouldn't elaborate, but his initial check was fine and then he got some more info in. Also, they might have heard back from a former employer who didn't get back right away. I'm just saying it happens. Or maybe he truly just didn't feel that the person who hired you had followed the hiring guidelines he'd given. It could be anything but one thing for sure, it wasn't nothing. Maybe he didn't like the way you talked or dressed or had a client who had a bias even if he doesn't. A friend of mine was given a big journalism reporter job for an international prestigious company right before the 2008 election in the US, but when Obama won the election, they unhired him because he had once also been a satirist who poked fun at literally everyone under the sun, including blacks. They thought it was too risky.

[AnAsianGirl]

On the contrary, they conducted a background check before deciding to hire me. I wouldn't have been hired by my immediate boss without one. Here's the e-mail from my would-be immediate boss with the appropriate information blocked out.

 

http://i.imgur.com/0G2xQjC.png

 

It was only when my boss' boss showed up and decided I "wasn't right for the job" that I was given the boot. And that after a very brief meeting with him.

 

You sound very entitled and arrogant, as if you are somehow owed a job.

 

I am starting to see why you were fired. Employers can smell it a mile away.

[katiegrl]

You sound very entitled and arrogant, as if you are somehow owed a job.

 

I am starting to see why you were fired. Employers can smell it a mile away.

 

AsianGirl...where do you get that she feels she is *owed* a job? I don't sense that at all from her.

 

She was already hired, it was her first day....I don't think it's unreasonable (or entitled or arrogant) to expect that once you are hired, and started working at the job... that you won't be fired that same day.

 

How would you feel if you were offered a job, started working, and on your first day, mid-day you were suddenly and without warning.... fired for no apparent reason?

 

Would you not be questioning that? Upset about that?

 

If not you should be, because it was wrong, and in some countries against the law.

[AnAsianGirl]

AsianGirl...where do you get that she feels she is *owed* a job? I don't sense that at all from her.

 

She was already hired, it was her first day....I don't think it's unreasonable (or entitled or arrogant) to expect that once you are hired, and started working at the job... that you won't be fired that same day.

 

How would you feel if you were offered a job, started working, and on your first day, mid-day you were suddenly and without warning.... fired for no apparent reason?

 

Would you not be questioning that? Upset about that?

 

If not you should be, because it was wrong, and in some countries against the law.

 

First off, the OP is a dude.

 

He's a cishet Asian-American guy living in his parent's country.

 

I myself have "gone back" to Asia for a while, and I've encountered plenty of rich, spoiled Asian-American guys who go there to make some easy money and take advantage of local girls there. Hence there is a reason why some employers try to avoid hiring them.

 

I highly doubt he was completely innocent here. I know many people of all races working in Asia, so I further doubt that it is discrimination as the OP is trying to insinuate

[katiegrl]

First off, the OP is a dude.

 

He's a cishet Asian-American guy living in his parent's country.

 

I myself have "gone back" to Asia for a while, and I've encountered plenty of rich, spoiled Asian-American guys who go there to make some easy money and take advantage of local girls there. Hence there is a reason why some employers try to avoid hiring them.

 

I highly doubt he was completely innocent here. I know many people of all races working in Asia, so I further doubt that it is discrimination as the OP is trying to insinuate

 

Male/female ....not relevant but appreciate your enlightening me....

 

Second, again he was already hired. His background check cleared, and whomever interviewed him liked him and obviously thought he was a good fit ....otherwise he would not have been offered the job in the first place!

 

Your other assertions about him being "rich, spoiled looking to make easy money and taking advantage of local girls" is pure speculation ....and facts NOT in evidence here.

 

You don't know him, neither do I ...all we know for sure is what he has actually shared.....that being he was interviewed, offered the job, accepted the offer, began working, and on his FIRST day, after one very brief convo with the boss's boss, was terminated.

 

And you did not answer my question. How would YOU feel, as an Asian woman ....if this happened to you? Say, in the U S for example?

 

Pls answer...thanks a bunch!

[AnAsianGirl]

And you did not answer my question. How would YOU feel, as an Asian woman ....if this happened to you? Say, in the U S for example?

 

OK I have to admit that I wouldn't like it very much and under certain circumstances I might question the motives. However given the fact that women of color tend to face more discrimination than other groups, there would be a higher likelihood of my boss being unreasonable.

 

However in this case we don't know if the OP is giving us the whole story. What I do know from experience is that the Korean-Americans guys in Seoul, Korea are a very tight-knit community. They often have family connections like a rich uncle, and also make connections between themselves. They also behave rather badly in public by getting drunk, picking fights with both locals and other expats, etc... all of which would be pretty bad for the company's reputation.

 

Maybe in this case the OP's friend hired him over someone more qualified just because they were buddies and the boss' boss caught on really quick. Or maybe he was new in the country and made a cultural faux pas. Or perhaps he lied on his resume and they found out.

[h57zf]

However in this case we don't know if the OP is giving us the whole story. What I do know from experience is that the Korean-Americans guys in Seoul, Korea are a very tight-knit community. They often have family connections like a rich uncle, and also make connections between themselves. They also behave rather badly in public by getting drunk, picking fights with both locals and other expats, etc... all of which would be pretty bad for the company's reputation.

 

I'm not Korean-American, nor do I live in Korea.