Fired for a rule violation in Florida

by Ronald
(Celebration, Florida)

I was an inbound vacation advisor at Grand Vacations in Orlando. I was fired for 'income coaching'. That is best described as coaching someone to an income level where they may have qualified at a lower level but not for the next one up.

In this particular case I was talking to someone who was interested in our NYC tour and discounted stay at the NYC hotel where you need an income level of $150,000 or higher.

The guest said to me that he was not interested in Hawaii, Orlando or Las Vegas but if we had NYC he might want to hear that one. Our qualification process is to give letters A thru D.

A is $79,000 or less
B is $80 to $99,000,
C is $100 to $149 and
D would be $150,000 or over.

As the customer had hesitated when answering 'C' I asked him how close he was to the D level mentioned earlier. That is considered income coaching.

I was talked to about this before and had had a written warning about a related topic when I first started (someone who complained about me because they were upset that they didn't qualify)in the department, but was never told that I had been given a final warning, nor was the courtesy extended to be careful what I say on this subject as the next infraction would result in termination.

I have met or exceeded all other weekly and monthly goals for the 8 months I was in the department. I have been with this company for over 1 year. Also I am 61 years old and jobs with benefits aren't that plentiful!



Hi Ronald,

I'm right there with you on the "benefits" thing:)

This sounds like a typical "Discharge for a Rule Violation. There's got to be a written policy, but what is the employer's written policy on progressive discipline?

Does it say anywhere that your offense is subject to "immediate termination"?

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record... but when a person is fired, the first thing that needs to be checked out is the employee handbook that is given to most people upon hire. Employer's usually make new hires sign an acknowledgment form stating you received the handbook. This is used to prove an employee was or at least should have been aware of the rules.

A few question asked by almost every state when someone files an unemployment claim is: Were you warned? Who warned you? Were you aware your job was in jeopardy.

Since you say you were not given a final warning and were never made aware that another infraction would be cause for termination...go with that as your focus.

When you have broken a rule it is better to zero in on a weak spot in their case for good cause that can show they have also not followed their own rules.

I did a little editing, hope you don't mind:)

Chris