Fired for turning my store manager in for Pregnancy and Sexual Discrimination .. and then denied my unemployment???

by Jennifer

(Paducah, Ky)

Fired for turning my store manager in for Pregnancy and Sexual Discrimination .. and then denied my unemployment???

I worked at ATT. From Nov 2010 to April 2011 I was being harassed by my store manager.

He would make comments about me being fat when I am pregnant, made statements about me having mans hands, make statements saying I have a dykes haircut and the list goes on.

The company is part of a union and I went to my union rep and told him if he didn’t make the harassment stop I was going to scream out in front of everyone to quit harassing me, i was gonna hit him in the face, clock out and go straight to a lawyer. That was after my Union President, me and the manager had a meeting and he apologized to some of the things he had said but not all and then continued to do the harassing after the meeting.

After saying that to my Union rep, which I was told everything would be confidential that I said to him, asset protection showed up with them claiming that I had stated my boyfriend was going to come up there and pin him against a car and that I had said i was going to punch him in the face. I denied all allegations of my boyfriend because I did not say it but I did admit what i had said to my union rep. They then fired me after having the HR people call me regarding the harassment from my store manager.

They did not use any of my witnesses that i had listed to them or did anything about the harassment but I’m the one that got fired for “misconduct”. In all reports its stated that everything was hearsay and that I didn’t not say it directly to the people that turned me in. I have had two appeals and been denied both times. Now the next step says i can go to Circuit court. Do I have a chance at winning or is it a waste of time????

Hi,

To be clear, you were denied unemployment benefits because you stated a threat of violence directed toward your store manager .. to your union rep .. that reported it to the employer.

I have a question.

Did you represent yourself at both the lower level hearing and then write your own written argument for the hearing decision?

If you want to go to circuit court with your appeal, I hope you have retained an attorney.

But your story brings up an important point about the need for objectivity both as an employee and as an unemployment claimant.

If your union rep told you that what you said was in confidence .. can you support that with anything in your union contract that says it will be held in confidence .. kinda like talking to a therapist?

I doubt it.

It was the threat of physical violence that you were fired for not the claim of discrimination.

You also admitted to it and that is usually, misconduct, but that’s just unemployment and generally won’t prohibit you from seeking justice in a different civil venue .. at least this holds true for most states.

Do we all still believe that unions and union reps are on the side of the worker?

Or is anyone getting the picture yet that money is what makes people and entities sell out.

I know it is what makes organizations, as well as people .. behave in conciliatory ways they would never dream of behaving if it weren’t for the potential threat of losing the money .. or the power to make money.

When you’re an employee .. the only true power you have is knowledge about your right to not be discriminated against or any other given law that employers must also comply with.

Because the powers that be do not want to be nailed for discrimination .. or anything else.

You need a lawyer ..