Do I have any rights if I was terminated for jokingly saying to a pregnant a co-worker that she was gaining weight and her butt was getting bigger?
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Do I have any rights if I was terminated for jokingly saying to a pregnant a co-worker that she was gaining weight and her butt was getting bigger?
There were 3 of us there one night and we were all joking around and laughing this happened a month and a half ago. This girl went to Corporate instead of going to the store managers or to HR. I have never even had a verbal warning for anything at my job. I have always been praised for the job I was doing and how much the department had improved since I had come to work there. This girl had 2 other co-workers say they heard what I said when in truth there was only myself, the girl and another employee during the conversation. The man from corporate was not fair to me.
Asked on October 14, 2015 under Employment Labor Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Unless your have protection under the terms of an employment contract, union agreement or company policy you can be fired for this. In fact, you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all, with or without notice. Also, your treatment must not constitute some form of legally action employment discrimination and based on the facts presented it does not. If anything, you may be considered to have harrassed your co-worker.
Under the law, employers are entitled to set the terms and conditions of employment much as they see fit subject to the exceptions listed above. This means that an employee may be terminated for the behavior you displayed or for any reason or no reason at all.
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