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Employment
Was hired by a company and told them about a past felony convention. Been working
for that company 7 years then it was sold to another company. Now a year later
I’m being told that I might be terminated. I never hide that fact about my past
convention to my employer can they do this.
Asked on July 10, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
The only issue is whether you had still-in-effect (i.e. unexpired and not otherwise lawfully terminated) written employment contract for a definite term (e.g. a one-year, two-year, etc. contract), which contract prevented your termination for this reason or guaranteed your job. If you had such a contract, you could not be fired in any way which violated it--if you were, you could sue your employer for "breach of contract" to enforce its terms.
However, without such a contract, you were (like pretty much all of us) and "employee at will" and could be legally terminated for any time, for any reason--including your employer deciding to terminate you for a past, previously disclosed conviction. Without a contract, this would be legal, since employees at will have effectively no rights to their jobs.
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