Do I have any recourse if I was fired due to private jokes made off the clock?

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Do I have any recourse if I was fired due to private jokes made off the clock?

I was in a groupchat with my friends and I said that a couple of my co-workers should kill themselves, which was then shown to the aforementioned co-workers by someone in the chat. I was at home off the clock and a week or so later I got a call from HR and a district leader, telling me that those are not jokes, they are facts. They also said that those are threats and that I can no longer work there due to this. Is there anyway I might be able to have any kind of case against the company or at least be able to get the termination off my record? I worked here for 4 years without a single problem or write-up and I even got promoted about a year ago.

Asked on September 16, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Wisconsin

Answers:

M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 5 years ago | Contributor

Unless your discharge violated the terms of an employment contract or union agreement, you have no claim here. The fact is that in the eyes of your employer, your comment constituted a threat and unfortunately in our politically correct society they could be grounds for outright dimissal. In fact, in an "at will" work relationship, an employee can be terminated for any reason or no reason at all. Bacically, a company can set the conditions of the workplace much as it sees fit (absent some form of legally actionable discrimination).


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