Was I wronguly terminated if I was fired due to an accidental erection in front of female co-worker?
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Was I wronguly terminated if I was fired due to an accidental erection in front of female co-worker?
I was terminated today because of an incident the previous day between I, a male hired in two years ago, and a female co-worker hired in just 3 months ago. She and I became good friends but not so much outside of work. We agreed to not do too much outside of work, so we kind of kept our lives private. However, we discussed many personal things while working together. We established boundaries and agreed to inform each other if we ever cross any lines or go too far with our topics or demeanor. Well, one day at work, I’d become very stressed, running up and down a flight of stairs every few minutes, and when I came back to my female co-worker to help her finish our tasks for the day, I suddenly got an erection. It was noticeable but I tried to make it not so obvious and even apologized to her about it. I thought to leave the area we were in but decided not to and ignore the awkward erection because my shift was almost over anyway. This lasted no more than 5 minutes. In my opinion, we both handled it professionally. I made some jokes to make the situation less embarrassing for us. We both understood that these things happen and I ensured it had nothing to do with her. We already made it clear that we do not like each other and that we both are adults in a happy relationship. The very next day my managers called me in for a private discussion about this
Asked on March 5, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Michigan
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Unless the circumstances of your termination violated the terms of an employment contract or union agreement, you have no claim here. The fact is that most work relationships are "at will", which means tha ta company can set the conditions of employment much as it sees fit (absent some form of legally actionable discrimination). Accordingly, you could have been fired for any reason or no reason at all, with or without notice.
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Unless the circumstances of your termination violated the terms of an employment contract or union agreement, you have no claim here. The fact is that most work relationships are "at will", which means tha ta company can set the conditions of employment much as it sees fit (absent some form of legally actionable discrimination). Accordingly, you could have been fired for any reason or no reason at all, with or without notice.
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