Recently in Wrongful Termination Category

What do you do if you know that your business or your supervisor is breaking the law by committing fraud against the company or its customers? Do you join in? What if you want to report the activities to the boss or to the authorities, will you lose your job?

A former manager at the Cape May, New Jersey Nature Conservancy office, Les Frie, claims that he was fired for reporting the theft of company funds by an office director, according to Courthouse News Service. Frie claims that he was singled out by the new office director because he had blown the whistle on the previous director, according to the complaint. He says that after reporting the retaliation from the new director, that he was further retaliated against by being put on probation at work and eventually fired.

Piotr Nowak was one of the coaches of the 2008 U.S. Olympic soccer team. After coaching that team, he was hired as the team manager for the Philadelphia Union soccer team, according to Courthouse News Service.

Nowak signed a contract with the team to be the team manager from 2009 until December 2012, according to his complaint. In December 2011, he was promoted to manager and executive vice president of soccer operations. This promotion extended his contract to December 2015.

Now, Nowak claims that he was fired in breach of his contract extension.

There are times when an employee notices that there is something wrong at their place of employment. Sometimes when this happens, the employee reports the problem. What next? The employee is fired, or demoted, or transferred to Siberia.

In the last post, we looked at blogging teacher Natalie Munroe's First Amendment claims. The other part of her wrongful discharge suit is based on the school's alleged retaliation by singling out of Munroe for special treatment that would assure her an unsatisfactory rating and the loss of her job, according to NBC10 Philadelphia. Let's take a deeper look at these allegations.

Blogging, it's the thing to do on the Internet. You can share projects you do, hobbies, recipes, or gripe about the world in general. You could describe it as a sounding board to strangers who give you feedback on your thoughts, or possibly a way to communicate with a group of people. Whatever your reason for blogging, realize that unless you restrict your readers to those with a password, anyone can find and read it.

This is what happened to the blogging teacher, a Central Bucks English teacher, Natalie Munroe, who was fired by the Bucks County school board for her blog, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Everyone's been on the Pennsylvania turnpike and had to stop for the toll. There's always a curse under your breath at the toll taker, even though it's not their fault that you don't have cash and you used all the change in your car for the toll yesterday. Even with all the cursing, you probably wouldn't wish for the toll attendant's turnpike supervisor to be fired.

However, that's exactly what happened. Samuel Giombolini, of Dickson City, was recently fired from his position as the turnpike's district manager for District 5 in Northeastern Pennsylvania, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

It looks like the third annual Philly Beer Week is upon us. This means plenty of establishments having special events, and that may busy up your favorite watering hole. So, you may ask, if the bars are full, can I crack one open in my office to avoid the crowds?

That's what was happening at the offices of the Philadelphia Inquirer, where the tasting and judging was to take place for the 48 beers entered this year. Young staffers asked whether the large amount of beer being brought to the office was for an office-wide beer pong competition.

Maybe that would be where to draw the line at office drinking.

Do you know a business that has some employees that are not holding up their end of the bargain? Perhaps there is a business that needs to close and it has some employees that need to be let go first. In any case, here is a quick checklist before the business owner goes down the hall and pretends to be Donald Trump on “The Apprentice.”

Knowing that Philadelphia is an “at will” locale means that the business owner most likely only need concern himself or herself with a few simple checks.

Well, it looks like the Sixers held on to their jobs against the Celtics. But not so lucky are Dexter Pittman and Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat, who are suspended after a recent game.

In the same way Pittman and Haslem were suspended for retaliation against the opposing team, so too can your boss be reprimanded for retaliating against you. If you reported wrongdoing at work, or filed a workers’ comp claim, and then were fired for doing so, you may have a lawsuit to file against your employer.

Unlike the end of the season or temporary suspension for a professional athlete, losing a real job is downright depressing.

Recently, Lauren Odes claimed that she was fired for being "too hot" from the lingerie wholesaler where she worked. The New York Magazine also reported that Odes, with the help of her attorney, Gloria Allred, filed an EEOC complaint charging gender and religious discrimination.

One barrier to these types of claims is that all employment in Pennsylvania is "at will" unless there is a specific contract saying otherwise. What does that mean, you ask? It is exactly what it sounds like. At will employment means that you or your employer can end your employment at any time for any legal reason, without notice.

Monise Princilus is the former director of human resources for the Camden City Public Schools, and is a little upset about that "former" part, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. According to Ms. Princilus, she was placed on leave, and then did not have her contract renewed, because she refused to lie on the superintendent's behalf.

Superintendent Bessie LeFra Young is the head honcho of the Camden district. According to the Inquirer, she's come under fire lately for allegedly missing an entire school year's worth of days over the past year and a half. Young claims the absences were due to a chronic illness.