I sympathize and commiserate with you, StGermain. I’m currently unemployed myself, as a result of leaving my last job due to co-worker harassment (she harassed me, just to make that clear ). I didn’t want to quit, I didn’t want to look for a new job, I didn’t want to be unemployed, I didn’t want to lose half our sources of income after buying a new house, I didn’t want any of this, and to have it dumped on me because someone else couldn’t hold her temper is something I’m still working through (as you might be able to tell).
If you were in Alberta, you would have a case for wrongful dismissal and I would say don’t leave until they fire you. If employers in your part of the world can kick their employees out any time they please for no reason (and it sounds like they can), then take the money and run.
This falls into the category of “Don’t joke about bombs at an airport”. Although 99% of those who say such things are completely harmless and are trying to be funny, there are people whose entire jobs are to single out these people and get them out of the area. Too many times, people have followed through on suggestions like this. See the US Postal Service. It is the flip side of being able to sue for anything as we do in the US. If someone heard you make this statement (as they did, you say) then they could be held at least partially responsible if they failed to report it.
It is so serious to the company that they are willing to pay you thousands of dollars to just go away. Take the money.
And don’t say stuff like that in public in the future. That is life in the US in the '00’s. I am sure you didn’t deserve it, but on the balance sheet, your company couldn’t take that risk.
StGermain
You said you spoke with a counselor? That might be a factor in your favor. I have heard people abusing the Americans With Disabilities Act and retaining (or even rgaining) their jobs by such ridiculous arguments as - they weren’t showing up late, they were “chronoloically challenged” - that sort of thing. I am not trying to belittle disabilities (I have MS myself and work a full-time job). However, if you can build a legal case, your employers might reconsider and figure it is cheaper in the long run just to take you back. Don’t forget, America is “lawsuit happy” and they might turn chickenshit if they fear they have a lawsuit on their hands.
As I previously said though, don’t spend tons of money on this but I think it is worth a try.
Why is it messed up? A company should be able to choose who it wants to have an employee. Why should a company have more loyalty to an employee than an employee has to a company?
In this case it sounds like StGermain was talking about fantasies he had about killing his last boss (in graphic detail) which caused him to quit his last job. Who is to say if he starts down the murder fantasy path he won’t be in position where he can’t or won’t just quit (double mortgage). It is best for a company to get rid of a potential threat. Just think what you would be saying if the company did nothing and someone started a thread about how his wife was killed by an employee under her and this employee had talked about how he had such strong fantasies about killing his last boss… I know if I worked someplace and a person was talking about his murder fantasies I would want that person gone. Would you want your wife or husband or children to work with a person who talks about fantasies they had about killing their last boss?
If StGermain is in an at will employment state, why does their company bother to offer them an expensive inducement to persuade them to resign? Are they just being nice guys trying to soften the blow of unemployment? Sounds to me like StGermain might have a case and the firm knows it.
Coldfire, the Ferret Herder is correct. This ain’t Europe, so unless he’s got a written contract for employment, StGermain’s best bet is to quit. He has no legal protections, especially since a knife was found in his desk, & knife-related violence was discussed. A specific person was named. He’s boned.
Given America’s problems with workplace violence, there’s no way in hell he can beat this rap, unless somebody in Management were willing to go to bat for him. As his boss hates his guts, that ain’t gonna happen.
StGermain, contact a laywer, just in case they call the cops on you for “making criminal threats”. No joke.
I suppose it would have a lot to do with the tone he used when he said it. I say stuff like that all the time, but with a very sarcastic tone to my voice. An obviously overblown tone with a laugh and such…making it impossible to think I’d actually do what I had said. On the other hand, if he used a rather straight delivery, it could be interpreted as the real thing.
It’s a real drag, any way you slice it (oops…that may have been a poor choice of words) (insert sarcastic tone here…). I think I’d try to fight it, or cop a plea to the Uber-Boss…or something. It just doesn’t seem right.
As others have said I would take the severance and split. I would also add a condition of my own that should be painless for them. I would be worried about the reference you would recieve if your next employer calls them. I would stipulate that either they give a positive asessment commensurate with your previous performance, or they give the old “We don’t comment on any employees no longer working with us”.
I can just imagine the trouble you would have if they said they percieved a physical threat from you towards your boss. You need to protect your future marketability as a candidate.
If you’re forced to ‘voluntarily’ resign as StGermain is, aren’t your former employers leaving themselves open to a defamation suit if they badmouth you? You could assert that their criticism is malicious and untrue as they obviously didn’t sack you for the behaviour they later accuse you of.
I understand the point of those taking the employer’s side, but as an employee I find this knee-jerk reaction disturbing. If I were StG’s co-worker (and didn’t know him well), I might have reported the conversation just to be on the safe side. But I would assume management would talk to him, maybe have him see the EAP counselor to determine if it were just a bad joke or and early warning. Now that I know what the repercussions could be for an innocent joke, I’d think twice about squealing. And that can’t be good for anyone.
Grab the offer with both hands and run. Sounds like you didn’t much care for the job anyhow and you haven’t much choice. Good time of year for a little vacation. You may get lucky and find another job right away. Keep us posted.
That’s exactly what I thought. The company is walking a fine line here and needs you to quit, rather than fire you. If you quit, you have no legal recourse. If they fire you and you have a case against them, they have to pay for a lawsuit.
The OP said he fantasized about killing his former boss, right? Then comments about ‘a specific person being named’ are incorrect.
At will employment has another great feature… you can quit whenever you want with no notice for whatever reason you want.
You make more in two weeks unemployment than I make in a month working two jobs.
I’m in no way making light of your situation, Cherry2000. I know what it’s like to be out of work. I just think it sucks that if I get fired, I don’t even get to collect unemployment… when I’m making less in the first place (than people who do get to collect).
). I didn’t want to quit, I didn’t want to look for a new job, I didn’t want to be unemployed, I didn’t want to lose half our sources of income after buying a new house, I didn’t want any of this, and to have it dumped on me because someone else couldn’t hold her temper is something I’m still working through (as you might be able to tell).