FoamFighter, I don’t have much advice to give, but I can sure as hell give you some empathy. I was fired last year. They came to my department (a call center, so it was a big room with lots of cubicles and staring eyes), told me my services would no longer be needed, and escorted me out of the building like a felon. I couldn’t even say goodbye to my friends.
I talked to an employment lawyer and he said that in my state, the employer can do this. I still have no idea why they let me go. I was doing a bang-up job so there’s no way it’s a performance issue. I was recovering from a disability, so it’s possible it was discrimination, but I have no idea how my employers would have found out. Besides, I got off disability payments and started paying taxes like an ordinary schlub–why would they want me to be unemployed again? The lawyer said that if it was discrimination, that’s how they could get away with it–by refusing to give me a reason.
Even if I had taken my company to court and won, I wouldn’t have gotten anything out of it. Anything I cared about, anyway. I just wanted a job. An apology would have been nice, but I was so pissed off, I don’t think it would have mattered. I gotta tell you, it was super-hard to even think about getting a new job. I was like, screw this, I’ll go back to living off disability! But I didn’t. I got a new job and did another kick-ass job and now I’ve moved onward and upward. So I guess there is a somewhat happy ending to my story.
If I had to give you some advice, I’d say yeah, start with a lawyer’s letter. Those can be very powerful, especially if the company knows they are in the wrong. But if you decide to brush the dust off your shoes and move on, I for one will understand.
Definitely talk to the judge and your boss’s boss. I recently quit a job in a corporate law firm (nope - not as a lawyer), and I’m told that employment lawyers for plaintiffs (you) often fail to reach a happy verdict for their clients. Large corporations have a lot of money and they can afford very good, very well-connected teams of lawyers and paralegals while plaintiffs usually cannot. I’d go with the judge first, worry about the attorney later or find one who will work on a contingency basis.
Not to take this on too much of a tangent, and knowing nothing of the specifics of any projects you may have had lawyers for, but lawyers have legal and ethical responsibilities to investigate aspects of situations that you or I as non-lawyers might consider unnecessary. If they don’t investigate a particular tangent and it turns out to be the tangent that was necessary to win the case or get a favorable ruling for the client then the lawyer has committed malpractice. They are potentially financially liable for vast sums of money and in a criminal case could end up responsible for an innocent person being convicted. I would rather pay a little up front to a lawyer to save myself a lot later. I agree with your advice, though, to keep tabs on the billable hours. I would also second the various suggestions to find someone who will work on a contingency.
Subd. 1. An employer shall not deprive an employee of employment, or threaten or otherwise coerce the employee with respect thereto, because the employee receives a summons, responds thereto, serves as a juror, or attends court for prospective jury service.
Subd. 2. An employer who violates subdivision 1 is guilty of criminal contempt and upon conviction may be fined not more than $700 or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
Subd. 3. If an employer discharges an employee in violation of subdivision 1 the employee within 30 days may bring a civil action for recovery of wages lost as a result of the violation and for an order requiring the reinstatement of the employee. Damages recoverable shall not exceed lost wages for six weeks. An employee who prevails shall be allowed a reasonable attorney’s fee fixed by the court
I’d talk to the judge, and the District Atty. They frown upon this sort of game-playing up here in the frozen north.
But, I’d agree with Bill H.. Something doesn’t sound right. HR 101 tells you not to mess with Jury Duty. It’s a great way to get the state breathing down your neck.