I am not the original poster. This is a repost.

The original poster is u/LegaltoSue. It was written five years ago on r/legaladvice

Terminated, company says I can't sue (NY)

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5ca7zr/terminated_company_says_i_cant_sue_ny/

I held a management position at a company. I asked a non-management employee of the opposite sex to step into another room to discuss her performance away from other employees. She was going through a divorce and had made a few mistakes, and while I didn't want to embarrass her, I did want to make sure the mistakes were addressed. She acknowledged it and thanked me.

An hour later I was escorted from my office by security and was informed by my boss that a sexual harassment complaint had been made and proper protocol was to suspend me. I asked what it was and was told, "We need to investigate. I can't disclose that."

He assured me that it shouldn't take long and if I wasn't guilty of anything, I'd be paid for the time out. I again asked what the accusation was and was told that as there was an ongoing investigation I was not permitted to know, but if they had questions, I would be contacted. I wasn't happy, but knowing that I didn't do anything wrong, I left the building.

Later that night, I received a notification on my phone that my e-mail password was incorrect. After two days, I called my boss asking for an update and was told he was not available but I would hear something soon.

I began calling daily and received the same response. Finally, I received a letter in the mail informing me that I was terminated for exposing myself and requesting sexual favors from an employee. The employee listed was the young lady I had pulled into the side room.

I immediately called up my boss and was told, "He is unavailable, and said to say the matter is closed."

My buddy, the IT guy, messaged me on Facebook asking what happened as he'd been told to deactivate my accounts. When I told him the whole story, he replied, "You took her into the x room? Dude, there's a security camera in there! We keep y in there, so we always have the camera on.

Sure enough, he pulls the footage and there I am, holding a pile of papers, pointing to them, and keeping my pants on the whole time.

I left a message for my boss that the alleged incident occurred in a room with surveillance and that I would be contacting an attorney and subpoenaing the video record. I received a call back fifteen minutes later asking me to please participate in a phone conference with him and HR.

The conference went as expected. They didn't realize it had occurred in a room with surveillance, they have a zero tolerance policy that they have to enforce, you can't be too careful in this day and age, they regret that this didn't come to light sooner.

They've already replaced me, and as it wouldn't be fair to terminate my replacement as she's done nothing wrong, they don't have a job to offer me back. However, as a gesture of good will, they're going to pay me through my suspension, change my file so it reads that I voluntarily resigned, and provide me a good reference.

I replied that wasn't acceptable. They made a false accusation against me, withheld vital information that I could have easily refuted, refused to take my calls, and completely failed in their own investigation by not checking video footage that would have immediately exonerated me.

They asked what I thought would be fair. I told them they could immediately terminate the employee who made the accusation and either give me my job back or pay me out one year's salary in addition to what was offered.

My boss said that he could not discuss another employee with me, and that neither of those options are feasible. The only options I have are what he already offered.

I replied that the options I gave are the only way I'm not going to sue the company along with the employee. My boss replied that I signed an agreement when I was first hired saying I would take all disputes through arbitration and that I waived my right to sue the company.

I do not remember signing the agreement, and I have not seen it, but it apparently says that I will take all disputes to arbitration, I will bear the costs of arbitration, and that I will accept the decision in arbitration. He stated that I will not fare any better in arbitration than he's already offered and I'll be out the money to cover the arbitration.

I feel like I'm being bullied here, and don't think he would have scheduled a phone conference with such immediacy if he didn't think the company was vulnerable to a lawsuit. I'm waiting on a callback from a few employment attorneys.

Do I have a case? Am I wrong to feel that this is unacceptable?

Relevant Comments:

• I signed a lot of documents on day 1 that I was not given copies of. I've asked for a copy of the signed agreement and they said they'd get back to me if I decided to move forward with arbitration.
• The sexual harassment policy states that all allegations will be investigated, the offending party may be suspended, and if found unsubstantiated, the accused will be paid for that time and returned to their position without penalty or negative record. I requested that as they had taken a full two weeks to investigate the allegation, that they provide me a copy of the report containing the evidence they used to determine the false accusation to be true. My boss said this was privileged. The total time from my notice of termination to my call to the office was 27 hours. The conference call was 14 hours later. Which means they replaced me before the supposed investigation, which I do not believe happened, concluded.

Update: Terminated, company says I can't sue (NY)

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5g52v8/update_terminated_company_says_i_cant_sue_ny/

Original Post

Quite a bit has happened in the last few weeks. A friend of mine at another company, after hearing what happened told me his company had an opening. I applied, interviewed, and at the end the manager asked me what i liked to be called.

Two days later I got a call saying they'd gone with another candidate. My friend admitted to me that he'd gotten some flack for recommending me. Apparently HR had worked with one of the employees at my former company, and called the employee to ask what the deal was with me.

To which the employee responded, "He got fired for sexually assaulting a subordinate. I think he's actually being charged criminally."

I'm literally crying as I type this. It's a nightmare that won't end.

Long story short, I lost my shit, called up my old company, boss wouldn't get on the phone with me. Had an attorney draft a letter of demand and send it off. Had another phone conference scheduled.

They once again "regret" that an employee provided a reference outside of the prescribed channels. The employee was coached on the proper way to handle such requests.

My attorney informed them that in addition to wrongful termination, we would be adding defamation to our complaint against them. They insist that they have not broken any laws and they cannot control the actions of an individual employee who went against company policy.

So we're at an impasse there. Either I move ahead against them, or I walk away. At this point I'm ready to drag this through court. I tried to take the high road and go elsewhere, but they're "regretting" a lot that they've done to me without any action to correct it.

Oh! I almost forgot. A few days after my last post, they sent me a packet of papers. Standard nondisclosure notifications, COBRA, and a blank copy of the arbitration agreement for me to sign!

Why a blank one, you ask? Well it seems somebody fucked up! They weren't making people sign when I was hired, and HR never bothered to have me sign when the agreement when I worked there.

I of course have signed nothing that they sent me including that agreement. I considered allowing arbitration if they pay the costs and I have approval over who is selected, but my attorney has advised not to do that.

I wish I had better news to report. Things aren't as hopeless as they'd first seemed, but not as easily fixable either.

As for the employee who made the accusation, I know you're eager to hear, but at this point I can't comment on what's happening there.

Thanks for all of the advice and support so far. I promise to update when everything resolves, if not sooner, as much as I can.

Final Update: Terminated, company says I can't sue (NY)

https://www.reddit.com/r/bestoflegaladvice/comments/7knnng/final_update_terminated_company_says_i_cant_sue_ny/

Original
Update

Everything has resolved, and I've been wanting to give you guys an update, but had to wait until my lawyer gave me the ok to talk about things.

So let's start from the beginning. I pulled one of my direct reports, Deborah, into another room to discuss a few mistakes she made, but did not discipline her further. After this, she went to Joyce, one of the managers above me but not in my direct line of report. Equal to my boss in terms of reporting structure. When Joyce heard that I had taken Deborah into another room without any witnesses, she said to her that it was unprofessional.

Apparently her exact words were, "You know, you could accuse him of being inappropriate with you, and I would have no choice but to believe you." This was repeated several times, with a strong emphasis on "no choice". Joyce then asked Deborah if I had been inappropriate with her, saying, "It will only happen again if you don't speak up now. If you do now, we can take action."

Taking the not at all subtle hint from Joyce, Deborah accused me of exposing myself to her, and I was placed on leave pending an investigation. Joyce immediately sent out an e-mail that nobody besides the secretary was to speak with me without an attorney present, and told the IT guy, Paul, to deactivate my access.

James, my boss, had a resume from Terri, an employee in Joyce's department, applying for my job before close of business that day, and she was hired.

Paul and I talked, he provided me with video proving my innocence. The company continued to stonewall me, and refused to talk to me. When they did, they attempted to push me into arbitration, and to retroactively sign an arbitration agreement.

I cut my losses, took another job, and was ready to move on. Sandy, an employee in Joyce's department, broke protocol, talked to HR at the new company, told them I had sexually assaulted a subordinate, and cost me the job.

So that brings us up to date. My attorney and I launched a civil suit against the company and Deborah. Bet you're wondering how I know the above. Well good old Joyce said she'd protect Deborah if she came forward. Unfortunately, that only extended to her job. So when she was named individually in this suit, corporate told her they would not be providing her an attorney. After realizing that she'd be putting her house up for collateral, she was all too willing to throw Joyce under the bus.

Joyce went to Paul, the IT guy, who was one of her reports and gave him a list of footage to be procedurally wiped as part of an archive clearout. He pointed out that the incident with me was on that list and part of an ongoing investigation.

Joyce told him that it was no longer needed and to go ahead and wipe it. He refused citing the fact that it would still be requested in the event that the suit moved forward. She told him to pack his things as he was being terminated for insubordination. He called the company attorney and informed her what had happened.

The aftermath:

Several things happened at once, so I'll try to keep them as chronological as I can.

Deborah's attorney contacted mine stating that, conditional on me dropping the suit, she would admit that she lied and explain what went on behind the scenes.

Dana, the company attorney, got the call from my attorney with the details from Deborah shortly after she finished talking with Paul about him being terminated for refusing to destroy evidence.

Deborah and Joyce were terminated for cause that day. Paul was told that his job was safe.

My attorney received a call, and it was made clear that the company didn't want this to go any further and wanted to talk settlement.

I won't go into all of the details, but what I can say: I was offered my job back with a very fair increase, I received back pay from the date of suspension, and a public apology was offered from the very top. Terri is now working in Joyce's old position, she's incredibly cool about things, and felt horrified when she found out what happened. James and I are good now, and he has personally apologized for not sticking up for me.

This will likely be my final update, there is still some legal battle ongoing, but I can't go into that too much.

Thank you for all of your support and encouragement. You guys rock!

Relevant Comments:

• OP confirms that he will be job searching in the next few months: Paul gave the evidence to both me and the company. The company did not know that I had the footage, but it was moot because they stipulated that my version of what happened in the room was reflected on camera. Deborah insisted that it happened and Joyce backed her, apparently positing that Deborah may have been confused with another time when I spoke to her not on camera. Paul knows me very well and when he checked the video and saw I was being railroaded, he did what he felt was morally right. Believe me, I'm not planning on staying here. However, without giving too much away, this is a very tight knit industry. People talk and I was pretty much scorched earth. By clearing my name, being welcomed back, and putting in some time, I'm making sure I have all my ducks in a row before I get the hell out of here.
• The CEO sent a personal clarification that the reference was unauthorized and that the accusation was false.
• When asked if anything happened to his boss, James: James was never fired. He did bring up his uneasiness with his superiors, but was told that Joyce had handled the investigation properly, and he was not to speak with me without Dana present. I understand why he did what he did, and while things will never be the same between us, I can work with him without there being animosity.
• When asked Joyce would have done all this: My guess? Power. She's an ambitious person trying to get ahead in life. Terri and I were on equal level management wise. The only difference is I have more direct reports, whereas she was basically an assistant manager to Joyce. Handled the department when Joyce was out by herself. So Joyce saw an opportunity to put a surrogate in another management position and get a foothold into my area.
• I don't know this officially, but it's gotten back to me from a few people that after my attorney called, Dana walked into our CEO's office and said, "You need to either settle or get outside council, because there is not a chance in hell I'm walking into a courtroom to defend this fucking nightmare."