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precinct

Hi friends,

This week i was terminated from a private contract to do graphic design. My boss is refusing to pay me the contracted severance pay because i smoke socially.

It gets better...
The night in question my boss and i were at a concert as "friends" and shared some bud between us. He and his girlfriend both took as many hits as i did, and we proceeded to have a fun night. The next day i was terminated for "smoking in his presence."

Can he do that?
What are my rights here? I mean, not even an employer can fire you for smoking at your house on a saturday night, and this was a private contract signed by both parties.
Should i take the bastard to court or is it just spitting in the wind at this point?

Would greatly appreciate any wisdom you can send my way.
Blaze on.

 

5drive

You may want to check out your legal options. It all depends on your state laws. In my state you'd be out of luck, since an employer doesn't need just cause to fire someone. If you end up with no chance to get your severance pay the safest play is to just mark it up as a lesson learned the hard way. I guess you try for a little revenge by reporting the guy to his boss (if he has one). In the end you have to let it go and tell yourself that karma will get assholes like this guy.

green medicine

This is ridiculous! It's not like you were operating heavy machinery for him, or even telling him how much you wake and bake. You're doing graphic design, smoking herb is almost a requirement of the job.. lol
Maybe he smoked your weed and started seeing a devil face on you and it freaked him out.. LOL..

Definitely contact a lawyer and see what your options are.

Jerry G

I suspect that as a contract employee you have few rights, depending on how much money is left on your contract, you may want to consult an attorney.

Darque Pervert

I suggest reading your employee manual and/or consult with human resources.
In short, yes, he may actually be able to, as much as it sucks.

If there is a strict no-tolerance in that company, then you may very well be screwed. Of course, if you drop dime on your former supervisor, he might be, too.

Talk to the company's HR department and/or a lawyer to find out your rights, as they will vary from state to state.

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Life is always a spiral. It's the choices of the individual as to whether that spiral is aimed up or down.

 

Feorge Gorman

I'm not sure you have a legal defense against his actions, but it SURE seems like (especially since it came the very next day!) he had an agenda!

Can you think of any reason why he mighta wanted you gone?

Sounds REAL fishy to me!

BTW...who's weed WAS it?

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feorge

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precinct

Thanks for the insight. It was my weed, my pipe, my house, probably a really bad call but also entrapment on his end for being all gung ho to get lit.

It is terribly fishy, and the worst part is he is the entire company, so i can't go above him. It does seem like he was just looking for the evidence to boot me to the curb. I guess now he can take all of my design work and sell it for himself, i created a whole product line that he can now make millions on. Looks like i just got a good hard lesson in corporate dealings.

I am thinking i'll give this one to the karma police like a true hippie. I have better things to move on to, like smoking all day and writing an asshole song in his honor, may he rot in hell.

5drive

You're far from the first to get screwed like this. If your work can potentially be very valuable to a company, it would be worth your time (and maybe money too) to find out what your rights and options are as a contract employee. Maybe you could have a legal contract of your own for the other guy to sign next time. Just something fair and equitable that an honest person would have no objection to signing.

SpiralArchitect

I'd at least make sure he isn't using your work unauthorized - you spent a lot of time making those graphics, and there are SOME legal options to you I am sure. Either compensation for your work, perhaps credit where due, or even a return of your stuff. Good luck dude, that really sucks - and yes the 'karma police' will get him back

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Buzzby

You should read your contract. It probably states somewhere in the small print that you can be terminated for all kinds of reasons. Most of these contracts state that any work you do under the contract belongs to whoever is paying the bills. I'd say you're SOL.

You can either write it off as a learning experience (probably the best route) or work up a scheme to screw the guy who screwed you. Giving him a bad public reputation will cost him more than the firing cost you.

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