Wrongful Termination in PA?

My Sister believes that she was wrongfully terminated from her job because she reported a relative of her boss for abusing a child she's a Mental Treatment Specialist for children with Autism.

They asked her to resign instead of firing her and told her that they'd give her a: Good Reference, She can keep her insurance until April and she'd be eligible for unemployment benefits on the condition that she doesn't sue them for Wrongful Termination. My sister is concerned with them tarnishing her reputation but I say sue their asses.

She also states that she has no written warnings in her file that she has never been investigated. She's feeling defeated and she's thinking about my nieces (my Brother-in-law is in Iraq) but I say sue!

Do any of you have any advice about this issue?

Dr Dave

Not sure if PA is an at will state like my home state of California. If it is they can let her go. However, I would suggest that she gets legal counsel. Have her to go the PA labor board. If she does get an attorney there are many who will not charge unless they when the case.

Expert Realtor

My first question is this:

How did your boss know that it was her that reported the abuse?

Last I checked, social services kept all investigations confidential, including who made the complaint.

Unless she can prove that her boss knew that it was her that reported him, then it is not wrongful termination and he probably fired her for something else.

chatsplas

Tell her to consult an attorney, usually a reasonable initial consultation fee. But these suits take a long time and there are no guarantees of winning. And what's she doing in the meantime?

Suiing means keeping all this alive for years until it comes to court, which means it's hard to move on with her life. It's NOT right, but it may be smart to leave. But she should seek counsel BEFORE signing anything. Is there an employee's union or advocate? I think she should negotiate for something more, like a month's severance pay, Most employers won't give telephone references, just confirm dates of employment and type of separation, so that's important. Get a written letter (she can write it herself) of reference from them, and start a job search.

john c

This probably began with what your sister thought was a confidential report. She has now discovered that government agencies do not hold their sources in the same esteem as the media and her employer was forced to reconcile the corporate vulnerability against future, less controllable, independent accusations. An in house "dc" party may not be sufficient the next time she decides to do this.

Doing good is not necessarily a good thing to do. Your sister is concerned about her own reputation, but does not seem to realize the employer's liability when an employee places an Orwellian, nanny state ideal above that of the well being of the company.

Remember, they have insurance to cover this type of thing and you don't. Ironically, the respondents could excise a quiet settlement from the deep pockets of the insurance company to nest egg the child's future and the only damage to the company would be an increase in premiums. An amount which they could recover from your sister if the case is closed without action. Most pamphlets, posters and orientations do not mention the consequences of an unsubstantiated report.

Regardless of her past performances, the entire organization cannot be placed at risk every time she decides to implicitly represent the company and expose it to redress with arbitrary, undocumented and unapproved accusations.

Be careful not to misconstrue their recovery of familial privacy as a sign of weakness. The extent of how this child is assimilated into the community, if at all, is a personal decision and nobody without incontrovertible proof has any right to infringe on that process

Rather than finding someone to blame for a short sighted and over zealous impulse, she needs to accept responsibility for her actions and move on. All my respect to your brother in law and the best of luck to your family

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