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Lionel Martin’s Answers

Should I Contact An Attorney? (Employment)

I reported a supervisor for unprofessional behavior. This supervisor already had many complaints filed about them in HR from others. Hours later, I was let go with with the reason of my personality was not a fit. I had never had a complaint about …

Lionel’s Answer

I recommend you talk with an employment lawyer quickly. It is unclear what you mean by “unprofessional behavior.”

Can I take legal action against him and Sue?

One day at work i was digging a hole for my boss, he didn’t like the way I was doing it so he came up to me And took the shovel away from me that I was using, and throw his Styrofoam drink cup in my face, hitting me in my mouth. He then proceeded …

Lionel’s Answer

Sounds like your boss is a jerk, but there is no law that permits an employee to sue their boss because they are not nice. i would look for another job.

Do I have the right to refuse? And if I do can they terminate me?

During an HR investigation does an employer have a right to request cell phone records? The employer does not own the phone .

Lionel’s Answer

If you are at will employee, they can also discipline you, including termination, for failing to cooperate with the investigation. i would suggest you hire an employment lawyer to assist you with this investigation, especially if you are the subject of the investigation.

What are his rights being that he has so many years of service, has been a good employee and just turned 50?

My husband has been employed with the same company for 29-1/2 years and is 50 years old. Today he found out that there were layoffs and he was laid off effective today. He lives in Houston, TX.

Lionel’s Answer

As you may have heard, Texas is an at will employment state, so an employer can fire an employee for any reason or no reason. This assumes there is no employment contract. An employer cannot, however, fire someone due to a protected activity or because of someone’s race, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, etc. Now if your husband was laid off because of his age, and you can prove that, then his employer likely violated federal and state law. Based on your description it is impossible to make the leap and argue that this is age discrimination. As such, I suggest you contact an employment lawyer to get more details regarding his layoff.

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