Answers Posted By Aaron Maduff

Answer to Unjustified layoff

A false reason for termination

It certainly appears based on the information provided in this question that the employer (manager) lied when he told you that you were terminated because of cut-backs. There is little question that when held to the standards most people's morals, this kind of action falls short. Nonetheless, the fact that something is immoral does not make it illegal. In Illinois employment is at-will. You can be fired for any but specific illegal reasons or no reason at all, and you can quit for any reason or no reason at all. So in examining this problem, I would like to know what the TRUE reason was for terminating you. In other words, why did the manager want this other person instead of you? If the manager's preference is based upon your gender, religion, race, national origin, a disability, your age over 40, retaltiation for filing complaints, retaliation for reporting illegal activity, because he is having relations with the other person or some of a few other reasons, then your termination is not only immoral, but illegal. Because most discrimination claims are proven by an indirect method of proof in which the Plaintiff shows that all people of the same class (e.g. black or Chinese) were terminated and the person hired was not of that class, and that the Plaintiff is qualified, it is up to the employer to state a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for terminating him or her. The Plaintiff may then prevail if he or she can prove the employer's reason to be false. In this case, if you can show that all people of your particular class (e.g. all black or Chinese employees) were terminated (and you may be the only black or Chinese employee), then the employer is going to have some difficulties because at least at the moment, it appears that his reason for terminating you is clearly a lie. But the ultimate issue is whether there is some form of discrimination at play and that is unlikely if you cannot point to something about you which makes you different from everyone else who was not terminated (and the person hired) and which falls into one of the categories discussed.

posted Sep 28, 2001 11:27 PM [EST]

Answer to Unlawful Termination?

Terminated for Appearing on an Adult Website

As a general principal, in Illinois you can be terminated for any reason or no reason at all. At the same time, you can quit. Employment is "at-will", e.g. at the will of the parties; there is no definite term to your employment. (There are exceptions of course such as race discrimination, retaliation, etc. But if the employer's reason has to do with appearing politically correct to its customers, that does not fall into this category.)
But there are several facts that an attorney would need to examine this case from all angles. Do you have a contract with the employer? Is the employer a public (state or municipal) entity? If so, there may be freedom of speech issues. Depending on the city or county you are in, and the nature of the content of the website, there may be other claims covered by municipal ordinances.

posted Sep 20, 2001 9:05 PM [EST]

Answer to Wrongful Termination?

Wrongful Termination?

This is a difficult question because we may be missing important information. In general, employment is at will in Illinois and they do not need a reason to terminate the employment relationship. One salient question is why they terminated you. If it was really done for an illegal reason (i.e. job discrimination) then these acts certainly bring into question the validity of thier alleged reason of downsizing.

posted Sep 1, 2001 1:02 PM [EST]

Answer to NON-COMPETE AND RETIREMENT

A non-compete may be valid after retirement.

It really depends on the language of the none compete agreement. An attorney would have to
review it to be certain. Usually, non-compete agreements are for a limited period of time from
the end of your employment. Regardless of whether your employment ends by retirement or by
some other means is not relevant unless the non-compete agreement says that it is relevant.
However, in limited cases the non-compete agreement may be invalid in any event. If you are
considering going into a business similar to what your employer does after you retire, I would
strongly urge you to review the agreement with an attorney. It is possible that your business
intentions do not violate the non-compete agreement in any event.

posted Aug 27, 2001 12:55 PM [EST]

Answer to NON-COMPETE AND RETIREMENT

A non-compete may be valid after retirement.

It really depends on the language of the none compete agreement. An attorney would have to review it to be certain. Usually, non-compete agreements are for a limited period of time from the end of your employment. Regardless of whether your employment ends by retirement or by some other means is not relevant unless the non-compete agreement says that it is relevant. However, in limited cases the non-compete agreement may be invalid in any event. If you are considering going into a business similar to what your employer does after you retire, I would strongly urge you to review the agreement with an attorney. It is possible that your business intentions do not violate the non-compete agreement in any event.

posted Aug 27, 2001 12:00 PM [EST]

Answer to I have been working full time at Barnes & Noble and now they have me at working at part time

Full time to part time

Employment in Illinois is "at-will". This means that you can quite any time for any reason or no reason at all and your employer can terminate you (or change your employment status) anytime for any reason or no reason at all unless the reason is a particular illegal one (i.e. race discrimination). In this case you have not identified the motivation for changing your employment status from full to part time to be an illegal one.

posted Aug 13, 2001 3:30 PM [EST]

Answer to Severance Pay/Umenployment compensation

Unemployment Compensation

As a general rule you are entitled to unemployment compensation anytime you are involuntarily terminated from a job and not fired for misconduct. (This assumes that you are unemployed and were at the job for the requisite period of time.) However, to completely answer this question, I would want some more information because the status of your position is not entirely clear.

posted Aug 11, 2001 10:09 PM [EST]

Answer to age discrimination in severance

Severance Package and Age Discrimination

You seem to have two different potential claims. One for age discrimination and one for an inappropriate severance agreement. Usually a severance agreement will suggest that you contact an attorney anyway. Take a look at yours and see if it says that. Furthermore, you are usually entitled to revoke within 7 days of signing the agreement. As for the age discrimination claim, one of the major issues is whether you are being treated differently than younger people.

posted Aug 9, 2001 6:58 PM [EST]