Answers Posted By V Jonas Urba

Answer to Police contacted my employer after a false report in which no complaint towards me was filed, yet found the need to contact my employer and send them digging through personal things outside of work and forced me to resign. Is this legal?

Consult with a lawyer. Not enough facts and you don't want to post them on a public forum.

Will need to know exactly what you do, what your employment application asked for, what the issue was, how it might or might not relate to what you do on the job, how you answered questions on your application, etc....

These are not personal injury cases. The facts are everything and they take lots of time to gather, analyze, and address.

posted Sep 8, 2016 3:27 PM [EST]

Answer to Resign or be terminated, chose to resign can I apply for unemployment?

Probably.

Constructive discharge is very difficult to prove. It means you had no other choice but to resign.

Assuming your union contract does not require it to defend you against the misconduct you should probably choose to be fired since quitting will probably be considered your fault. Quitting without another job lined up is usually not good cause. Your employer will tell the Department of Labor you quit and when they ask for and receive your signed resignation the DOL will have to deny you benefits.

Lawyers sometimes confirm facts of good cause to resign but that's fairly rare. You will certainly need to prove that and don't assume the evidence you have is rock solid without a lawyer reviewing and confirming that it is. Given your facts, unless you committed misconduct, if you are fired you should recover benefits assuming you meet the other requirements of DOL such as sufficient earnings, etc....

With a "quit" it will probably be your fault and no benefits unless a lawyer tells you otherwise.

Consult with legal counsel and hire a lawyer for the unemployment hearing. Under state law no attorney may charge a fee for unemployment unless you recover benefits and the fee is approved by the Board. Good luck.

posted Sep 1, 2016 10:24 AM [EST]

Answer to Can a company get away with not honoring severance agreement

What do you mean when you say they technically did not honor an agreement to pay your premiums?

The employer was required to mail you notices and having been on COBRA myself I know they provide time for you to choose it and give you deadlines for paying - in writing so long as you keep them posted of address changes.

You can take them to court for breach of contract, even if it was verbal, but how will you prove it? An agreement to pay another's debts usually has to be in writing. So if you signed up for COBRA you are responsible just like you would be had your income taxes not been withheld. If you went to work and saw no income taxes being withheld and thought the employer is responsible who would the IRS come after for non-withholding income taxes?

Gather all your documentation, emails, phone, and text records and maybe Facebook promises if that was used and seek legal counsel.

Every Plaintiff bears the burden of proof. You have to prove there was an agreement which you reasonably relied upon and the employer breached it causing you financial loss. Good luck.

posted Aug 31, 2016 12:38 PM [EST]

Answer to is my employer libel for improper withholding of NYC taxes from paychecks?

Have you asked your employer about that? Have you requested that your employer reimburse you for any penalties?

Someone is liable for taxes and the government can seek payment from either you or the employer. Ask your employer first how they want to handle it and if that does not satisfy you then ask the city why you and not employer should pay penalties or interest if that's what they want.

If this was your first year of working in the city then how would you know what taxes should be withheld although you probably signed a payroll deduction form which every NY employee must sign authorizing lawful deductions. The Wage Theft Prevention Act was signed into law a few years back in order to provide every employee notice of all lawful deductions and to prevent surprises like this. If your employer was complying with that law or was not the DOL may be interested in further investigation and possible penalties, etc... against your employer. If your employer does not make this right with you keep in mind that you can always contact the state DOL.

Remember that employees have a duty to inform employers when they are paid too much or too little so what you knew and when you knew it could be very important. A similar duty applies to employers to pay employees according to federal, state, and local laws.

I think you need to examine your pay vouchers carefully and see why no local taxes were shown and then examine the authorization you signed for withholding and see what you agreed to. With that documentation you might have a mitigating argument with the city but it will likely want some late payment or interest penalties from one of you. Good luck.

posted Aug 23, 2016 1:39 PM [EST]

Answer to Re-organized Dept. Not Compensated, Previous Position Given to My Direct Report

Are you an at will employee? The majority of employees are. If you have no written contract of employment or union then probably yes.

What are your damages? You are still employed at a higher pay rate. Employers can give younger employees jobs for legitimate and non-discriminatory reasons. More education, experience, training or "fit" could be some of such reasons.

What do you want? You can quit or find another employer. But don't count on unemployment if you quit without another job with a definite pay rate and start date lined up before you give notice to quit.

I can think of no employee guaranteed the same position without a contract specifying a stop date - a definite term.

Age discrimination only applies if the employer used age as a factor AND you can prove that age was a factor in its reorganization. You stated no facts to support that.

Unless you relay more facts to a labor and employment lawyer during a consultation to support unlawful acts you probably need to look for a new job. In most parts of the U.S. almost no employee works for one employer as long as you have worked for your current employer. New York is quickly joining the rest of the country and the world.

posted Aug 21, 2016 09:52 AM [EST]

Answer to Unemployment question- New York

Make sure to remind your current employer that you wish to stay, that you never resigned or quit and that you want and need the job until you find the right fit.

There is caselaw which states that if you have a new job lined up with a pay rate and a start date and you leave but the new employer no longer has the job that is not misconduct, not employee's fault, and you receive unemployment.

Make a written record by letter which you hand your supervisor and HR that you need to stay until you find a new job and if they still dismiss you then you have evidence that losing the job is not your fault and you would have stayed had they allowed you to do so.

The person who should do the right thing and hire you is the one who is leaving and leaked information that you were looking. Good luck!

posted Aug 20, 2016 03:52 AM [EST]

Answer to I was demoted to align with my salary ith e, do I have a case...

If you are a union member your collective bargaining agreement governs that type of action. If you work for the government or have a written employment contract then civil service laws or written, agreed policies control. If none of these apply you are "at will."

If so, as long as you were not discriminated against it may be legal. You are not paid below minimum wage? You are compensated for all hours worked? You are not treated differently because you belong to some protected class or group of persons? If you are over 40, female, or a member of many other protected classes they can not reclassify you and treat members of other groups or classes better than members of your group or class even if you are the only one in your group or class entitled to protection.

You should run the specific facts of your case, since you provided such limited information, to a labor and employment lawyer. It may be worth consulting with a lawyer because this "might" be the first step to either having you find another job or to laying you off. If you have concerns about that a lawyer can often help position you or counsel you in the background so that you are prepared when that happens. Good luck.

A lot of what we do is not litigating cases but helping employees document or prepare themselves for what appears to be coming. Sometimes we are able to recover monies for discriminatory conduct which occurred in the past at about the same time our employee/client finds a new job and with a skilled lawyer an employee can accomplish everything privately and in a civil manner without making it a federal case. But other times taking them to court is the only choice. Make sure you have a written, signed fee agreement with a lawyer of your choice and best wishes.

posted Aug 17, 2016 11:15 AM [EST]

Answer to Can an employer in New York state withhold a final paycheck for not completing an exit interview?

No. You will be paid. If not, tell your former employer that unless you receive your final check by x date you will contact the New York State Department of Labor. You can also take your former employer to small claims court but I would try the other options first.

posted Aug 9, 2016 5:31 PM [EST]

Answer to I'm Fom NH Our company are Union but I had been discriminated for the past 4 years now and I just got unfaithful fired form work I had work for this company for 9 years and our sop Stuard Is more and the fence of the company then the employees he puts mor

You state that you are from New Hampshire and that the human resources department is in New Hampshire. If you work in New Hampshire then you should consult with a lawyer who is licensed to practice law in New Hampshire. I am not.

Another option might be to contact either the EEOC or the Human Rights Division in New Hampshire or the State Department of Labor or a local bar association for names of lawyers who may be able to help you. Good luck.

posted Aug 7, 2016 11:48 AM [EST]

Answer to I was wrongful terminated by my boss who was intoxicated

If you did not commit misconduct you should receive unemployment benefits for up to 6 months as long as you otherwise qualify. File your claim with the Department of Labor.

Find another job but once you do you need to tell the Department of Labor otherwise you will some day be paying back unemployment if you worked and collected at the same time. You could also face penalties or worse for not reporting income.

If your boss owns the company or the owners like him or drinking on the job is permitted then it's not illegal. Of course you should never be intoxicated on any job yourself. Unless a public disturbance was created it's not illegal.

Sounds like you are probably glad you no longer work there and maybe it was a good thing to leave that way than after being injured by an intoxicated person. If the boss had created a safety issue you probably would have reported it to OSHA, etc...

posted Aug 4, 2016 3:55 PM [EST]