Termination in NC

I understand that NC is an "at will" employment state and my employer can fire me if they don't like the color of my neck tie.  My question is this: If an employer fires an employee for a specific reason that they deem to be for cause, and the accusation is not correct, and it can be proven, can they be sued for wrongful termination, defamation of character, pain and suffering, etc?

Thank you.

JR1987:

If an employer fires an employee for a specific reason that they deem to be for cause, and the accusation is not correct, and it can be proven, can they be sued for wrongful termination, defamation of character, pain and suffering, etc?

Anybody CAN sue anybody for anything.

You're just confusing the ability to sue with the chance of winning, which is Zero.

Not usually. You can be fired for a reason the employer believes is true, even if it is not. You would have to show you were actually slandered, not just fired.

Would that still be the case if the employer knew it wasn't true from the beginning and had trumped up charges to justify the firing? It seems that they would have been better off just firing the employee for no reason than to make up a charge that all co-workers knew not to be true.

If everyone knows it is not true, then you have suffered no damages on account of their inaccurate statement and you have nothing to sue for.

It is not true that we suffered no damages.  I lost my job, have gotten into finicial difficulty due to a lack of income, will have to foreclose on my home, have had to relocate to another state to find employment and live without my family until the current school session is completed, uproot my family from all friends and relatives and start over in a new state, forced my wife to leave a career she has had for 12 years and find new employment, spend an additional 50% on housing in this new location due to higher housing costs in Virginia as opposed to SC, the expenses of fixing up our current home in order to sell it, and the expenses of paying for housing in two locations while I wait for my family to join me next summer.  Not to mention the embarrassment of being fired for something I did not do with no recourse to make it right or have the company pay for their calloused handling of the situation.

Is that enough suffering of damages to satisfy your legal requirements.  Attorneys have to be very careful not to loose your humanity as people come to you for advice via this forum.  Innocent people are struggling in the real world.  You would do well to hope the same doesn't happen to you.  Then we will see if your opinion of suffering damages changes.

"if the employer knew it wasn't true from the beginning and had trumped up charges to justify the firing?"

Then you would have lost the job whether they made this up or they just fired you for no reason - which also would have been legal.

" Attorneys have to be very careful not to loose your humanity as people come to you for advice via this forum.  Innocent people are struggling in the real world.  You would do well to hope the same doesn't happen to you.  Then we will see if your opinion of suffering damages changes."

And non-lawyers need to be very careful about insulting the lawyer volunteers because we tell them the truth. Of course we understand you are suffering. But you have asked if the law provides a remedy. Would it really be better if we were sympathetic and lied??

Once again, you miss the point. Your comment that "If everyone knows it is not true, then you have suffered no damages on account of their inaccurate statement and you have nothing to sue for" does not take into account that the company's action of firing did have consequences and resulted in damages both monetarily and emotional for numerous people.  So damages did occur and if that changes the remedy for the fired individual, I would need to know that.  If your point is that it doesn't matter what a company does or says, rather true or false, if you live in a "at will" state, then just say that.  If there are consequences for a large corporation firing an individual under false pretenses, then say that.

If you are insulted by the mild reminder in my previous post, then your skin is not thick enough. Recognize that people are just looking for straight-forward advice without clever comments or opinions.

You take opffense where non-exists. Don't lecture me about thick skin.

You have just summed up what we have been saying all along - unless the employer breaks the law you can be fired for any reason including no reason at all. So they had no need to fake anything, they could have just fired you necause they do not like you and you would have no recourse.

Therefore no LEGAL damage was done by making up an unnecessary story and you have no LEGAL claim against them.

Perfect answer.  If you had said that earlier, we could have avoided all this other nonsense.  I'm not in the habit of lecturing others but you are very defensive and easily provoked.  It was a joy to converse with you.

I'm sorry my earlier messages were too obtuse for you to understand.

Dear Lynn,

You really should learn when to stop.  Your ego and arrogance makes you very unattractive and gives competant and caring attorneys a bad name.

If, by obtuse, you meant imperceptive or insensitive, then yes, they were obtuse.  If you meant that your comments were dull-witted, simple minded, thickheaded or stupid, then your choice of words says more about you than my perceptions of your inability to express yourself in a competant manner.

Best of luck.

JR1987:

If an employer fires an employee for a specific reason that they deem to be for cause, and the accusation is not correct, and it can be proven, can they be sued for wrongful termination, defamation of character, pain and suffering, etc?

You never defined what a "specific reason" was.  If they felt that you were the slowest, tardiest, most absent, disinterested, useless employee on the payroll--and you weren't--they could term you.  If they suspected you of embezzlement--they could term you.  If they accused you of embezzlement, are informing everyone that you have embezzled, and no charges are being filed, they you may sue for damages.

Consult local counsel.  (P.S.--You might not like the "Pay For" answers that you receive either.)

The problem is employer can fire you w or w/o cause--bottomline is you are fired--and if its for cause you probably get denied UC.

The only big variations are

1. If the fire you  for some age/sex/race or other proteced reason or  say FMLA protection  you might get redress.

2. If they falsely accuse you of criminal/illegal  conduct and circulate same it opens up issues of  libel/slander

But if they merely said you were in thier opinion the densest man known in Western World with a complete disregard for getting work done on time and prone to drop the ball at every corner  --there is nothing per se illegal about that opinion

Cica,

Thanks for the response.  The specific reason was as follows: I made a business trip and paid for the rental car and gas from my own pocket but claimed the mileage instead of submitting receipts for rental and gas.  I had previously told my supervisor that I intended to rent a vehicle and claim the mileage.  The difference between the two was maybe $50.00 to my good.  When asked if I had rented a car instead of driving my own car, I confirmed that I had. He conveniently didn't remember that we had already had this conversation.  When he then expressed discomfort with claiming mileage instead of receipts, I changed the expense report to reflect only the receipts for rental and gas and zero mileage.  They fired me the following day for "attempting to steal from the company".  I don't know that peers or staff were told a reason for my termination as I have had no contact with the ofice since I left.

What do you think?