Legal Question in Employment Law in Virginia
How can I be terminated for something that did not occur on company time, nor ca
Just yesterday afternoon, my employment was terminated with the company I have been employed by for over a year now. The reason being 'gross misconduct'. The situation is this - I am 24 years of age. The night before Thanksgiving, I borrowed a friend's debit card because I was going to borrow some money, but he had no cash on him, just his card, so he gave me the card and the pin to use. I went to my place of employment, which is where I do all my shopping, and purchased alcohol and cigarettes with the debit card. The cardholder is not 21, by the way. I returned his card to him, along with the receipt so that he would know how much I owed him the following week. The receipt was found in his possession and presented to my manager. Now, what I am confused about is how I can be fired for something that first, they cannot prove that I was contributing to a minor, and second, none of this took place on company time.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: How can I be terminated for something that did not occur on company time, no
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, employees such as yourself who are not protected by a contract
or collective bargaining agreement, can be fired
at will with no repercussions to the employer, for almost any reason unless the adverse action
violates federal anti-discrimination laws involving one of the federally protected categories such as race, age, sex, ethnic origin, etc.,or,in rare cases under Virginia state law, something known as the Bowman public policy exception which I am not about to explain here, since it clearly would not involve any of the circumstances under which you were dismissed.
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