Legal Question in Employment Law in Massachusetts

I recently feel as though I was bullied into quitting my job. I was told that I would have to meet with HR on my day off and refused. My manager then insisted the only way I could continue working is if I came in to meet on that specific day off. I again refused. She then indicated the only thing she would allow is if they took my vacation day away and came in to meet with HR. Is that legal? (certainly not ethical..)


Asked on 7/15/10, 8:25 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Sue-Ellen Kresh Law Office of Sue-Ellen Kresh

You have raised a number of issues and potential issues, but also still not provided any information about the reason for the initial "meeting"" request. Was any further explanation provided for why you needed to meet with HR and why they were insisting it be on a day off? Does the company have any specific policy stating that all meetings with HR will take place on employees' days off? (Even if they did, which I doubt, this would not make it okay.)

I don't know if this is a concern for you, but if you feel you were coerced into quitting then you still may be eligible to collect unemployment benefits, even if you technically left "voluntarily". What you are describing sounds like it could fall into the category where you would not be disqualified. You might want to start there and then look further into any reasons or pretext your company may have had for "forcing" you to quit. You need to ask yourself what your damages are and what it is you'd be looking for.

The next question regarding the "termination" would be whether you feel that you were the victim of any kind of discrimination and/or whether the company violated any public policy in getting rid of you. The most common example of that is "whistelblowers", companies wrongfully terminating soemone who reports illegal activities or refuses to take part in them can not be fired on those bases. There are somplicated issues involved & it may be worth at least consulting with someone.

Good luck.

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Answered on 7/15/10, 5:57 pm


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