54

On my last day of work, I didn't feel comfortable going due to men making multiple sexual comments. The day before, I had a lot on my mind, and I was too scared to go. On the morning of my last day, I was hesitant to go, so I contacted my manager 50 minutes before my shift. I told him that I wasn't feeling comfortable enough to go, including why I felt that way, and that I apologize -- I'm 17, and I work the whole day.

However, he said I was fired because I didn't let him know yesterday. I never came late; I would always let him know beforehand. I had a feeling that due to it being my last day at work, he just "hit it off the bat" and told me I was fired because I did not tell him why I did not show up on my shift.

What could I say to prove that my manager could not fire me on my last day? I had already given him the two-week notice that I would quit and go to another job -- however, he still fired me anyway. I am concerned and need advice.

Improve this question
6
  • 1
    "I told him that I wasn't feeling comfortable enough to go, including why I felt that way" vs "[He] told me I was fired because I did not tell him why I did not show up on my shift" Can you please reconcile these two statements? They are currently contradictory statements. Did you, or did you not, explain to your boss why you were going to be a no-show? – TylerH Nov 11 '20 at 19:16
  • 1
    Some answers and comments on answers claim the OP is female. Unconscious bias? – Brian Drake Nov 13 '20 at 15:01
  • @TylerH OP explained to their boss why they weren't feeling comfortable to go on their last day, but didn't explain yesterday -- the day before the last day. – yeah22 Nov 13 '20 at 16:42
  • 1
    @Brian Drake It's pretty understandable; it does seem unlikely that multiple gay men are making sexual comments towards OP without him ever mentioning it during the question. – yeah22 Nov 13 '20 at 16:46
  • @yeah22 I see; that changes things a decent amount. OP is now a no show the day after a no call-no show. I'd fire them too. – TylerH Nov 13 '20 at 17:17
163

I wanna know that what could I say to prove that he couldn’t fire me on my last day cause I already gave him my 2-week notice

As you are an at-will you can be fired pretty much for any reason, and not showing up (without giving adequate notice/excuse) is definitely on the "can be fired for" list. Though in fairness it seems like your boss wanted to lash out a bit but there isn't much to do about it now.

I wanna know that what could I say to prove that he couldn’t fire me on my last day cause I already gave him my 2-week notice, that I was gonna quit and go to another job yet he still fired me, I'm concerned and I need advice.

The good part is that it doesn't matter. You already have a new job and there is no some "permanent record" that keeps track of your hiring's and firings, and whomever may want a reference in the future is going to almost always want just the last place of employment, and that's your new job. No one is ever going to find out about that last-day firing, it doesn't change anything (as far as I know) so there is no reason to be worried about it.

Good luck in your new job, hopefully it's better than the last one!

Improve this answer
11
  • 14
    thank you so much!! i was so concerned about it but thank you so much for answering my question!! – max Nov 9 '20 at 8:57
  • 30
    If you had problems because of that, firing a 17 year old because she has problems with sexual comments of adult men in the workplace is not part of "at will" employment, so if you had damages and sued for damages you would most likely win. – gnasher729 Nov 9 '20 at 9:11
  • 66
    @gnasher729 It's not what the truth is, it's what you can prove in court. She wasn't fired because she had problems with sexual comments with grown men. She was likely fired because she didn't attend work. – Gregory Currie Nov 9 '20 at 10:28
  • 52
    @gnasher729 As Gregory pointed out, it's what can be proven. I once was not fired for my hearing, a friend of mine was not fired for his MS, and another friend was not fired for his autism. OTHER reasons were found. – Old_Lamplighter Nov 9 '20 at 13:49
  • 9
    @gnasher729 : Very true. Even in an "at will" state, there's a concept of "constructive discharge", which is if you quit because of workplace harassment. But you'd have to get lawyers involved, most likely – Joe Nov 9 '20 at 19:52
29

Put yourself in your managers shoes for a minute:

Your employee quit with 10 business days notice, the professional default in your country. But on the second to last day they don't show, with no message. On their last day, they call on short notice and say they "don't feel like it" for reasons they had never brought up before. That's not acceptable. It sounds like their employee just doesn't want to work their notice period.

No matter where you are in the world, a no-show without any explanation is a reason to fire someone. It's the most basic breach of contract. Many countries have worker protection laws so you cannot be fired on the spot for a first offense, but all agree that it is an offense. When you are hired to do things for money, not showing up is really the one thing that is indisputably bad. There might be exceptions when you are in the ICU in a coma, but that's it.

And since you are in the United States, chances are your boss does not even need a reason to fire you. They can just do so without a reason.

I'm not the right person to tell you what to do about sexist comments, but whatever the problem is, you report it to management or if management is the problem you report it to HR. That is the way to not get fired. They are responsible to solve the problem. But they need to know and you need to work with them, not go AWOL.

Staying at home without reporting to anybody will get you fired any time in any country.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – Neo Nov 11 '20 at 12:57
13

I'm 17 and I work the whole day

I want to say that due to your age, they probably just found someone else and let you go. I think "fired" is a harsh word, and chances are your manager is probably immature and just wanted to be the one who had the last thing to say. I wouldn't really stress it all that much.

Also I want to say most retail shops and fast food restaurants I know of never requested a 2 week notice. When I was 16, I left my first job by just calling them and saying I didn't want to come to work no more. While not professional, they didn't really say anything other than "okay." Nearly everyone I knew from there, at the time, just up and left as they saw fit. The only time I ever gave notice was once at this retail department store I worked at. That was my last job before getting a "real job" and I didn't even get a good bye. Just got told they got someone else scheduled and I didn't need to come in no more.

A good lesson is to get everything written. If you only spoke verbally to someone, maybe they didn't pass it down. Have it written down and given to your manager that you intend to leave the workplace.

As I said though, I feel like at 17 you have nothing to worry about though. Just do things as you see fit for now, but learn as you go. Right now you learned that you should write down your 2 weeks notice and give it to your boss in person. That way everyone knows and no one is surprised.

I wanna know that what could I say to prove that he couldn’t fire me on my last day cause I already gave him my 2-week notice, that I was gonna quit and go to another job yet he still fired me, I'm concerned and I need advice.

The problem is in most states in the USA, employers are considered at-will meaning that outside of any protected reasons, they can fire anyone for any reason. They could say you didn't come in on your last day wearing purple shoes and fire you citing employment agreement.

With that said, I wouldn't really say anything at all in your new work place. You got the job. They're not going to double check a 17 year old kid's resume and bother to call up their last place of employment.

Also a huge thing is when you're under 18, generally most places don't bother to check because most background investigation don't look at records under 18. I also want to say that since a background investigation is a legal document consenting their investigation, you can't sign it without your parents approval. I don't think a single state allows a 17 year old kid to sign a legal contract agreement for consent.

Also of importance that most places hiring a 17 year old kid knows that there is a very high turn over. This isn't like the movies where you work at pizza hut for the next 3 years before going to college. No, they know that you're probably going to quit within the first couple of months.

So don't worry. Go to your new job and enjoy it.

Improve this answer
9

I shouldn't worry too much about it. At 17 it's not going to affect your career and there is no way other employers will find out unless you tell them.

What is more concerning is the sexual comments made towards a child. I'm not an expert on US law but in many places such things would be illegal, and at the very least grounds for unfair dismissal. People can't treat you that way at work, even as an adult, and then put the blame on you. If it happens again consider raising it with your boss or HR, and seeking legal advice.

Improve this answer
3
  • 2
    Why is this downvoted? It's the only answer here that adequately addresses the sexual harassment going on. – csjacobs24 Nov 10 '20 at 15:24
  • @csjacobs24 I didn't downvote it, but perhaps it was downvoted because the question is about firing practices/employment rights during a termination notice period, not about how to handle sexual harassment. – TylerH Nov 11 '20 at 19:19
  • Right, that's what I figured, but IMO the original question is in fact about how to handle sexual harassment; the OP is asking whether they can be fired in this setting, and the sexual harassment seems like a relevant part of that. – csjacobs24 Nov 12 '20 at 21:10
2

"Fired" is just a word. If your employer wants to say that they "fired" you, they can do that. There is no "official definition" of "fired".

There are some legal contexts in which it may matter whether your separation from work was voluntary (that is, you chose to do it) or involuntary (that is, they didn't offer you work). Here, there's no dispute. They offered you work and you didn't accept it.

So assuming you don't want to pursue legal process because of the harassment, you voluntarily refused to accept the work they offered you. They are welcome to call that "fired" if they want -- nobody cares.

You don't have any kind of "permanent work record" that follows you around. If you use this job as a reference, a prospective employer might call them to ask about you. But you don't have to do that.

I would suggest you put this experience behind you. If you encounter a similar situation in the future, keep detailed notes and (if legal in your State) record any incidents you can. That will give you more and better options.

I hope your future work experiences are better than this.

Improve this answer
2
  • 9
    Actually "Fired" has a specific meaning in law even in the USA even though its often used for Redundancy and Laid off. – Neuromancer Nov 9 '20 at 22:49
  • @Neuromancer That's what my second paragraph says. It doesn't have one in common usage though (as almost all words don't). – David Schwartz Nov 9 '20 at 22:51
1

The great thing about this is is that you no longer work for a company who's recommendation, referral, or name on your resume means nothing to almost anyone. I've spent 20 years of my life as a manager in the hospitality industry and unfortunately people and situations like this are still far too common in this industry regardless of how much training we provide or how many people we terminate for these issues. Subway is not a very busy establishment even on it's best day. It sounds to me like your manager didn't want to get off of his ass and do some actual work for once. I can speak to the young lady not feeling comfortable and understanding that the world doesn't revolve around my business. I would not of fired/terminated her, instead I would of made an attempt to sit down with her and identify the culprits and try to resolve the issue, even if she leaves it doesn't solve the problem, these employees will do it again, and eventually someone will get sued.

Improve this answer
1

You can be fired right up to the last second of your last shift. But that’s not what you need to know. You need to know what are the consequences of being fired.

There are three general concerns.

  1. Legal This will vary by jurisdiction, but mainly revolves around unemployment benefits. If you spent more than a week without work, firing could possibly work in your favor. You’ll have to speak to your local unemployment bureau to find out.
  2. Impact on your future employment How being fired impacts your desirability as an employee is highly specific as industry and cause. In some cases it may actually make you more desirable, although that would be incredibly rare. Whether it has a long term impact or not will really depend upon the cause, and will be ameliorated by subsequent jobs.
  3. Financial This depends upon your contract/agreement. It could cause you to loose bonus or severance pay.

Given your situation, none of these should actually concern you. You apparently already had a job lined up and scheduled to start within week of your last day, no unemployment benefits. You already have another job lined up, as long as you aren’t fired from that job how you left Subway isn’t going to matter. Given that you worked for Subway and are 17, no bonus or severance pay to loose.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .