My husband worked for a car dealership as a service writer. Last Saturday, he got an oil change which was written up through the dealership, and while the car was on the lift he asked the tech to rotate tires for him and gave him a $10 tip. On the way home two of the tires flew off, causing substantial damage, and the car had to be towed. As it turned out, the tech did not tighten the lug nuts enough. When my husband asked the service manager if they would help with the repair bill, they suspended him and then fired him for not putting tire rotation on the order of work. When he went in on Tuesday and they fired him they had police there–how embarrassing! Can they do this without legal ramifications? We want to sue them for the way this was handled.
Ann Kiernan replies:
Are you kidding? Let me get this straight: Your husband created false documentation, stole services from his employer, bribed a co-worker to perform those services, and then asked for money because the stolen services weren’t performed properly? That’s what we in New Jersey call chutzpah. You could also call it audacity, gall, nerve, and a lot of other things. What you could not call it is a wrongful termination.
I hope that your husband has learned that honesty is the best policy.
Posted 03-19-2021
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