A Not-So-Merry Christmas for California Woman Wrongfully Terminated

Kettleman City, CALast week Paula was fired from her housekeeping job at a hotel, just two days before the Christmas party when management hands out bonuses.

“My children’s Christmas has just been crushed,” Paula says.

“For five years I gave them my 100 percent and to be repaid with this - what am I going to tell my kids?” Paula (not her real name) wasn’t given a reason for getting fired, but she believes her employer violated the California labor law by wrongfully terminating her.

Two months ago Paula formally requested a Saturday, Christmas and New Year’s Day off. At work, employees have a calendar where they post requests, and where the manager replies with a “yes” or “no.” Just two days after Paula’s request, he wrote “no” for the three days she asked for.

“I asked him why he didn’t give me even one of those three days off, and I also reminded him that I worked every holiday last year,” says Paula. “He said, ‘because I can be an asshole if I want and what makes you think I would give you Christmas and New Year’s Day off?’ I grudgingly complied and just asked for Saturday off. Again he said no.”

Saturday was important - it was her daughter’s birthday. Paula did work that Saturday but she was a few hours late for her evening shift. “I texted my boss and told him that I was going to be late. He texted me back and told me to take Sunday off. When I returned to work, I had been taken off the schedule and he had given me a nasty write-up, the first in five years.”

Paula believes she was fired not only because she was late for work. She recently complained to HR about her supervisor - who fired her. “I told our HR lady that he was unfair to most of us housekeepers. He is vulgar and constantly tells us sexual and inappropriate jokes,” Paula says. “We all work hard and I have never been late for work. I also believe I was fired just before our Christmas party so they wouldn’t have to pay my bonus, which I was depending on. I can’t believe this is happening.”

Right after she was fired, Paula e-mailed her supervisor’s boss and asked why she was fired. She still hasn’t been given an answer. “Next up, I am going to e-mail and write a letter to management and the hotel owner, telling them I intend to file a claim regarding wrongful termination and that they violated the California labor code,” she says.

As well, Paula adds that several of the housekeepers would like to file a claim regarding unpaid overtime. Now that she is no longer an employee, Paula isn’t worried about retaliation. “None of us housekeepers made an issue about getting overtime because we were afraid of losing our jobs if we complained,” she explains. “Our manager often changed our clock-in and clock-out times so they didn’t have to pay overtime and so he wouldn’t get in trouble. I know the other housekeepers are sick and tired of getting treated so badly. But to be fired just before Christmas, and they know I have kids, is really despicable.”

Because California is an “at will” state, it is difficult to file a California wrongful termination claim. But an experienced labor law attorney might be able to help Paula. If her case goes to court, a decision is based on a variety of factors such as promises of job security, the employer’s employee handbook or policies, and job performance evaluations. Employers are also prohibited from firing, disciplining or retaliating against any employee who files a complaint with the government about illegal activities on the employer’s part, such as changing time cards.

Perhaps Paula should have filed a complaint with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office when she complained to HR...