Do I have rights? libel per se

[KristenHuerta]

I believe I have suffered libel per se. I was terminated and the causes for termination were untrue, and with that in my employee fall no one will want to hire me in the future.. I feel like I've been black balled...They only trained me for two Weeks because they were short staffed and needed me immediately. it's even written in my personnel file I was to be trained for 4 weeks

2 weeks day

2 weeks on nights

And they went.back and crossed out and edited the paper after the termination meeting because I brought that up, as to hide the fact they didn't provide me with proper training.

I never received any verbal written or any warnings for the "causes" of termination they are allegating and proper protocol for discipline requires there to be corrective action/ counseling and record of it, me signing acknowledging what I need to work on.. none of this ever happened.

I believe I was truly let go because I sent an email after receiving information that the company that provided out food had a major call due to listeria. In the email I included the information from the recall which included signs and symptoms and that.listeria is particularly dangerous is pregnant women and elderly. I advised until we had it contained that the.pregnant employees avoid eating here just to be safe (we get free meals anyway so they didn't lose money) I also stated to watch the residents for signs and symptoms of potential/possible infection. I thought I was doing the right thing by informing the employees of the recall. the next day I received an email requesting a probationary hearing then the following week after letting me work 2/3 of my shifts, I had my meeting and was immediately terminated.

They wrote down 4 other causes for termination other than.just the email and now I feel my career is literally going to be affected from now on.. It was my first nursing job, I don't want to have to omit that I worked there because I don't want to be dishonest with future employers, but after they find out I was let go I feel like no one will listen to me or believe that they made up the causes for termination..

again there are no disciplinary actions in my file whatsoever! this was completely out of left field.

None of my hiring paperwork they even gave me was the correct paperwork. they had me fill out CNA paperwork and policies, I never received nursing hiring paperwork and/or policies. They also never gave me a handbook. Anyway, none of my paperwork in my personnel file is signed by the administrators acknowledging I passed training, had they read and signed it they would have realized they never provided me proper paperwork.

[KristenHuerta]

can they do that to me? is there anything I can do to get them to take back the untrue stuff and just leave it at the true cause of why they let me go: the email?

[JBudd, MSN]

you need to speak to an employment attorney, none of us can give you legal advice.

Good luck!

but why didn't you go through the chain of command with your outbreak concerns?

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

There are specific legal definitions of libel. You may have created an incident by sending out your "warning" email if you did so on your own with out consulting your manager, risk management, administration and/or infection control. Did you consult with your superiors before sending out a mass email warning?

No one can advise you online. Consult an employment attorney for specific advice. Your training agreement would be irrelevant if your reason for termination was insubordination. Certain acts do not require disciplinary steps such as verbal/written warnings, no warnings may be necessary if you were in a probationary period which can vary from 90-180 days depending on the employer policy.

[KristenHuerta]

they never went over any of that with me... just told me if there's an issue use your email... I'm new to this all and figured maybe someone has gone through it before

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

they never went over any of that with me... just told me if there's an issue use your email... I'm new to this all and figured maybe someone has gone through it before

Do you think perhaps they meant alert your manager or risk management of a concern rather than send a mass email warning to everyone? This is usually not spelled out as a professional should be aware that there is a chain of command especially for such potentially scare inducing concern such as tainted food or a recall. There are usually corporate guidelines for dissemination of such information. Written the wrong way can be libelous and cause undue panic especially if you contacted pregnant individuals.

[KristenHuerta]

they never covered any protocols with me. Otherwise that would have been completely avoided. I in no way meant the email in a bad way. everyone eats there so I figured the employees should know. I wish I could go back and change it of course. but does that justify them saying extremely untrue things about me in my termination paper? "discourteous to residents" "refuses to help staff" "does not listen to fellow nurses"... how could I take report and provide sufficient patient care if I "don't listen" makes no sense

[KristenHuerta]

and being discourteous is a sign of disrespect... and mistreatment.. I never disrespected any of the elderly nor would I ever.. and I definitely did not mistreat them... do I not have a right to look at a copy of the statements or investigation to defend myself against these allegations? they don't even have any

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

I'm sorry but a professional nurse should not have to be specifically told "don't send out mass email warnings that the cafeteria food is contaminated so don't eat it to everyone without first speaking to your supervisor and/or risk management". There are many 'unwritten' policies that professionals should be aware of as part of their education. Would they have to tell you to not provide your personal urine specimen for a patient or colleague to ensure they pass a drug screen? I think not, but would they have to specify that in employee orientation?

Were you a relatively new hire under probation? They don't have to give a reason to terminate employment, as long as the reason isn't illegal such as you are terminated for age, gender, religious affiliation (or lack thereof), sexual preference, or protected disability. You were likely an at will employee, possibly still in the probationary period. It's possible some of those reasons listed are also for back-up should you try and file a claim for unemployment.

Most employers wont release your specific reason for termination or your employee record unless you give permission or by court subpoena. They will likely state that you were terminated and not eligible for rehire.

This is a big hurdle to overcome. Perhaps consider what you have learned and steps you can take to prevent such an egregious protocol error from happening again.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

and being discourteous is a sign of disrespect... and mistreatment.. I never disrespected any of the elderly nor would I ever.. and I definitely did not mistreat them... do I not have a right to look at a copy of the statements or investigation to defend myself against these allegations? they don't even have any

Not likely as you do not own your employee file, the company does. It's not the same as medical or educational records.

[schnookimz]

Who are you scared they're going to tell? Just don't use them as a reference. If someone calls them for employment verification because they appear on your résumé then HR can only do that --verify employment. If at that point, they start bad mouthing you when they should only be confirming employment, you may have a case, but why would they do that? They don't get anything out of ruining your life.

[KristenHuerta]

it's really hurtful to read those things especially being untrue... and I'm in a tight spot being 33 weeks pregnant... now it would be redundant to even try to find another job as any hospital jobs require 12 weeks training...