I am going to try to make a very long story short. I was terminated Friday because I would not sign a non-compete agreement which was very vague and given to us with no explanations and a dead-lineo f 2 days to sign and if we didn't we are fired. Oh yeah, I work at an LTACH for 6 very rocky months as a nurse manager. The place is run awfully by a non-clinical CEO who decided to do this out of no where. i knew my job wasn't safe there, and this non-compete agreement would have not let me work within 10 mi of "Company" for 2 years after termination or leaving. There are many hospitals within a 10 mi radious, inclusing the one I left and started my career at to take this job.
I made a meeting with the CEO to ask for an amendment to the agreement before I sign. He is trying to say we can't work at another LTACH, but the agreement just says "company" he took this opportunity to go off on me, tell me I was doing a crappy job, and told me if I do not sign, I am terminated. I told him I would not sign unless he amended it to say LTACH. He said, fine then you are terminated. In front of the director of HR I made him say he was terminating me for the reason of me not signing the agreement. He was very clear about that. he said as of that day I was terminated and have 2 weeks.
SO, later HR (I am friendly with her) calls and tells me he will forget everything if I sign the agreement. I say no. not unless it is ammended, and after the attack, I don't feel safe signing it, he'll just fire me for other reasons. Then way later, my ex nurse manager form my other facility who works there also calls me and says he went into the office and sais he would not sign the agreement unless he changed it to LTACH. The CEO then says "sure, I'll change it" WTH? he told me he wouldn't and I should just take his word for it.
he wants to give me a chance now to sign the ammended agreement. I and others feel he is saying that because after he terminated me for not signing it, he consulted his lawyers, found out what he did was illegal and trying to go back on it now.
I have been told I have a case. I believe I do. I go back, then he fires me for a totally different reason. He terminated me for not signing the agreement without the ammendment THEN went and changed the agreement to exactly what I asked, and now is trying to save his butt by giving me a chance to sign it? Hell no!
So I will be talking to a lawyer on Monday. I was just wondering, should I go into work monday, even though he said I was terminated and had 2 weeks. Me going into work is simply me going as a terminated employee , getting my last paycheck and tying up lose ends, because i care aboutt he others I work with.
ANy thoughts at all on anything I wrote would be appreciated
I would stay out of that place and keep my license intact. Some people have a very spiteful disposition. Best not to raise his temper and he decides to "really get you". Good luck on the unemployment benefits and I hope it is better than my state.
I asked for opinions and advice, and I am glad I got alot of that along with support. I am not asking for legal advice, I am leaving that up to the lawyers. But some opinions and knowledge never hurt. I am in a very tricky, upsetting situation. I went through 5 years at my last job with no problems, and if I could have advanced there, i would have. I tool a chance and had more hell than I could have imagined in 6 months.
I am so sorry you have lost your job, and especially under these circumstances. All of this conversation here just illustrates what a sorry state our health care system is in, when you can get fired for being a little late on a med because you were spending time with a patient who obviously needed your immediate attention to be comforted. It's almost like nursing is no longer even the "caring " profession. What is it if it's not that?
I recently started a job at a dementia care facility with a shorter-than-you-can-imagine, 4-day orientation. On the first day I was to shadow only, not give any meds or treatments, so at one point mid-day, I took a moment to engage in conversation with one of the residents. As soon as I broke it off and returned to the med cart, my preceptor told me I just couldn't do that, couldn't talk to the patients, or I would never get all the meds done. She was sorry to have to tell me that, and sorry about the situaion, but she was no doubt right. Though I was told there would be a nurse for each of the two wings passing meds every shift, there turns out to be only one nurse, q shift, for the whole place: 50-60 patients. My supervisor and the Executive Director also said everyone works 4 days on, 2 off, insuring that you get two days off together. When I got there for my shadowing day, however, the nurses (actually, there are very few real nurses there) were all abuzz about the change over to fixed-day scheduling. The only thing I know about my schedule so far, and I have been asking for it for weeks, is that they had me scheduled for this weekend for training, some (I have no idea how many) days off and on during the week, then the next weekend on again and "all trained up." As per usual, I got the line, "You can have more days in orientation if you need them," but they really didn't mean it, they never do.
Sometimes I think we need much stronger unions, because conditions are so bad for so many nurses now, and there are so many horror stories. I often wonder why the unions aren't stronger...
I can tell you, with 100% confidence, that it is illegal to terminate you for not signing a non-compete contract with ANY job AFTER you are already hired.
Employers can legally require this before they hire you, but cannot require this later.
Stick to your guns. You are in the right on this one.
OP, this 100% guarantee is worth exactly what you paid for it. Please do not take any steps based upon internet opinions or guarantees. As you can tell from reading the wide variety of responses here, you can pretty much find a rationale for any action that you might want to take.
Please, take your legal advice from an attorney, or at the very least, someone who personally knows you and your circumstances.
100% confidence? I like that! Even in an at-will employment state? I have a little hope
Yes...because an employer can fire you for any legal reason in an at-will state. ie. They wanted to get rid of everyone that wore a green shirt on Monday.
However, even in an at-will state, they cannot fire you because you refused to sign a legal contract that would limit your future employment AFTER you were hired.
If they do, that falls under the category of an illegal termination. They COULD have fired you LEGALLY for no reason at all...but in your case...they GAVE you a reason.
Will someone PLEASE explain to me HOW in the world such an agreement can be enforced? ?Do they hold your pension after you leave?Hold back compensating you for unused vacay time until the two years h ave expired? I thought thst was illegal.
No, they pay you for the hours that you worked....they turn around after you leave, send you a bill for what they fell that they are due to be compensated..give you X number of days to pay it and if you do not, they go to court with the contract in hand and sue you for violation of a legal contract.
Non-compete clauses are legally enforceable contracts...however, there are some very specific guidelines an employer must follow in order to get the courts to enforce them.
OP, this 100% guarantee is worth exactly what you paid for it. Please do not take any steps based upon internet opinions or guarantees. As you can tell from reading the wide variety of responses here, you can pretty much find a rationale for any action that you might want to take.
Please, take your legal advice from an attorney, or at the very least, someone who personally knows you and your circumstances.
I never said she shouldn't see an attorney...the OP asked if she had a case and she absolutely has one.
People are under the MISTAKEN impression that if you work in an at-will state that it is a free-for-all for the employer...nothing can be further from the truth.
There is a small handful of things that an employer cannot legally require you to do after you are hired and forcing you to sign a legal contract that can have a major impact on your future earnings and then firing you for not signing it...I can assure you that this falls into that category.
People do NOT understand what the full-scope of an at-will state is....if you work in an at-will state, that means that the employer can fire you and does not have to give a reason.
HOWEVER, IF HE CHOOSES TO GIVE YOU A REASON AND THAT REASON IS A VIOLATION OF THE LAW, THEN THAT EQUALS WRONGFUL TERMINATION.
This is where employers in at-will states screw up...and the OP's did royally.
She needs to find an attorney that does these cases all the time, not someone that adds this to the list of other things they do.
I never said she shouldn't see an attorney...the OP asked if she had a case and she absolutely has one.
People are under the MISTAKEN impression that if you work in an at-will state that it is a free-for-all for the employer...nothing can be further from the truth.
There is a small handful of things that an employer cannot legally require you to do after you are hired and forcing you to sign a legal contract that can have a major impact on your future earnings and then firing you for not signing it...I can assure you that this falls into that category.
People do NOT understand what the full-scope of an at-will state is....if you work in an at-will state, that means that the employer can fire you and does not have to give a reason.
HOWEVER, IF HE CHOOSES TO GIVE YOU A REASON AND THAT REASON IS A VIOLATION OF THE LAW, THEN THAT EQUALS WRONGFUL TERMINATION.
This is where employers in at-will states screw up...and the OP's did royally.
She needs to find an attorney that does these cases all the time, not someone that adds this to the list of other things they do.
I am deifntely meeting with an attorney, but this makes sense to me. She explained it very well. I was researching this at-will thing. You can't be fired for an absurdly STATED reason. You can be fired without a reason being given and they don't have to give you one. But this jerk messed up and CLEARLY gave one. A not so legal one. And then went underhanded and granted it after I ws terminated, even though he is supposedly going to reoffer it to me today. I am going in to work, but straight to HR. I was told not to rock the boat ad go in. If my lawyer advises me tomorrow not to go anymore, I won't. Wish me luck today, it will be a very iteresting day to say the least. I ca only hope it works out in my favor. My frieds who I work with there thik I should sign it to buy time so I have an income. I will not. I am smart enough to know he will take that time ad give a different reason to fire me. One where I can't collect unemployment. He is screwing with the wrong chick here.
I am not sure if you work in a "right to work" state or not, but I will tell you that as an IT contractor, I was "required" to sign many a "non-compete" contract. Yes, I signed. Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT ENFORCEABLE!!!!
As an example, when Winn-Dixie went bankrupt, we signed - as a part of the layoff agreement - that we could not work at another grocery chain for X years. Half of my laidoff co-workers immediately got IT jobs at Publix. Yeah, go ahead, try and enforce THAT in a right to work state!!!!
I have been fired (for not charting at the correct time).
sorry, but my patient thought she was having an MI and I spent time with her. should I let her die next time? I have been DENIED unemployment benefits in my state. It is an at will southern state. They told us anybody can be fired any time for any thing. Also, they are mad that I stirred this up by contesting the unemployment (now they have to go to court). So they are now giving me a bad reference.
I have gotten unemployment in Florida after being fired for cause in a nonNursing role. Florida is known as an at will state that is very hostile to employee rights, especially in unemployment compensation.
Your employer can contest, yet often they lose in court, if they gave not carefully covered all their bases. Do not be surprised if you get benefits if you present your case well.
gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN
610 Posts
Good move momrn,
I would stay out of that place and keep my license intact. Some people have a very spiteful disposition. Best not to raise his temper and he decides to "really get you". Good luck on the unemployment benefits and I hope it is better than my state.