Q: My former employer pay roll system made a mistake and I was fired for it and called fraudulent. What can I do now?
My boss or should I say ex-boss uses ADP for pay roll. For the two years that I worked there I accrued PTO that reflected on my pay check statement. From that balance, I would request PTO and be paid for it. Last week, it was discovered ADP was not calculating my PTO hours correctly and I didn’t earn the PTO that was authorized by my boss and they fired me for being “fraudulent”, how can that even be when it was the systems fault and their fault for authorizing the hours? I’m afraid that they may try to pursue me for the money owed for the PTO hours they authorized and paid me for. Legally can they do so? Also, is there anything I can do about them calling me fraudulent and firing me for something that was not in my control?
A:
There is nothing you can do about being terminated for the reason stated, even if you could prove it was all a big mistake made by the payroll company. Employees in California are considered to be employed on an at will basis, which means the employer can terminate the employee at any time and for any reason or even no reason at all. An at will employer does not have to have a fair, or accurate, or reasonable reason to terminate an employee. There is nothing unlawful about an employer terminating an employee for a mistake made by the payroll company.
Unless the employer communicates with third parties other than you that you acted fraudulently, there is not defamation claim available to you. If the employer tells others you are a fraud, and you can prove you did not defraud the company, and if that communication caused you damages, then you may well have a meritorious case for defamation.
Good luck to you.
Brad S Kane agrees with this answer
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A:
First, you received a financial benefit that you were not entitled to. Your employer has the right to seek the overpayment back from you.
Second, in California, employment is at will, which means unless you have a written contract for a specified term or protected by a collective bargaining agreement, your employer can fire you for any reason or no reason, but not a prohibited reason. Prohibited reasons are hostility based on your membership in a protected class or opposing illegal conduct. Here, whether it was ADP mistake or your failure to spot the error, the employer can legally terminate you. There is no law against being a bad boss.
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