was I wrong to fire him?

Question

Last Saturday I got a call from a customer asking why the store wasn't open.I turned on the web cam and it was dark.Turns out the employee that was supossed to open was busted for posession of almost 2 ounces of marajuana.He didnt tell the truth to me,said he was arrested for a warrant for running a red light.I called the jail while he was still there and this is what the police told me.He refused to admit the truth even though the paperwork says what he was arrested for,he said they were lying [yes he really said that] Anyway,I fired him and told him it was because he couldn't open the store because he got busted for dope,end of discussion.I feel I did the right thing because I can no longer trust him or depend on him,what do you think?

Answer 1

You count on him to open the store on time. He has proved he is not able to do that with 100% commitment. Anything less then that is not acceptable and you were right to fire him. Do not look back.
B

Answer 2

Do you know how much 2 ounces of weed is? Its like $800 of the stuff, if you are right with the amount that he had!! So yes you did the right thing firing him. If he had that much weed, it was for distribution. 2 ounces of weed can provide up to 16 users a bag of weed. I would not want anyone that was caught with that much weed working for me!!!! I am just surprised that the police gave you that much information though! What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty, they shouldn't have discussed it with you since you weren't his attorney and he had yet been convicted of possession, but that's a different issue. Any way, you don't want someone like that working for you, even if he was a nice guy, chances are good that he comes to work stoned, and you don't need that!! Bad for business.

Answer 3

I don't think you were wrong at all! Now of course if all of this happened outside of the workplace, then he might be able to argue that it didn't effect his job performance, and so he should not have been fired. And being arrested is a very different from being convicted.

But in the end, I think you don't really have anything to worry about as I think you absolutely did the right thing here.

Answer 4

Employment Law is tricky and it depends what state you live in and the size of your business. In most states you can't simply fire someone for not showing up to work once. You would need to warn them, document them and have a paper trail to prove you discussed this problem with them. He is also not guilty of possession until the court finds him guilty.

The valid reason for firing him is because he lied to you. You should have had him put his reason for being absent in writing and sign it. You can still request this from him, if he thinks he was fired unfairly. That way you have proof that he lied to you and you can fire him for that (dishonesty and lack of integrity).

In most cases when you fire someone for reasons like this they won't pursue it legally. They are usually too stupid and lack money to hire a lawyer and won't pursue unemployment.

You should contact your state's Labor Department or Unemployment Department and ask them if this was okay. Also, if you are part of a large company you can call Human Resources adn they will tell you what to do. If you are the owner, you could always call a lawyer.

Labor Laws aren't always based on morals. My husband was told by an employee that several of his employees were smoking pot in a car in the parking lot after work. A few people corroborated the story, but there was nothing he could do, since no one could prove it was in fact marijuana. He was told by his Human Resources dept. and company lawyers that nothing could be done. If they fired them they could have sued for wrongful termination. He was advised to find other ways to get rid of them.

If you haven't put his reason for termination in writing, you can still write him a letter and tell him he was fired for lying to you. Tell him if he feels he was terminated unjustly to respond in writing. Make sure you have proof he lied.

YES, you were right to fire him.

Answer 5

Was the employee a relative? If not, then this is kind of a moot question, because you can't take it back, and "unfire" or "defire" him...

Also, he not only lied, he didn't call you to immediately let you know that the store wasn't open, and on top of that, he was busted for marijuana! And he lied about it! Again!

(Has your till been a little short lately?)

You've obviously already made up your mind. Stick to your guns and hire someone more worthy of your trust

Answer 6

Without a doubt you did the right thing.

If he cannot open the store, short of being in the hospital, he's not doing his job. Even if he WAS busted for a red light warrant (yeah, right!), he was arrested. Fire-able offense, in my book.

Answer 7

The reason he was arrested is really a non issue. Even if you are a drug free environment, the reason you gave him may cause more damage than you meant since it wasn't based on a drug test, it was more based on your feelings.

You should have fired him for an unexcused absence. I went through this as well. I've had employees have an advocate in prison call me, and that is fine - because it's usually enough time to cover for the next shift or whatever. But if they chose not to call me, or not have an advocate call me they are terminated for "unexcused absence".

If you live in a right to work state, you don't have to give a reason - so you may want to look into that for future reference..

Answer 8

well if he was in charge of opening the store thats grounds for dismissal already, that costs the company money for every hour that store isnt open. If he wasnt able to control himself so that he could manage the store during his shift, then he obvoiusly shouldnt have the job in the first place. You made the right choice.

Answer 9

No. He lied to you about why he was arrested. That right there makes him untrustworthy. Add the charges of drug possession, it doesn't make him seem like the most outstanding individual. And if he wasn't always the best employee, fireing him probably isn't a huge loss.

However, if he's always been a good employee otherwise, you might have considered putting him on job probation for x amount of time. If he keeps doing a great job during that time & doesn't screw up again with drugs then let him off job probation.

Answer 10

You did the right thing, with letting him go. There is a business to be run and your reputation on the line. What he does is a reflection of you as a manager and business operator? Kudos, to you I hope that you find an employee that is trustworthy.