I was working as a Tankerman for Kirby Inland Marine on one of there towboats, and they fired me for eating on a barge. Is there anything that I can do about this.
2007-11-20 20:05:55 · 6 answers · asked by slowjoe 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The captain told me that I was not allowed to eat on the barge, I told the captain that I don't care. The captain woke me up at 11:30 A.M., and expected me to be on the barge at 12:00 P.M. Kirby should not be able to tell there Tankerman that they can't eat on the barge when they let them drink water out of a water cooler on the barge.
2007-11-20 21:37:47 · update #1
As far as the law is concerned, your employer doesn't even need a reason to fire you. Unless you have an employment contract for a set period of time, Texas law treats you as an employee at will. This basically means you may be fired, or quit, at any time, for any or no reason.
2007-11-21 03:40:16 · answer #1 · answered by ron_mexico 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
OK I'm a tankerman and first of all the state has nothing to do with you your under maritime law which is federal second i think there is more to this than your telling there had to be a report of you either leaving the barge to get your food or sitting down to eat or something taking your mind off of your job and i know Kirby does allot of chemical stuff so you have to be on your toes but i need more info to really give an opinion
2007-11-20 20:56:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends, if it is illegal to eat on a barge, then yes they can fire you. But, I don't really see that being the case. It really depends. Does it endanger you or your coworkers if you are eating on a barge? Did your job contract specifically state that eating on a barge would directly result in you getting fired? Ask yourself these types of questions. Generally employers must clearly inform employees of their incompetence, and give them a chance to improve. Your employer would have 'just cause' to terminate you if it said in your job contract that eating on the job would directly result in you being terminated, if you were defying a specific instruction from your employer not to eat on a barge, or if you eating on a barge directly resulted in the company losing major business or a contract. Now, if they didn't have 'just cause' to fire you then they are in trouble and you should take them to court. Depending on the circumstances, you could probably sue them for wrongful dismissal. I would talk to a lawyer about this.
2007-11-20 20:26:34 · answer #3 · answered by hafetysazard 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
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2016-11-12 07:07:30 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it's not against the law.
If you were eating on the deck of a tanker barge that's a serious health code violation, and they were well within their rights in firing you.
Richard
2007-11-20 20:53:37 · answer #5 · answered by rickinnocal 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There must be something more than this buddy.
Are you sure that this wasn't just an excuse to get rid of you?
2007-11-20 20:12:42 · answer #6 · answered by Kimon 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋