Ask The KIIS 97.3 Lawyer: What Rights Do You Have If You're Wrongfully Dismissed?

Ask The KIIS 97.3 Lawyer: What Rights Do You Have If You're Wrongfully Dismissed?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The Kiss ninety seven three.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Lea, if you have a question for one of our
legal team at RMO Law, you can go to the
website Kiss ninety seven three dot com dot au to
ask a lawyer from RMO Law, your trusted local partner
in law for over fifty years, Romolaw dot com dot Au.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
And mark, you do have a question and our producers
tell us this is a doozy. What's going on?

Speaker 4 (00:27):
It's a bit of a long story, but the short
of it is an area manager wanted to move me
from the store I was into another store in his
area and basically worked out that he gave me a
termination letter and during that meeting he then turned around
and said, I will offer you another job if you

(00:48):
take it right, And basically I had nothing else to
go to, so I went ahead and took it. And
then about a month later I queried our HR department
in the same company and just said, what's happened here?
I didn't think anything was okay and they had no
evidence or no record of that termination letter and basically

(01:10):
said I was just transferred.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
So did the handle and an actual letter or was
it an email?

Speaker 4 (01:17):
I yeah, he did give it to me, but I
wouldn't have an email copy of it.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Oh okay, But as I understand it, to be terminated,
you have to have two warnings and then termination if
you've done something wrong, unless they're making the role redundant.
Did either of those two things happen?

Speaker 4 (01:35):
So he did put me on a performance plan to
try and get me out, And that's that's where he
made that work for him. That's another story because I
can Yeah, but were.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
You needing to be performance managed, like had stuff gone
wrong within the company.

Speaker 4 (01:49):
No, And this is the funny part. He wanted to
move me to the other store because it was underperforming,
to lift it up.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
So you're actually performing well, and so they wanted to
put you in a dud.

Speaker 4 (02:01):
Store, Yes, to build up that store?

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Is that what you reckon? Is the scenario? Then you reckon?
They just wanted you to go to a shop that
you didn't want to go to.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Huh.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
He told me that he wanted what was going on
in the store to basically reflect on him the one
I was in, and he wanted me to move to
the other one to build it up. I have since
left that company, And yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
So what did what did you actually want to get
from this did you want did you want money?

Speaker 1 (02:26):
Well?

Speaker 4 (02:27):
Yeah, like it doesn't sound correct, and to see if
it is correct. I mean I don't know if potentially
I could chase up something to go back at them with.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
So potential compensation.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
Yeah, okay, I ended up having a breakdown because of
the whole scenario, and yeah, that wasn't the best best thing.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
This might also become relevant. How long ago was this?

Speaker 4 (02:52):
Where are we heading back four years now?

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Okay? Yeah, wonder if that matters?

Speaker 3 (02:58):
And if they offered you the job back, would you
want it?

Speaker 4 (03:02):
The industry it was in I do love and I
know the person involved is no longer with the same company,
so yeah, quite possibly.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
Oh interesting okay, okay, Well let us get rolly, O'reagan
from RMO Law, who knows all there is to know
about business law, and see if he can answer some
of your questions.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Okay, we have Reagan from RMO Law in the studio
with us. Now we just heard Mark's question. But if
you could just retell it quickly for or re ask
it quickly for Roly, please mark the quick version.

Speaker 4 (03:37):
I had a termination letter given to me by an
area manager who wanted me to move.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
He ended up.

Speaker 4 (03:43):
He gave me that letter, and then he offered me
a position in the other store he wanted me to
move to. I took it. I have since then I questioned, Hey,
Jarringer said, like, what's the scenario. What's happened? And they
have no record of such termination letter? And literally that
was just transferred.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Mark was the termination letter? Was it on letterhead at all?
Or was it just an inform.

Speaker 4 (04:09):
I do have a copy of it. It's in an
email and it was given to me. He has signed
it and I signed it as well. I can't remember
if there's a letterhead there.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
Okay, what did it actually say in the letter?

Speaker 4 (04:20):
I just said that you have been performance managed and
haven't met the requirements as such, you are terminated, effective immediately, okay.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
And then they moved you to another and.

Speaker 4 (04:33):
Then I moved to another store yep, Okay, how long ago?
Was this about four years ago?

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Are you still working for this company? No? All right?

Speaker 3 (04:42):
It sounds like some dude has just taking the employment
stuff upon himself and done whatever he wanted.

Speaker 5 (04:49):
Yeah, it sounds like your former boss is a bit
drunk with power by the words for that, Yes, And
to me it sounds what bizarre all of it. It
depends what's your best outcome that you're seeking from it.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
Well, as I said before, I did have a bit
of a breakdown over it. It did affect me personally.
So for myself to know that I probably was in
the ride is one thing. But as Kip as before,
would I go back? I dude, love the industry, it
was so potentially I would.

Speaker 5 (05:24):
Because it seems like he's just dodged up the paperwork
and usually his excuse, yeah, to move you to another area.

Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yeah, I mean there's I mean another thing to show
that he was probably power of drunk, was he told me?
And that's what I questioned with HL. He told me
I was banned from the same store that he moved
me from, And I asked him can he bare me
from that store? And they said no.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
So how long after you moved did you resign?

Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yeah? It was about six months after.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
Mark, my advice for you is this, as unfortunate as
it's been for you, I would be inclined just to
move on and on once upwards?

Speaker 3 (06:05):
Oh really, why.

Speaker 5 (06:07):
It's been an unfortunate experience. The area manager's moved on.
I can't see any real legal avenues to pursue given
it was four years ago.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (06:15):
If it happens like last week, there's obviously avenues you
could go down.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah, hundred percent.

Speaker 5 (06:22):
It's more of a timing issue though, As I said,
I know it's unfortunate, but on once and upwards.

Speaker 4 (06:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
But I guess the other thing that Mark was looking
for is to know that he was in the right.
So if it had happened last week, you'd say he'd
definitely been wronged.

Speaker 5 (06:36):
Oh, one hundred percent. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'd certainly
help him out in that regard. Okay, Yeah, you've been vindicated,
if I can put it that way.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean that's that's my thought process.
And simply because I had a breakdown, I probably wasn't
in a space to chase this up.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (06:54):
And Mark, at the end of the day, did you
really want to work for these muppets anyway?

Speaker 4 (06:59):
Yeah? Like the industry, yeah, the people.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
Well, I guess that's my my question is are you
okay now? Are you back working?

Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (07:09):
So you've moved onto your life now.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
Yeah, absolutely, Yeah. It's I mean, it probably something that's
in the back of my mind because it affected my
confidence within my workplace.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
That's stuff.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
Yeah, but you know the important thing about this conversation
is you've just been told you were right.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yes, exactly.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah. You don't get that off in relationships, mate, So
soak this up.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
Way you can't particularly legally get on your mark.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
Thanks Mite, thank you, Thanks Mar