Hey I want to get your guys opinion on this. I used to work in a bank as a broker (series 7,63) I had a previous business working as a commodity trading advisor. I had an LLC I disclosed on my resume that I worked as a CTA and that I had websites for my business. One of my websites sold a course and the other one gave trade recommendations with buy sell signals. I kept the sites up for interviewing purposes to show prospective employers how my business worked. I told the interviewer for the bank that I worked at about my websites and offered to show him...he said he didn't want to see them. I did not have a side business while I worked at the bank and accepted no sales on the course. One of the compliance officers saw the sites through a google search and fired me. This happened about two weeks ago. I'm waiting to get my U5 to see what appears on it. I'm pretty sure it is going to say involuntary termination and probably conflict of interest. This ruins my financial career. I probably won't get hired with another brokerage house or bank. I can prove I didn't have a side business...I filed no tax return on any side business. I'm thinking about suing them over wrongful termination and for slandering my name. They should have laid me off and not terminated me. Let me know what you guys think
This is a useless non legal opinion but to the lay person (me) you perfectly described a winning lawsuit if you can actually prove you didn't sell anything. Did the websites provide contact info for yourself, and did they disclose you were not serious in actually selling courses?
if you need the steady paycheck, even filing a lawsuit and recovering damages wont be able to dig you out, unless you go off the map. but if you have confidence in your abilities, setup your own business. sorry about your situation. chris
It doesn't mean that you weren't trying to sell the course. Was there a password to access the site? I guess not. Than it means that you were offering some kind of services. Were there any takers is another question.
Do you have a labor board in your state? Would you actually want your job back? I filed a claim here in Colorado for being wrongfully charged back a commission check ( my employer got vindictive when I gave them a bad review and quit a few day later with no notice ).It took 2 months but I got all of my money back. This was after going through HR and being told sorry. You may be able to file a claim of wrongful termination with the labor board.
Ask a lawyer, but I think you have to exhaust all adminstrative remedies first. That means following through with the grievance process and getting a hearing from your regulatory agency.
Depends on your state's employment laws. If you live in what is known as an "at will" employment state then you probably have no recourse. In an "at will"state the law basically is you work there because you want to, and the employer employs you because he/she wants you to. You can go at any time, and the employer can terminate you at any time, with or without cause, except under certain discriminatory circumstances.
Completely non-legal opinion - you lose. As another poster said, you may be able to prove that you made no sales but how do you prove that you were not trying? I doubt any lawyer would take this case. Good news - most companies cannot or will not provide termination/separation details (due to liability concerns) to other prospective employers.... R
All of the ordering was done through Paypal. You could still order the course. I couldn't take it off..the guy that built the site left town. Paypal keeps track of all of your ordering you can't delete or alter it. There were two people that bought the course. I gave both refunds...it all shows through paypal. I sent emails back to the one guying stating that I didn't offer the course and saved all of the emails. My paypal account shows the refunds. I started reading up on wrongful termination. There was a guy that sued miller brewing company because they claimed he sexually harassed a fellow employee...turns out he didn't. He sued miller for 26 million and won. The bank is doing something similar to me. They are claiming I did something I didn't and are destroying my career because of it. My situation is a little different. I have licenses at stake. On the U5 I believe they have to report what happened and I believe it either shows as voluntary or involuntary termination. It completely blacklists me from any other brokerage houses. They are putting something on my U5 that isn't true.
I've been reading up on wrongful termination. It's actually up 400% in about five years. Even if you live in an employment at will state you can still sue if they slander your name....the example I gave with the miller brewing employee...he was in an employment at will state and won 26 mill.