Forum Post: Letter of Termination from my employer – Marcus Arseneault
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 8, 2011, 10:53 p.m. EST by OccupyNews
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Letter of Termination from my employer – Marcus Arseneault
8 NOV Hello Marcus,
It is with sincere regret that I must inform you that your employment with Sodexo as Coffee Barista will be terminated immediately.
As your involvement with the Occupy Calgary Movement we cannot have your involvement reflect the company in any way, shape or form.
I would like to make it clear to you that in no way is this termination a result of the company being unhappy with your performance during your employment.
In fact you have been a wonderful contribution to the Sodexo team however unfortunately due to your involvment with Occupy Calgary we do have to let you go.
Yours Sincerely,
Elric Neilson
Sodexo
http://occupiedcalgaryfreepress.wordpress.com/
Found as soon as it was posted on www.occupynews.net as an RSS feed from occupiedcalgaryfreepress.wordpress.com
Canadian. Who cares.
First Amendment " strengthened Aboriginal rights in the Constitution".. I think you are quoting the wrong consitution
lol, are you on the right thread, or just posting in the wrong place on the right thread?
There are allegations that the letter may have been faked. What does not make sense now is even if the letter was faked, to be "properly fired", the company would have had to generate a letter otherwise the company could simply claim the employee was fired for not showing up to work.
So, if the letter was faked (an allegation made because the name of the person who allegedly sent the letter was misspelled twice), there should still exist a real letter and at this point that one should be released by the company if it exists.
Maybe if you'd kept your ass at work and not at the occupy whatever. youd still have a job
I think that's highly illegal- get your job back if you want it
I bet lawyers are calling him already to offer their services. This looks like a slam dunk! Maybe the company charges $1000 per cup of coffee and it was a smart move as the wealthy will fly in and buy their coffee now for sure? If not, Elric Neilson will probably join him in the unemployment line.
OMG What a slap in the FACE! In the early 70's I was fired from a KFC @ 16 yrs old because my boyfriend came to pick me from work in a Panel truck (w/big Peace Sign painted on the side) & had long hair & a beard!
RockyJ, what an interesting story.
I think consumers should fire Sodexo.
You should take your case to the Human Rights Commission in Alberta.
http://www.albertahumanrights.ab.ca/
We are very privileged in this county to have the freedom to do and think what our employers want us to do and think.
I guess we'll find out in the next few days if there is more to the story or not.
There should definitely be a law suit but if it gets appealed all the way up to the supreme court it will likely be used as an opportunity to erode freedom and democracy even further.
Too bad Americans don't give each other the same rights they get from their government. Rather sad, don't you think?
OccupyNews,
You are exactly right! Although I was under 3 months probation, they could have fired me without cause, and that would have been it. However Elric just stuck his foot in his mouth and open a whole can of worms, because of giving the specific cause and then saying that it was not because of my work performance. I will be getting a lawyer, so if anyone knows of a lawyer willing to do probono on my case, please feel free to contact me marcus_arseneault@hotmail.com or facebook.com/snowneo
Hey MarcusA, Good Luck. I hope an attorney does contact you and takes the case.
you can't game people as corporations for exercising their rights to freedom of speech. even trying this proves they think they can get away with that. corporations have been going as far as telling people who they must support in elections with financial donations. Its utterly corrupt, and this is exactly the kind of thing which must be acted upon, exposed, and given to the news to put under scrutiny. any body who fires somebody for participating in occupy violates their first ammendment rights in an attempt to control them and their behavior illegally.
http://occupythiswiki.org/wiki/Direct_Democracy;_Intellectual_and_Social_Tools_For_High_Order_Problems.#Mission_Statement
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Am I the only one skeptical of the authenticity of this? This sounds rather dubious to me.
People need to have a positive right to employment in order to counter this sort of abuse, and a reform from the dictatorial corporate structure to a cooperative workplace democracy wouldn't hurt either. Remember, this kind of abuse is a competition. If the companies intimidate people out of going to a protest or running a Facebook page today, they'll work on scaring them out of making a talk page forum or signing a petition or allowing it to be publicly known that they voted Democrat tomorrow. If people's rights are to mean anything at all, this cannot be tolerated.
What if this person was sharing his views with the customers? I own a small service based business and if one of my employees was talking about OWS with my patients I would have to ask her to stop and if she didn't I would pretty much have to fire her. Sex, religion, and politics are strict no-no's when dealing with customers.
Mooks, that is a good point, but the letter does not mention "incorrect" behavior while working.
This is kind of like a chess move. Normally a corporation would actually misrepresent the reason for a firing. example, "we noticed you have been coming into work late, or unkempt, or have been rude to our customers....bla bla bla...
But in this instance, it was a complete in your face, it's your fault because you protest letter. This letter is designed to demoralize and frighten Occupy Protestors.
The ideal response is to go to court and WIN that what the company did was wrong and unless the occupier endangered someone else's life or broke a significant law, this kind of firing won't hold up in court.
It's a fear tactic designed to frighten others into not protesting and hopefully there is an attorney or law firm out there who can see the importance in having this firing overturned.
I have to be honest I read a lot of these forums to try and get a since of where this movement is going and I think its going exactly the way the 1% wants it to. If we post 500 posts a day and each receives about 50 or 60 comments are we really discussing things or getting anywhere. I don't claim to know it all and that is the point. For a political party to go into office and believe that they know exactly how to better the economy is ridiculous. Yes they may have some great ideas, but why not consider what the general public has to say. Oh that's right because it doesn't matter what we think. I don't claim to know everything, but collectively I think WE can figure it out.
I am just suggesting that we narrow the posts down to general topics that people can discuss. For example, this could be used as a post on a forum under Corporate Greed. We should have topics on economy, education, healthcare, etc. That way we can read 5000 or 6000 posts relating to one topic. If WE want to be taken seriously we have to narrow our focus and give tangible ideas. For example, We can have free healtcare if 5% of our taxes goes to provide utilities to run these hospitals. In return we can reduce the fed tax by 5%. I am just stating tangible examples, once again I am not claiming to know everything just giving my suggestions.
I don't think this forum is the hub of the movement. It's just a playground on the side.
They don't deserve your labor. While I am fairly certain that my employer would do the same if they found out about my involvement, I am not going to change my activity in any way because we're dealing with fascists here, plain and simple. So, they send us into hiding? Reminds me of another time in history when they were having their way every way.
I call horseshit!
and not the fertilizer kind either.
Well that sucks but I am not surprised.
Isn't this illegal?
Big deal. Get a better job with more potential for advancement.
The letter is BS. I have a friend who works there and she said the guy got canned because he missed work. Apparently, he was drunk and on someones sofa when he was supposed to be at work. She said the so-called managers email termination letter, the guys name isnt even spelled correctly - Youd think if it was really from the manager he'd spell his own name right.
Buddy better get a real good lawyer, cuz he might need it to keep himself outta trouble.
The letter is BS. I have a friend who works there and she said the guy got canned because he missed work. Apparently, he was drunk and on someones sofa when he was supposed to be at work. She said the so-called managers email termination letter, the guys name isnt even spelled correctly - Youd think if it was really from the manager he'd spell his own name right.
Buddy better get a real good lawyer, cuz he might need it to keep himself outta trouble.
tell them to fuck off!!
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It sucks but it is up to him who represents his company.
The letter pretty much nullifies the company's right to fire him. With no cause because the company states he is a good worker, the only reason left is to fire him because he practiced his right to free speech, and I would assume an attorney could right this wrong or get him a significant settlement.
You can't fire a person for their politics - period. He has a case.
That would be cool. Just playing the devils advocate here, but what if a company found out one of their employees was a skin head could they legally fire him too?
I actually looked into the law, and from it I can not find anything that says a employer cant fire you for practicing your right to free speech or any rights... I was on your side, and argued with another forum poster, but couldnt point to the specific law that would decide if it was legal or not.
In some states you are protected from discrimination because of your political beliefs. In Texas you're not. But I think an employer has to have cause to terminate you. Termination is much more serious than harassment. A wrongful termination is one that violates one or more of your legal rights.
This sounds like a violation of your Canadian citizenship rights. You may be able to take your case to the Human Rights Commission in Alberta. They may be able to help you. But I'm not a lawyer.
http://www.albertahumanrights.ab.ca/
You might also talk to a lawyer because it could be a violation of your employment contract.
If they were trying to recruit while at work, probably could fire them, but that is not the case here.
Or wearing his work clothes to the protest...but I don't think that is the case either.
This is corporation's intrusion into our private lives. Just like drug testing to get a job. All these measures demean us as people!
I think Drug testing can be reasonable if the company can prove that they will suffer increased liability because their workers interact with the public or operate machinery.
This is worse in my opinion because they are saying he is a good worker and they aren't even accusing him of being a violent or abusive protestor, but rather just because he is a protestor. This has supreme court victory written all over it if there is a talented lawyer that wants to make a name for themselves while striking a blow for the 99%
Part of a company's value is it's goodwill. This company must feel that an association with OWS is negative for it's image which it likely works very hard to maintain. You can argue whether it is true or not but polls suggest that it is not unreasonable to think so.
And 1st Amendment rights applies to freedom of speech in regard to the government, not private employment I have several employees and if one of them said "I hate blacks" the government would not be able to do anything but I would surely be able to fire them in a heartbeat.
1st amendment rights apply only to US citizens who are in the US.
'At Will' employees can be fired for any reason. Any. This is why there are unions.
Saying "I hate blacks" and being part of Occupy are two different things. I don't understand why you are making a comparison.
I was referring to several posts above about a company violating someone's right to free speech.
Ah Ok. In Canada, free speech laws are very different than US. It's sometimes hard to follow discussions because of this.
Haha yea I realized afterwards that we weren't even talking about the US. I feel like this firing may be more illegal in Canada than in the US.
Ya, in Canada we have strict hate speech laws and discrimination laws are pretty strict too. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know if it is illegal, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is.
Has anyone bothered to actually contact the company and make sure this even happened?
The company would probably only divulge anything to the "official media". All we can do is publicize the situation and hope that someone who is a paid professional and can afford the time to do the research, since they are being paid a wage, is interested.
Soooo....basically you're just fine with publishing something that MIGHT be true as if it WAS true unless or until someone else proves you are wrong. Nice. Apparently the word "allegedly" is even too much to ask....
Occupy News did not publish the letter. Blogs that repost a post are getting the word out specifically so the issue does not get ignored.
Good point. I nominate you to verify "just the facts".
You may nominate all you wish, won't make me do it. This IS what Democracy looks like.
So you're saying democracy is all about suggesting stuff, getting nominated to do it, and then NOT DOING IT?
FAIL.
No. I'm saying that democracy allows me to point out that the poster of this thread DID NOT do his/her own due diligence before posting something as if it were a FACT, and then REFUSE to do his/her work for him/her afterwards.
I'm not up on Canadian labor laws but there are a lot of recent cases of American employers firing people for their Facebook pages and social network affiliation as well as discriminating against them by not hiring them to begin with.
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2349-Workplace-Issues-12-Ways-to-Get-Fired-for-Facebook/
facebook pages are on all the time and can damage a company's rep. But unless an occupy protester identifies themselves by name with a big sign or is identified later on on video and is caught misbehaving or breaking a law while protesting, the firing is baseless in my opinion.
Ya, he could certainly bring the matter to court in Canada.
Are Canadian laws the same as US laws?
I have no idea, but I would like to think that their laws are not based on protecting this type of behavior.
They are different, but a company cannot fire someone because of religious or political convictions in Canada. It would clearly fall under discrimination laws which are pretty stringent.
Well in US law I know it is legal to fire someone for political reasons. In fact some a-holes on this site were trying to set up a site to collect information about people on the forum for that purpose. They said they were going to setup a petition like site and try to get people to sign it. I looked into the US code about equal opportunity employment, and there is nothing about politics.
That would fall under contractual law. Look at your employment contract.
Occupy is not political, so they say. It is no different then being part of a riot. Sorry, no case.
Hmmm-Tiger got fired by Gatorade-it was legal!
Sue them for Unjustified termination.
Yeah, hopefully this publicity will help that happen.
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who gives a rats ass
That's Alberta for you. Move to Montréal, they are much more sympathetic towards Occupy. And, it's a really sweet place. You'll like it. Hang in there, I'm sure you'll find another job soon enough. Your integrity is permanent, but jobs are temporary. You made the right choice.
Fake letter.
Vote for Ron PauI