Fired for not leaving my dog in a hot car... advice?

[TishnSasha]

Hi - I adopted a 15 mo old Female Siberian Husky in May of this year. She is pure joy, the best thing to happen to me and the most loving creature I ever encountered. On my day off, the Friday before 4th of July, I had Sasha out with me and I realized I left directions for a trip we were taking in my office so I ran in to get them. It was a very hot day, the office was a skeleton crew as it always is before a holiday w/e, and I took Sasha in with me for a short time. I would never leave any dog in a hot car, even for a minute. I was written up for creating an intimidating and harassing environment, put on probation for 60 days and then fired. 23 years with JPMChase and they fire me for this, and leave me with nothing. Has anyone ever been through something like this? What did you do?

[nusee]

You should be commended for not leaving your dog in the car. Dependent on your state employment laws you may or may not have any recourse. You say you worked for the company for 23 years. There are some companies that try to find reasons to get rid of people before they retire and hire cheaper, less skilled employees. However, there could have been other factors. But be proud of what you did not do, and that was to leave your K9 friend in the car.:)

[Vanilla]

Thats a stupid reason to fire you!

I am glad you didn't leave your dog in the hot car tho.Sorry I have no advice!

[flip195]

Hi - I adopted a 15 mo old Female Siberian Husky in May of this year. She is pure joy, the best thing to happen to me and the most loving creature I ever encountered. On my day off, the Friday before 4th of July, I had Sasha out with me and I realized I left directions for a trip we were taking in my office so I ran in to get them. It was a very hot day, the office was a skeleton crew as it always is before a holiday w/e, and I took Sasha in with me for a short time. I would never leave any dog in a hot car, even for a minute. I was written up for creating an intimidating and harassing environment, put on probation for 60 days and then fired. 23 years with JPMChase and they fire me for this, and leave me with nothing. Has anyone ever been through something like this? What did you do?

Contact a labor law attourney.

[Wolfman]

Hi - I adopted a 15 mo old Female Siberian Husky in May of this year. She is pure joy, the best thing to happen to me and the most loving creature I ever encountered. On my day off, the Friday before 4th of July, I had Sasha out with me and I realized I left directions for a trip we were taking in my office so I ran in to get them. It was a very hot day, the office was a skeleton crew as it always is before a holiday w/e, and I took Sasha in with me for a short time. I would never leave any dog in a hot car, even for a minute. I was written up for creating an intimidating and harassing environment, put on probation for 60 days and then fired. 23 years with JPMChase and they fire me for this, and leave me with nothing. Has anyone ever been through something like this? What did you do?

While I have never been in you situation, I was a Union Steward for 13 years and have some experience with Labor Laws. Before I start, you need to know that my experience is VERY dated, and that there may be MAJOR differences between the laws where you are and the state where I learned these things.

Your possible recourses depend a lot upon what kind of paper trail your company has on you. If as your post implies, ie. you where a good employee with a decent work record, few if any other types of negative write ups in your file, then you may have a case for possible Age Discrimenation. (I assume with 23 years you are mid to late 40 or older) If this is the case you may have legal remendies. (Suggestion if there is a Law School close to you check and see if they offer cheap or free Legal Counseling. Often times these schools will offer this service with 3rd and 4th year law students under the supervision of their teachers as a teaching aid for the students.) (Also if you do decide to fight this, find a lawyer who only gets paid if he wins. Yeah it will cost you more when he does, but this way you do not get taken by someone who knows he can't win and only wants to fight this for the money he is getting from you.) (PS if you are 55 or older try checking with the American Associtation of Retired Persons and or other Senior Activist groups in your area)
Another MAJOR factor here is what kind of previous coverage has your company given you on this type of situation. Do they have a specific policy against Pets in the work place and if so where you properly trained in this company policy. If they have never covered this, and therefore failed to provide you with the proper training this could go a long way towards helping your case.
If you are younger than the ages discussed, you may still have a case for Wrongful Dismissal but that is A LOT HARDER to fight and may not work at all depending upon your local labor laws.
One last point, if you believe that you have a case, then TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! The longer you wait, the weaker you are. Also once the fight starts, be ready for the possibility of a VERY LONG DRAWN OUT PROCESS!!! Your company already has lawyers on retainer so it does not cost them much more to fight this and they know most times that they can simply out wait you.

However if your company has already developed a paper trail on you. IE write ups for bad attandance, work perfomance, attitude or what not, then most likely there is not much you can do about this.

FWIW IMHO you did the right thing by not leaving your friend in a hot car!
Good luck, hope this helps.
Wolfman

[Unregistered]

this hasnt happened 2 me since i am 10 but it is illegal 2 leave ure dog in a hot car any way n since she is a rescue she wouldnt like 2 be in a small space on her own 4 very long would she

[Unregistered]

that was wot she was sayin u carnt it isnt fair on ure dog and she couldnt leave it at home coz she was takin it out
from me xx

[amerikees]

I don't blame you for not leaving your puppy in the car. I had an instance about 16 years ago, I had a Keeshond named Mickie, I went to the supermarket with him and like an idiot, I left him in the car, although it was not hot and I left the windows open about 4 inches. I heard my license plate number overheaded in the store and went to the customer service desk. Someone had reported me to the Animal Control Officer, and a woman in the store who happened to work for the Animal Welfare Society met me at the counter. She could see I was very upset, not because I was afraid of getting into trouble, but because I felt so guilty. She walked me out to my car and Mickie was fine, but I still felt guilty. The woman said she could see that I realized I made a mistake and told me to go ahead and go home, and that she would handle the Animal Control Officer when he arrived. I never, ever did that again, nor would I. If I were you, I would fight your previous employer, they had no right to fire you!!!!

[Carol]

Is there more to this story that you left out? What happened with the dog in the office while you went to your car? What type of business is it? Are customers in and out? I feel like something is missing.
I agree you should not leave dog in car but if you were dropping into your office for something, why would you take your dog there, other than a quick pop in to say hi? I find it hard to understand how a 23 yr employee with a good record would be fired.
I know there are some horror stories about wrongful dismissals and you very well could be one, but I am mystified by this story. Is this what they put as the reason for your dismissal on your notice of termination?
It sounds incredible. If this is the only reason given, I agree you need a good Labour Lawyer.

[longdoglvr]

I would sue their dog hating butts off...I don't see how there can be a law protecting their right to fire you for NOT abusing your dog...and weren't they creating an equally hostile situation by in effect compelling you to abuse your dog if you wanted to keep your job? I worked in retail for many years and would call the cops on anyone who left their dog in the car for more than 20 minutes or so...less if it was a hot day...what they did just doesn't seem right or legal...I would definitely contact a lawyer or ACLU...and even if it turns out you don't have a pursuable case against them, you can at least be a huge pain in their butts for a while...some people make me ashamed to be human, I'll tell ya :mad: