I worked in San Diego, CA for a non-profit organization when my position was terminated and a replacement was brought in who did not have the qualifications that I had to run the office. The President wanted me to train this person after my termination date and had refused to issue my final pay check unless I trained him.

I took them to the labor board and won for their refusal to issue my final pay check. They then turned around and are suing me for refusing to train the repacement and them having to bring someone in to train him. They also want me to pay for part of the wages of the repacement since he was being paid but didn't know how to do the job since I didn't train him.

The had given me about 3 weeks notice and had hired the replacement behind my back, so they had ample time to have him come in to be trained.

Has anyone had an employee sue them for not training a replacement, either before or after the termination? Or is anyone familuar with any case laws that deal with this issue? If so, I'm interested in hearing from you.

Thanks.

Sounds like they're trying to get you to pay for their mistake(s). If they wanted you to train your replacement they should have waited until he/she was trained before eliminating you.

If they let you go, too bad for them. Just shows how well they're running the show. I intend to do a little research. I wonder if you are able to file a retaliation complaint against them, something for one of the lawyers.

First, if you are getting sued, you should consult a lawyer.

Second, there must be more to this than is being presented. No lawyer would file a lawsuit suing an at-will employee for quiting. It would just subject him to sanctions.

If you have an employment contract, and you breach it, then you can be liable for the damages. If you did have a contract, and you quit, then there is nothing wrong with them suing for what they are asking for.

The siuit was brought against me by the organization in small claims court which doesn't allow lawyers. The newly elected president wanted to bring in one of her "friends" to replace me. It was her dicision to terminate my position as an "office manager" and replace it with an "Executive Director" position. The duties and everything were still the same. There was no employment contract that I breeched. I did tell them I would willing to train the replacement but he didn't show up until three days before my termination date.( 2/12 weeks after I receive my termination notice). He was clearly not qualified for the position and wanted me to come in to train him and answer questions for him after my termination date. I told them I would be willing to train the replacement as long as they were willing to compensate me since I was not longer an emloyee of theirs. They responded by telling me they woud not issue my final paycheck unless I came in and provided additional training. I then told them I would be willing to negotiate a fee for me to come in which they never responded back so that is when I took them to the Labor Board and won, both on an initail hearing and on an appeal hearing.

Their claim is that they had to hire a specialist to come in and train him on the basic office skills he didn't have in order to run the office since I, as they claimed, refused to train him as I has agreeed three weeks in advance. They also want me to pay for his wages for the time he was being trained since he wasn't able to do his job due to me not training him.

They also want to sue me for laywer fees for the labor board issues, but I doubt the judge will grant that in light that I won the case.

The other issue the president is raising is that I didn't provide the passwords for the programs on the computer, which in fact I did, since there were only three of them. The replacmeent has even gone on record as saying I provided them to him. What I find funny is, even with the passwords, he didn't know how to run any of the programs until he was trained. Was I thought was also funny is that he was initally claiming he didn't have the passwords and was wanting me to come to the office to provide them. This was done via the company e-mail address which requires the password to send out mail.

Yeah, I think I will need to consult with an attorney which means more money out of my pocket to defend my good name. Say, as the defendant, should I win, can I ask the judge for the Plantiff to pay for my legal fees? Now, that would me me happy.

BTW, thanks to those who did provide me some feed back.

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/smallclaims/

The above is a self help site for small claims court in Ca. It has a link about mediation, and recommends everyone to try it. Might be worth a look.