Do I have a lawsuit? bosses girlfriend NJ

[voklust]

In New Jersey. Just "let go" last Friday. Here's the story in a nutshell. Worked for company 5 years. Have had 20% sales growth each year. The boss decided to dock me for an hour last month, so I went in to ask him why. (He'd never done it in 5 years.) Said he was "tired of people taking advantage of him." I pointed out that he'd never done it because I come in early, leave late and go to stores on weekends to visit possible customers. He says it's "expected" of me to work on my own time. I bring up the fact that another employee, (his live in girlfriend.) does it all the time and is paid. He tells me "not to go there" in a threatening tone. A couple of weeks later I need a couple of hours at the end of the day and he docks me again. I go in and get the same No answer, and he says "don't be sorry that you bring this up again." The workplace is decidedly strained after that. He brings me in and says he wants " a cohesive workplace" I say no problem, I just want to do my job. Things start to click and I'm bringing in quite a few orders. On Wednesday, the girlfriend comes over to my cubicle and starts berating me, accuses me of making comments and "going to the boss about her." I tell her I just want to do my job and that if she wants to talk, we should do it in private, not in front of other employees. She gets frustrated and says F U to me a few times. Later that day I go into the bosses office. I said" I'm sure you heard what occurred earlier today. I don't feel I was treated fairly or professionally." He says and I quote "Well, you should know your place. " I'm dumbfounded and say "I know my place, I just want to do my job." I leave. The next day I ask the receptionist (who's been making more derogatory remarks than anyone) if she knew what it was all about. She denies everything, even though I can tell she said something to the girlfriend. Later when I'm in the bosses office working she comes in and says "well if this is how you want it, you'd better stay the F--- away from Chr--------."(the receptionist) I say I just want to do my job but she continues. She say"noone her is not expendable. You f------ with the wrong person. You made your bed, now you've gotta lie in it. I asked her to stop again and left the room. A few minutes later, I was copying and she was standing in her doorway by the receptionist. She began berating me again in front of the receptionist. She made several derogatory comments so I begged her to stop and leave me alone. I went back to my desk, pretty shaken up. I heard comments and giggles the rest of the day.(boss was golfing) Came in the next day with only a couple of hours sleep due to this harrassment. Went about my business, still getting several orders, when the boss calls me into his office. Says" I've had enough of this crap so this is it, good luck." I have to say I expected it with the uncomfortable work environment. I asked on what grounds and he said "employment at will." I ask about any severance and he says no. I said What about my commissions? I have over 10k coming to me." He says Well take a look at those." I'm not sure what that meant. I tried to go over the fact I was ethical, loyal and dedicated, but it goes on deaf ears. I ask about unemployment benefits (due to the fact the girlfriend takes care of that paperwork) He says he doesnt know what happens with that and I say the company takes care of the paperwork. He says he won't give me any problems, (even though I think I will have prob.) I walk out to the girlfriend grinning at me.
Has anyone ever went through this? Do I have a lawsuit? What things should I do to get my commissions and unemployment? Sorry so long.
THX Much

[Beth3]

Do I have a lawsuit? No. Being fired because the boss would rather keep the peace with his nasty girlfriend than support you is not illegal.

What things should I do to get my commissions and unemployment? (1) Whether the owner is obligated to pay you any outstanding commissions depends on whether your State considers them wages. You should contact your State's Department of Labor and inqure. (2) Apply for unemployment benefits. Just tell them the circumstances under which you were fired and they'll take it from there.

[voklust]

Just wondering if any other salespeople in NJ had the same problem with commission.

[CurtJ.]

dunno if any nj commissioned ppl will chime in, lets hop so.

but in the meanwhile, NJSA 34:11-56a1(d) defines wages as including commissions. bonuses too.

under NJ's wage and hour laws, you must receive pay for all hours worked and they cannot withold same.

so, your commissions should be good, provided they have been fully "earned", and if not paid you can either sue or start complaint thru the DOL. By "earned" I mean that many companies have different policies on when a commission is earned. is it when the order is written? when delivered? when paid for? your commissions must be earned in that sense, altho' I don't think they can meddle with a sale just to avoid a commission.

also, depending on how you're paid, you might go back and claim those saturday/sunday visits. that is, if salaried, then you work when you work and doubtful you'd qualify for o/t or etc. as exempt. if, however, you're hourly with commission above that, then you may claim those weekend hours worked. NJ law states an employer must pay an employee for all hours required or suffered to work. I believe that's actual language, but it is from my memory so can't be sure. the idea here is that if the employer requires it, they must pay. the suffered part means that if a person gets to work early, and even though the employer may not have asked for it, if the employee performs geniune work, then employee must be paid. There may be a notice requirement, but here the boss not only knew, but required it when he said it was expected of employees. So go and claim it if hourly, altho you'll likely need some records or a real good memory in order to establish/prove your claim. of course, if salaried, you likely wouldn't qualify. but then you might take issue with being docked.

as far as having a lawsuit, don't think so. As beth3 stated, a boss with a mean girlfriend is not illegal. If he likes romance more than productivity, then too bad for you. However, you did mention that derrogatory remarks were made. If these were of race, gender, national origin, etc. then you might have something since it suggests the action against you may have been for improper reasons. federal law on discrim is more limited, NJ's Law Against Discrimination is more broad, and protects sexual orientation, medical status, marital status, and some others. If they called you a racial remark or age remark or sexual orientation remark or etc., it at least raises the issue of mixed motive in termination. If you beleive this to be the case, go to an attorney or to the NJ Dept. of Civil Rights (or Federal EEOC if a federally protected class).

as far as unemployment goes. Apply. don't wait for the company. and they probably will challenge.

after all that, go to the company's competitor and work hard to put this old one out of business (provided you don't have a non-compete agreement).

curt j.