Comments on: Worker moved across country for job, laid off after one day

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:00:02 +0000

The same thing happened to me many years ago. I was hired as a part-time HR assistant for a very large bank in the D.C. metropolitan area. Four days later, I was laid off because the bank said they restructured the HR department and were moving it to Baltimore. Needless to say, I was quite annoyed. You can’t tell me that the bank didn’t know that they were going to move the HR department to Baltimore when they hired me. When I approached the president to discuss the lay off, he simply shrugged it off and offered no explanation. I accepted that position because it was closer to home and offered a higher salary. If I had known that was going to happen, I would never have resigned my previous position. It took me several months to find another position of comparable responsibility and salary.

By: Ann

Ann — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:09:31 +0000

Well if it’s any consolation he can certainly get a good tax attorney to get his travel expenses related to the position reimbursed by the IRS. I do not think the company played fair.

By: Ray

Ray — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:22:42 +0000

Here’s the initial article in the Billings Gazette – http://billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/11/20/news/state/24-firstday.txt
If this link doesn’t work, then go to http://www.billingsgazette.com and search for “Sam Gallup”. Then for more information regarding the layoffs, search for “Stillwater Mine”. This will give more answers.

By: rbarney

rbarney — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:41:49 +0000

This is a situation where the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing. It is an excellent example as to why HR professionals need to work hard at gaining business acumen so they are invited to sit in business planning meetings. One Issue that immediately comes to mind is compliance with the WARN Act, which leads me to wonder what other considerations were not taken into account, such as ADAAA and ADEA. I see many potential issues for this company other than reimbursing a recent hire for the companies possible violation of good faith.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:29:47 +0000

The same thing happened to me. The hospital organization felt that the phone call they made to me (the day we were packing the moving van) to let me know there was some restructuring going on, but that I still had a job, was sufficient notice and therefore had no standing on which to file a lawsuit. I was eligible to apply for any open positions for which I was qualified (the only available were part time). They also felt that they were generous in giving me 2 weeks severance pay. I was fortunate, however. My unit was absorbed by another company – I’m still with them almost 9 years later! Sometimes blessing come when you least expect them and I hope that this job fair will provide Mr. Gallup and all of those laid off miners a similar opportunity.

By: Roland

Roland — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:36:57 +0000

I think in this instance the company should pay for his travel out and provide work assistance.

By: pisquared

pisquared — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:21:00 +0000

This sounds grossly unfair to me. The firm must have known that this employee would not have a job if he moved. Can you say lawsuit?