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Chief
You can try, but you will lose. Quickly.
"It's not in the handbook" is the lamest excuse for doing something that is clearly unethical. Does ANY handbook have a prohibition on peeing in the hallway? No? So that means you can't be disciplined for peeing in the hallway?
What you did was unethical, period. You took advantage of an employee perk and tried to profit from it. Now, I know that a bunch of people are going to scream "HR sucks!!" and "all companies do is screw over employees, so employees should do unethical things!", but the fact remains that you unethically took advantage of something the company provided to you and profited from it, or attempted to.
You have literally zero legal case here.
If I didn’t want the product anymore I would have looked into returning it, gifting it or donating it.
Respectfully, I think what is more worrying is your lack of self awareness. The whole point of a company discount is an incentive reward exclusively for their employees therefore your decision to resale on social media to make profit signals a lack of integrity and judgement. Rather than finding a lawyer to sue why don’t you use this time for reflection to see how you can do better. On a different point, if you need a reference from this company for another role, there is a chance it may not help you. You can try suing but I think a a lawyer would see this case as a way of making a quick buck knowing you have no case. It would good use of your energy to reflect of why you made such a poor decision that has now cost you your job and how you can do better in future. The key is learn the lesson and don’t repeat this type of poor judgement.
No, it’s not like taking vacation, it’s like taking the stationary from your office and sell them online for $$$
No, your employer didn’t raise your rent, they are not responsible to pay you more because your landlord has raised your rent. If they didn’t fairly compensate their employees then the employees can go find another job, if the employees don’t then that’s “poor judgement” on the part of the employees, not the employers.
Rising Star
Sue them for what? You exploited your company benefit very blatantly and funny enough, on social media of all places. You don’t even know how this is wrong and you are going to sue the company ? LMAO
You didn’t “work really hard for these companies” for free, they pay you, so they don’t owe you these perks. Yes, abusing these perks should definitely be grounds for termination, wholesale or not.
Well at my company you have an employee discount for your personal use….no resale, no buying for family members or friends, etc
Although buying for friends and family members happens all the time. They just can’t trace it. Morals and ethics have pretty much been thrown out the window in this day all you have to do is watch the news. Just a reality. Sad.
Looks like you got busted. At the least don’t resell and if you can’t use it and don’t want it, give it back. Poor judgement on your part. Live and learn
This is why employees can’t be trusted to WFH, and RTO should be mandatory. People can’t tell right from wrong.
I never said that employers can be trusted, when did I say that? You assumed I think that, wrong assumption on your part. Employees should never trust their employers, they are not your family, it’s work, it’s business, it’s a paycheck, that’s it.
I would ask a lawyer if you have a case. Technically it’s yours and they can’t tell you what to do to it. If you think you have a case find a pro bono lawyer.
If they purchased it, it belongs to them. At the point of possession in a free market economy, they can do as they please. The company found it unprofessional but it really isn't any of their business unless they have explicit internal policies that prohibit resale of these items.
The company went heavy-handed and one might wonder if there were extenuating circumstances. This may have been the convenient straw that broke the camel's back.
Read the fine print/terms and conditions of using those discount codes. It will tell you how you can and cannot use them.
Common sense doesn’t have to be in the handbook, but it should be used in all situations.. it was an employee perk..point blank bottom line.. and you tried to use it for financial gains..very unethical.. and depending upon what your job was in the company.. and what state you’re in (right to work state) you could be fired for any amount of reason and they don’t have to give it to you. Poor choice on your part..use this as what NOT to do in the future.
Wow. You sound a like a joy to work with. I bet you're a blast at parties
Did they fire you for cause or let you go. If you are in the US your employment was likely at will and they can fire you on the spot for any reason that's not specifically protected.
The difference between being "fired for cause" and "let go" is that "fired for cause" refers to an employee's breach of contract. Employers can do nasty things, like withhold non-exercised options
Rising Star
It may not be in the handbook, but I bet it's written somewhere.
Rising Star
Tax implications have nothing to do with when or why someone would sell.
How long you’ve been with the company has nothing o do with it. You did something completely unethical, with a complete lack of judgement, and selfish intentions. I would’ve fired you too.
I knew someone who took an annual Friends & Family discount perk, at a large retailer, to buy things at a discount and sold to friends at full price, and talked about it at work, like he was so clever. Someone told, and he got fired from a job he loved, and had been at for 10 years. I don't understand the logic here, that someone doesn't see how it's wrong, and in turn not understand the consequences. SMH
I’m here just to mention “right to work” with the hopes of getting scolded by Human Resources Director 1.
Wrongful termination? You used something company gave for your gain. Wrongful termination involves proven discrimination, breach of contract by employer, whistle blower, the employer retaliated against you for something, and refusing to perform an illegal act for the benefit of the employer More than likely your state is a right to work state. Employers in those states can terminate you for any reason they want. Do yourself a favor, learn from your mistake and move on! You would multiple pieces of proof to establish patterns.
This is why we need you HR folks, to keep the rest of us in line! You are absolutely right, wrote a response on two hours of sleep.
Without context, thats usually the first thing that gets a person fired. Whether it was bought with the intention of keeping, you can also return the item. Putting it up for sale on social media or any resale site can be seen as purchasing with the intent to sell. Also people are anyways watching....
We will all have our opinions. And some will argue in favor for company esp any HRS. If you feel that you did nothing wrong really think about and ask yourself if you were the boss/company would you approve of your actions? Better yet do research. Look for cases that have had similar matters then look at their outcomes. In law that’s all we do it research to prove cases. Just know that HR has the companies best interests. Yes they are there for mediation but the very few who have their ethics will make sure they have all parties best interests in mind. I know for a fact people use their perks for many different reasons for others as well. However, if you have any reservations that could “what I being doing turn out to be bad”, don’t do it. When in doubt do t do it. EOS.
I learned the hard way that I need to understand that HR's role in a company is to protect the company . That does not mean that they are solely against the employees who are really part of the company but it does mean that the company's best interest comes first . If it were my company I would want HR to protect me from this type of behavior . My experience: I went to HR because of an internal problem and the sole purpose of my HR rep was to get evidence to prove that the company was not liable for what the other employee was doing . I was very disappointed that I had no one that had my back , but I learned from that experience ... I need to have my own back .
 Did you have the item for any length of time in your possession before you sold it or did you put it up for resale on social media within 24 hours of purchase? 
So even if you knew that your actions were against company rules, it still wouldn’t have prevented you from doing them.
You simply would have looked for a way to not get caught?
I thinking I’m starting to understand you, and how that company might have dodged a bigger bullet.
Pro
Another example of why your coworkers are not your friends.The fine print of the employee discount likely said it was only for personal use and not for resale.
Sounds like you're cooked man.