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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.
I think if these companies paid people a little more they would not have to sell to make a little more money to survive
What made you think that they “have to sell” “to survive”? You assumed that. Plenty of people with less money find ways to survive without resorting to theft. You are full of excuses. Also, if people would acquire more in-demand skills then companies would pay them more.
Well in my opinion this is the epitome of capitalism, buy low and sell high… how often do you use the discount?
Unless you benefited by more than say $100 you should have received a warning IMHO, but yeah like everyone else said, you clearly acted badly.
This is a common policy violation at employers that offer this type of benefit. If what you say is true that it was just one item then I would have recommended a final written warning. However, unless you can prove there is disparity in how your employer applies disciplinary action based on a protected characteristics, you really don’t have a case.
Most employments are at-will. While they can fire you for any reason, you can still apply for unemployment and get it if your cause for firing was unfair. I do not know what your handbook said. Did you have a training on what you can or cannot do with your employee discount? Were you aware you cannot use items to resell? If you signed the guidelines about how you should or shouldn’t be using your employee discount, than you wilfully and knowingly violated their policies. If there were no policies explaining how you can or cannot use your employee discount (I highly doubt there weren’t), then you maybe have a chance of suing them. I’d just apply for unemployment and see if you’ll get it first, before investing in a lawyer.
Greatly depends on whether you live in an at-will state or not.
But given what you did, I doubt you would win.
Discount programs like the one you mentioned are for your benefit, but not so you can sell things you buy at a profit.
Not unfair. That move may’ve caused a red flag for other associates that would like to use employee discount with Management. If it was my company, employee discount perk would have to go thru a department, like a quality control or HR associate, have a 2/3 step process that includes termination of employment if used for resale, use for others not attached to associate,sign off on agreement, etc..
Chief
That's overkill, and bases company policies on the foundation that you can't trust employees. Deal with the one or few miscreants, and don't punish everyone for those miscreants' misdeeds.
It’s good that you were fired. You took a benefit and directly competed, with the same product, against your employer that pays your paycheck.
Then you talked about suing the victim? No, you’re entitled and showed your lack of character. If you did that to a small business it would be even worse. No wonder so many jobs are being automated, in part because of people like you.
Goodness Things they sup forthis europe
When did companies start thinking they can have any say in what you do with what's yours?
They gift you discount.
You buy something.
You can do with it whatever you want.
Expect them to soon start telling you how you can use your PTO.
when they co-pay the purchase under the terms that it’s for personal use and not for resell at a profit
It reminds me of the old wartime adage, “Loose lips sink ships.”
what you did was unethical. maybe you should take a moment to reflect on your morals.
California at will employee
Is this even serious right now? I'm fairly certain that would be classified as theft. Theft is a VERY legitimate reason to terminate someone's employment. Immediately.
You can not sue, thats practical with just about every company I worked for
You really think you have a case...After doing something dishonest. Smh
I will guess there is something written in an employee handbook restricting resale of employee purchases. Employee discounts are for your personal use.
You very likely violated the terms of the program and risked the company facing legal action from the partner who runs the program. It was a foolish move and gave them legitimate grounds to terminate for cause.
Did you really think you were in the right to conduct yourself this way? It doesn’t reflect well on you or the employer if they tolerated it.
I’ve always been careful that if I get “free to me” game tickets or anything of value, I’d give them away to a stranger and not accept cash or even a beer or anything as a thank you from the person I gave it to if I couldn’t use them or find someone I know to give them to. That’s just the right thing to do. It’s unfortunate that the lesson had to be learned with such severe consequences. And it’s not clear that you’re taking the right lessons from it regardless.
Sorry, but your screwed up. Acting like you didn't know it was a bad thing amplifies things. Learn from it, move on.
This cannot be real, surely not? This is why i strongly suggest to any, and all new employees to read through the companies handbook, or offer all my support with questions or concerns that may have regarding discounts and the purchasing of product.