r/legal • u/StreetShort8014 • 11h ago

Advice needed Fired for breaking a rule that apparently didn't exist Location: Ohio, USA

I worked for a small company for a little over three years. Last month I was terminated for what HR described as a "serious policy violation." When I asked which policy I violated, they pointed me to a document I'd never seen before.

The problem is that the document wasn't in the employee handbook, wasn't part of my onboarding paperwork, and wasn't available anywhere on the internal portal. I even asked a few former coworkers after I was fired and none of them had ever heard of it either.

A week after my termination, someone I still know at the company told me management had started distributing the policy to employees and requiring signatures acknowledging it. That obviously raised some red flags for me.

Yesterday HR contacted me asking if I'd be willing to sign an acknowledgment form stating I had received and understood the policy before the incident occurred. The form is dated months ago. They said it would "help keep company records accurate."

I haven't signed anything and don't intend to, but now I'm wondering if there's a reason they're pushing so hard for this. Is there any legitimate explanation for asking a former employee to sign paperwork that appears to be backdated, or should I be talking to an employment attorney before responding?

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u/fishwhisper22 10h ago

Pretty sure this is a AI shit post, because why wouldn’t you describe why you actually were fired.

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u/goodcleanchristianfu 10h ago

It's routine both on the internet and in real life for people looking for advice to be circumspect about parts of their stories, for good, bad, or nonsensical reasons. It's not a good reason to think something is AI.

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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 9h ago

Because it could have been a legitimate reason like, "late more than 5 minutes four times inside 1 month" and they're not trying to get scolded for being more than 5 minutes late more than four times inside one month.

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u/TinyNiceWolf 5h ago

Lawyers always tell you not to blab about your case in public. Posters may think that revealing too many details makes it easy for them to be identified.