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Is this legal? Workplace question

I

ivol07

Golden Member
My coworker has been out two days due to an illness, when he gets back he tells me that the owner of the company has told him that he can no longer go to lunch with me and some other people because he is "management". That from now on he can only go to lunch with him (the owner) and that he has to let him know before he goes anywhere.

Is this legal? He was really ticked that he took two days off and I'm thinking he's just trying to punish him. This all sounds really fishy and I'm wondering what, if anything, my coworker should do.
 
it's legal in china maybe... i dont' think the owner has any right to tell anyone who he/she can go out to lunch with.. however the owner does have the ability to fire said manager for something i'm sure.. low productivity.. something that he'll make up
 
the owner can tell your coworker anything he likes, what matters is what will happen if he disobeys. if he's fired for going out to lunch with someone he would probably have a decent wrongful termination suit.
 
Originally posted by: Yossarian
the owner can tell your coworker anything he likes, what matters is what will happen if he disobeys. if he's fired for going out to lunch with someone he would probably have a decent wrongful termination suit.
Click to expand...

If it's not an "at will" employment state.
 
perfectly legal. he doesn't have to work there.

And it generally a bad idea to have lunch with the underlings beneath you anyway.
 
Assuming you don't get paid for your lunch break, once yu leave the building you are free to do anything you want as long as you don't come back drunk or something since that's obviosuly against most policies.

If nothing else, jsut leave separately and meet up afterwards.
 
Your boss can regulate how many people are at lunch at any given time, which may prevent your going together. If he fires anyone for going together, as opposed to going at the same time, the fired person will have grounds for a wrongful termination suit.
 
From reading the responses and thinking about it a little more it looks like there is nothing that can be done until a termination is made. People can be douche bags all they want...they just can't fire you for a douche bag reason.

Sucks. No wonder I hate douche bags.
 
Originally posted by: sixone
Your boss can regulate how many people are at lunch at any given time, which may prevent your going together. If he fires anyone for going together, as opposed to going at the same time, the fired person will have grounds for a wrongful termination suit.
Click to expand...

Why?

That's called imsubordination and can be a terminable offense.

As to "I can do whatever I want on my lunch hour" - WRONG! You represent the company at all times and must obey.
 
Originally posted by: ivol07
From reading the responses and thinking about it a little more it looks like there is nothing that can be done until a termination is made. People can be douche bags all they want...they just can't fire you for a douche bag reason.
Click to expand...

Oh, they can fire you alright, hoping that you won't do anything about it, can't afford a lawyer, etc.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: sixone
Your boss can regulate how many people are at lunch at any given time, which may prevent your going together. If he fires anyone for going together, as opposed to going at the same time, the fired person will have grounds for a wrongful termination suit.
Click to expand...

Why?

That's called imsubordination and can be a terminable offense.

As to "I can do whatever I want on my lunch hour" - WRONG! You represent the company at all times and must obey.
Click to expand...

Is this always true though? Isn't there a limit? For instance. Last week we walked to lunch. Came and went with time to spare. The next day the boss tells us that we cannot walk to lunch anymore. The reason given..."walking is for fags". But eventually the reason was given that we could be spending that time better...in other words working.

Geez, after reading what I just wrote I see that I need to find a new job. I've been looking, but not seriously...I think it's time to start seriously looking.

 
Originally posted by: ivol07
My coworker has been out two days due to an illness, when he gets back he tells me that the owner of the company has told him that he can no longer go to lunch with me and some other people because he is "management". That from now on he can only go to lunch with him (the owner) and that he has to let him know before he goes anywhere.

Is this legal? He was really ticked that he took two days off and I'm thinking he's just trying to punish him. This all sounds really fishy and I'm wondering what, if anything, my coworker should do.
Click to expand...

yyes, if the people are of different levels (one is an employee one is management) then it's called fraternization. you're not SUPPOSED to even associate with different levels outside of work, too. for instance, you two can't go out to a bar or nohting.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: sixone
Your boss can regulate how many people are at lunch at any given time, which may prevent your going together. If he fires anyone for going together, as opposed to going at the same time, the fired person will have grounds for a wrongful termination suit.
Click to expand...

Why?

That's called imsubordination and can be a terminable offense.

As to "I can do whatever I want on my lunch hour" - WRONG! You represent the company at all times and must obey.
Click to expand...

You wanna bet your business on that?
 
sounds like it.

but you can be terminated for any reason (except race, religeon, etc) in an at will state.

One would assume that not following direction is most definately a terminable offense.
 
Originally posted by: Yossarian
the owner can tell your coworker anything he likes, what matters is what will happen if he disobeys. if he's fired for going out to lunch with someone he would probably have a decent wrongful termination suit.
Click to expand...

Do you think a boss like this would really use that as a reason for termination? It's too easy to muster something more legitimate up.

It doesn't really matter, though, since most states are "at will". The only real discussion is unemployment pay.
 
As long as the lunch isn't company time, your friend can do whatever he likes.

However, I can understand management's position on this since if your friend consistently goes out to lunch only with a small group the perception will be implanted that he favors that group and that he might not be objective when dealing with them, insted giving them special favors. Now, that's very likely a false impression, but it's easy for the other people he has to manage to think that way and I can understand his boss wanting to prevent that. He just needed to present it better.

ZV
 
Originally posted by: ivol07
I used to think Unions were a bunch of crap....but every day I work here the more they make sense.
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Bah... spend one day working under one you'll likely change your mind. Unions castrate you and your boss's ability to work through even the smallest problems, negotiate benefits, etc. They also destroy the entire concept of the merit system. If you'd rather be paid based on your tenure than your productivity, then a union is for you.
 
Originally posted by: ivol07
People can be douche bags all they want...they just can't fire you for a douche bag reason.
Click to expand...

Most of the time, they can. They can't fire you for being a member of a protected class (race, sex, religion, etc), but pretty much everything else is fair game in most states.

 
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