My wife was terminated from her job for a minor reason. It was not along the guidelines of the employee manual. Does she have a good case for unlawful termination?

Question: My wife was terminated from her job. Her employee manual shows that two written warning are required prior to termination. My wife had never had a written warning but was fired for a minor reason. During a hearing with unemployment (they did not want her to get unemployment
pay) they repeatedly asked if she had been given an employee manual and said that it is a requirement to adher to the employee manual. During
this hearing the former employer purjuried himself but other than observe the fact, nothing was done about this.

I should mention that she is almost 50 and she was replaced with a 30 something that is friends with the manager.

Does she have a good case for unlawful termination? Also, doesn't a company have to follow its own employee manual if it requires adherence by its employees?

Answer: OK, this is pretty complicated. As a general rule (particularly when there is no union involved), the provisions of an employment manual do not constitute a "contract," and employers can under most circumstances deviate even from their own guidelines as long as they don't violate the law in doing so. For example, if a manual specifies a certain process (like two written warnings), but the employer concludes that the employee simply cannot do the work and waiting to write an additional warning would be futile, the employer would be within its rights to let the employee go without having to strictly observe the process. However, most employers try to adhere to their employment manual's provisions because inconsistency raises questions about the employer's reasons for varying from their own rules. Departures from general guidelines may cause others to suspect that the employer's stated reason for the decision isn't truthful. Also, if the actual reason was unlawful (for example, age discrimination), the fact that the employer did not observe its rules might serve as evidence that the employer was behaving in a discriminatory fashion.

Would recommend that you consider contacting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (800-669-4000), the federal agency responsible for enforcement of laws forbidding workplace discrimination, to learn more about age discrimination and to determine if filing a claim might be advisable.