Misfiring the Furnace Firing the Employee

Misfiring the Furnace, Firing the Employee

There are several facts that need to be considered before deciding for the employee or for the company. The first fact that needs to be analyzed is whether the employer completed his work and rebuild the furnace according to what the best of his abilities in the given conditions. The given conditions, of course, also represent an important fact in taking a decision: who is telling the truth? The company, by stating that the worker had used on purpose faulty wires and a cracked coil, or the worker in stating that he was thus forced by the company? As it is, we do not have enough evidence to decide on this, but there may be some indications in the fact that disconnected fuses were discovered and these could only have had something to do with the fact that the worker performed a faulty repair.

Deciding whether the worker did perform the repair to the best of his abilities in the given conditions is necessary in deciding the second important fact of this case: is there a direct connection between the worker being fired and the fact that he had been a vocal supporter of unionizing the workers? Did the latter impact his firing? Again, in my opinion, we do not have enough facts, because this is directly connected with the first facts mentioned above, that is to deciding whether he has or has not properly rebuilt the furnace.

2. In deciding for the worker or for the company, we need to analyze the facts presented above and make a ruling based on them.

We should mention that the fact that he has been a supporter of unionizing can be considered as a motive for his being fired. Indeed, we are to assume that if he had not been, this would have never have happened. This is not enough to necessarily point towards the company being in the wrong, but is enough to point towards the fact that the company had a reason to fire the worker, other than the fact that he has not worked properly.

The second fact, and probably the most important thing in this case, is deciding whether he performed a faulty repair or not. In my opinion, the worker cannot prove that he has been ordered to use faulty wires and nobody will actually believe this. How can this be proven? Only by providing several testimonies, from the fellow workers or from the company's higher management, that will point towards the fact. Or, it is to be assumed that the higher management will never mention it and that the workers will not testify on his behalf for two simple reasons: the first, because they probably had no knowledge of such an order and, the second, for fear of repercussions. Given these, it is more than probable that the worker cannot prove the order he has received.

Additionally, I have mentioned above the fact that there were some disconnected fuses found at the furnace. As it is, these could have never been the direct consequence of using faulty wires and would have rather been brought about by the worker's negligence or his intent to damage the furnace.