Got Fired Due To Accident, Who Can Help

Regardless of what their policy handbook says, you were rear-ended, which in turn compelled your truck to lunge forward and hit the vehicle in front of you ‼ Had you gotten a copy of the police report, to see what the investigating officers' opinion were ?? From your description, this sounds like a case of “unlawful termination.”

If I were in your shoes, I'd get a copy of the accident report, then talk to an attorney who specializes in “unlawful termination.” A lot of these college-educated management people assume all truckers are too dumb to research and find out if what they had done was legal or not. If an attorney agrees that this was “unlawful termination,” then you're entitled to monetary compensation. This company had done this to you because the last driver never spoke up for his legal rights, and had assumed you're going to do the same as well.

 

the way i understand the laws on that is the rear vehicle is at fault for hitting you if you are pushed into the next vehicle your ins. co. pays THEM and so on. you are supposed to stop at traffic lights etc with at least a car length between you and the car in front. been thru this deal in a 4-wheeler before!

 

absolutely agree

 

Unlawful termination? What is that? Is there some law I failed to learn about that says a trucking company has to keep ANYONE employed for ANY reason. Lets see. He wasn't fired for a civil rights protected status. He wasn't fired for age discrimination. He wasn't fired because his employer failed to provide reasonable accomodation for a protected disability. He was fired for failing to safely control a vehicle he was driving.

The truck very likely has an accelerometer. My international did. I was warned that the company would be looking at excessively fast braking and I could be reprimanded for the same even if it did not result in an accident or incident.

I always maintained a three or four truck distance and if a car filled it in I just hit the 1mph less button on my cruise until I had my safety space back. Being fired for cause is not the same as being civilly liable or criminally liable for the damages resulting from an accident. In the same way that the burden of proof in a criminal case is higher (beyond a reasonable doubt) than it is in a civil case (preponderance of the evidence), an employer has a reduced burden for at will terminations. For an employer, termination can be factually per se. You do it, you get fired. Involvement in an accident is enough to satisfy the employer's contractual burden.


A non lawyer reference is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-discrimination_acts

BRI

 

good advice, I live in right to work state which basically means you have the right to be fired for any reason whatsoever.

I felt like firing someone and I looked up and he was walking past.

=BINGO= you're gone... lol

 

Well in a socialist economy there are such things as ""Unlawful termination"".. If you have not noticed America is becoming more and more as a socialist nation (**cough thx to west coast** cough cali)

Under certain circumstances lawyers actually can pull that crap off.. It all depends on their judge and his interpretation of the law..

 

Ask any Safety Supervisor and they will tell you that EVERY accident is preventable. I asked for an explanation of this and the response was AIM HIGH. Maintain safe following distances etc. etc. Ummmm well I got hit by another truck while I was at a complete stop how could I have prevented this accident. The response was "You couldn't, but the driver of the other truck could have, therefore the accident WAS preventable." OK, I can go with that statement however why am I being called in for a safety review if I COULD NOT prevent the accident? "Because", he said, "you have been involved in an accident which will go on your record as an INCIDENT and if you are involved in 3 or more incidents within a 12 month period you can be terminated." Excuse me...another truck hits me while I am at a complete stop at a red light and the company is going to "ding" me for it. I don't get that, there was nothing I could do but holler on the CB, blow my horn and wait for the other truck to either stop or hit me. It wasn't like I could throw it into reverse, there was nowhere to reverse to, except another truck and I certainly wasn't going to jump out of the truck and get myself run over while trying to get the other guys attention (although I must admit that for about a second this option ran through my mind, but I knew that it would really tie up the intersection while the fire department scrapped me off the pavement and since I am always thinking of others, I threw that option out and continued screaming over the CB and blowing the horn). Sorry, went off on a tangent there. I can be quite sarcastic at times (I know...you wouldn't have thought so, but it's true nethertheless) so I slapped my forehead and looked him straight in the eye and said "Oh crap! for god's sake why didn't I think of it. After I finished fueling I should have just sat there and waited for this truck that my crystal ball told me was going to hit me to leave first...then I wouldn't have been involved in an accident that WAS NOT my fault and I wouldn't be charged with an INCIDENT. Why oh why didn't I pay attention to my crystal ball!" He didn't have a whole lot to say after that other than to quote company policy.

 

I see this thread began in March of 2008, wonder how fred c is doing?
He was with a trainer, since he still had 1 week left before getting his own truck.
I wonder what the company handbook said about a PROBATION period. Most companies have a probation period for all new hires, doesn't have to be a truck driver. Some companies have up to 6 months probation, at least from the ones I've seen.
Anything that happens during that time, for whatever reason, they can let you go.
One thing I question is, if he was with a trainer, what happened to the trainer?

 

Trainer was probably picking his arse up off the floor trying to figure out what happened!

 

SOP...standard operating procedure...anytime any vehicle is INVOLVED in an accident (this does not assign fault either) a safety review is conducted by companies...you were involved in an incident and it will be put in your record..excessive involvement in incidents/accidents studies have shown that some drivers are "accidents waiting to happen" Insurance companies watch these trends and assume risk factors to these numbers...you have now become a statistic..not saying you will be fired, but it is the company's way of getting you into the system and probably have the interview to make sure you understand how everything occurred.