Legal Eaze #38 Road Accident/ Employer Fired

Title: January 25, 2006

Q. As I was driving my car this past weekend, it was very slippery and in applying my brakes too quickly, my car slid across the road on some black ice and slipped right into someone’s fence. Unfortunately, I severely damaged the fence, in addition to some damage to my car. I rang the bell at the front door, but no one answered. So, I left. What is my liability?

A. You are liable for the repairs to the fence. Your car insurance can take care of the damage. You should return to that residence in the evening or on the weekend when there is a good chance that someone will be home and tell the owner that you damaged his/her fence and give your insurance information. The owner will make a claim with your insurance. You should also call your insurance company and report the accident as soon as possible, if you have not already done so.

Q. I work for a small company in Bakersfield where the employees are all in the same room with no privacy whatsoever. My 14-year old son called me to tell me that he had been arrested by the police after shoplifting at a mall. The police let him make one phone call. I had to leave work to go pick him up. The next day, when I arrived at work, my boss told me I was fired for leaving the day before. What can I do?

A. You are not giving me enough information to give you advice one way or another. What are this employer’s policies as far as emergencies that may arise? Did you have vacation time, personal time, sick leave that could have been used to take care of your son’s problem? How long have you been working there? If you have been working there only for a few days, your employer’s attitude is understandable. It is possible that other employees overhead your telephone conversation and told your boss why you left. Unless you had an employment contract, a typical employer-employee relationship is “at will”. You can get fired anytime or you can quit anytime.

Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661)825-8880.