If he admitted to the quote, and likely signed paperwork to the fact - I would think the recording doesn't matter at this point.
Just an opinion, no legal advice.

It's no help to your son at this point but I learned, a long time ago, never say anything you don't want repeated and don't put anything in writing you wouldn't stand behind in court.

My company has an internal policy requiring all-party consent for recording, and it is a terminable offense to violate it.

The question in this case is if the testimony of the witness would have been sufficient without the recording, and if the fire person admitted to the statement.

With all the worries about workplace violence - any mention of using violence against anyone in the workplace will get you fired.

I have worked for 3 companies that had active shooter events at one time or another. Luckily never at a site I was working at. Zero tolerance is how it is now.

I would say he can spend his time and energy trying to get his old job back working 2 days a week, or he can move on and find a new job. That could happen in as little as a week. I'm not saying it will, but it could. The chances of getting his old job back are small, and would he really want to go back there? If I was only working 2 days a week, I would have been looking for another job.

I'm a former Manager of 30 CDL Drivers. If there was a pattern of comments like he made, I would have terminated him also.

My dad worked in management at UPS. He negotiated a labor deal with a Teamsters’ local in New Jersey in the early 70s. The local brought in Anthony Provenzano, aka Tony Pro (probably one of the last people to see Jimmy Hoffa alive), to negotiate on their behalf. Anyway my dad was in Detriot and Chicago as well dealing with the strikes that were happening back then, so I’ve heard quite a few stories.

It maybe different now, but back then, firing a Teamster was no easy task. Two other points strike me as odd. One, I’ve never heard of a driver that only worked a few days a week. Two, your son doesn’t seem to be looking for another job as a driver.

I don’t believe you have the whole picture and there’s no way you can help him until you do.

There is generally little no recourse in the courts from an arbitration ruling, even if the arbitrator gets it wrong. This is an advantage (finality in a relatively short time) and a disadvantage (hard to correct error) of arbitration. Are there any appeal processes built into the union arbitration rules?

But an employee can't say something like that in a modern company like UPS and think they will overlook it.

Move on ,get gone,
This will follow him and he will get ulcers from it.

He can get a driving job in a few days.

Working for someone who does not want u,

A waste of time and energy

Whether he was set up or not, that phrase would violate hostile work environment rules at every place I've worked in the last 30 years and is grounds for immediate termination. I've worked with a guy that made a similar comment and was terminated on the spot even though he had over 20 years with the company.

He was wrong and made a grave mistake he should learn from it. With the shortage of truck drivers I don't see why he can't find employment. If asked about his termination he should be honest and admit he made a mistake that was inappropriate and driven by emotions. I think new employers could live with that if he admitted his error.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:


Working for someone who does not want u,

A waste of time and energy

Exactly. A job one has to sue to get back isn't worth having. He'd always be under a cloud that is looking for a chance to rain on him.

I agree with the moving on aspect. But to be honest all of this seems petty. I mean he was not talking about killing anyone obviously. Thin skin and just looking to be cause trouble seems to rule the day anymore. I guess the good ole days are indeed gone.

quote:

I don’t believe you have the whole picture and there’s no way you can help him until you do

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yep. OTR truckers do not make what he was making at UPS. It is a sought after job.

quote:

But to be honest all of this seems petty.

It would be in a lot of places, but not in a large, heavily unionized place like UPS.

If a future prospective employer calls UPS for a reference, to the best of my knowledge all they can say is "yeah, he worked here such-and-such a time, not eligible for rehire." He can probably expect to have serious questions asked of him.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

But an employee can't say something like that in a modern company like UPS and think they will overlook it.

But I'm still interested in the recording of the conversation without consent.

Isn't there a claim to be made on that aspect, given the laws in that state about such recordings ??

I'm following the trend about how making a threat is not a good idea. I agree.

If he got the job back, how long would it be before he got set up and knocked down again?

The best idea is to learn from it and move on. Another driving job might be the best idea for starters, but lots of people have suffered setbacks and then rolled with the punches and re-dedicated themselves to doing better -- and came out on top in the long run. There are some people who actually say, "getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me" because they went off in another direction and found better things to do.

Good luck to your son. I think he can turn this around and get to a better place.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

Yep. OTR truckers do not make what he was making at UPS. It is a sought after job.

In the OP it is stated that he wasn't getting those jobs.

I have no idea but it sounds like your son was often bad mouthing the boss and some ladder climbing weasel decided to get one of them on video to improve his position.

I think your son should take it as a lesson and move on. Even if it wasn’t recorded that kind of stuff always finds its way back to the boss. There’s no shortage of butt kissers.

Even if your son fights it and gets his job back he’s not going anywhere with that company and it’s probably the reason why he wasn’t getting any hours.

No Union will help. I’ve learned this in the past year with my own employment unions are useless the union represents no one expect it’s own business, they are not there to help you. I will never join nor be apart of another union in my life.

I'm with the "move on" crowd. All the time concentrating on this is all the time lost on finding a new job.

What a shitty situation.

Lesson learned is don't say shit around people and keep the Stone Cold Steve Austin term DTA handy: Don't Trust Anyone.

I had a Soldier who drove, I think he still works for them, I'm not longer a part of the unit he's in, for Home Depot as a delivery driver for their contractor side. He said he was making about $2,500/week and this was back in 2020.

The military is not a good idea. Illinois NG is even worse than the Reserves. At least at this time it isn't a good idea. We are constantly being gutted with the budget, don't have money for toilet paper but have money to fly dozens of commanders in for a useless conference that could've been done on MS Teams (like it was done last year). The one good thing is health insurance is significantly cheaper on the military side. I think the family rate for Tricare is about $230/month.

I hope he let his former coworkers know who the snitch is.