Case Analysis B

Franklin Gets Fired

Franklin worked for Shell Publishing as Editor in Chief for $11$ years. He had left his position as

publisher at a large publishing house in Toronto when Mr$.$ Bearman approached him and offered

him the Editor in Chief job at his paper in Mississauga. Franklin was reluctant at first but Mr$.$

Bearman$$s offer of $$250,000$ and a better work$-$life balance was too attractive to turn down.

As the most senior person at Shell Publishing, Franklin was responsible for overseeing all writers,

editors and photographers, and managing the newspaper$$s budget. Franklin enjoyed his position

and the team of bright young people he supervised. However now approaching $60$ years old,

Franklin found himself growing tired of the work grind and started coming into the office later and

later. He would even doze off for periods of time during the day. Although Mr$.$ Bearman was happy

to let Franklin$$s behaviour slide, he had passed the business on to his eager young son, Markus

who was of the opinion that Franklin was old, lazy and grossly overpaid. Markus thought the paper

could benefit from a new, much younger Editor in Chief.

The relationship between Franklin and Markus was tense for months. Markus had instituted a

number of changes in the office, which Franklin often refused to follow, instead defaulting to his

usual way of doing things. Although Mr$.$ Bearman never occupied an office at the paper, Markus

decided he needed to have a presence and informed Franklin that he would be taking his corner

office. Franklin was moved to the spare office down the hall. Although he knew Markus was

unhappy with his performance, Franklin had never been reprimanded or spoken to directly about

his work. Instead Franklin felt like Markus was trying to push him out of the business.

The situation came to a head just before the Christmas Holidays, when Markus found Franklin

sleeping in the storage room. Markus erupted in anger and told Franklin to pack up his belongings

and get out immediately because he was fired. Franklin told Markus on the way out that he would

be expecting his severance cheque by the end of the week. Markus laughed and told Franklin

that he was a geriatric, lazy, bum and wouldn$$t be seeing another penny from him.

Post$-$Termination

After being terminated, Franklin spiraled into a deep depression and was unable to get out of bed.

He spent months dwelling on his failed career and daydreamed about what life would have looked

like had he stayed with his Toronto Publishing House. Franklin$$s depression worsened when he

heard that Shell Publishing hired a $20-$year$-$old Editor in Chief to replace him.

It wasn$$t until $8$ months after his termination that Franklin started to apply for jobs. After two months

of submitting resumes and going on job interviews, Franklin reluctantly took a job with an online

blog company. His position was entry level and his pay was nearly half of what he made at Shell

Publishing. Franklin still hadn$$t seen any payment from Shell Publishing from his termination.

Franklin would like to know how much severance pay he is entitled to