Job termination. Do we have any labor attorneys, corporate HR folks, or managers of stores in a large chain on board?

The young person has been working part time for a store in a well-known national chain for nearly two years. He has been consistently punctual, responsible, a hard worker, and a real team player, often accepting extra shifts to cover for others.

Last week he was terminated abruptly on the basis of the store manager’s report. The store manager told him the reason was “job abandonment.” When he asked for documentation of the dismissal, he was told that there was none. He was given no paperwork of any kind, only a final paycheck. When he asked to see the report to HR that resulted in his dismissal, the manager indicated that he had it but declined to show it. The manager did not show him the text of the rule that had supposedly been broken or allude to any company policy or process regarding termination.

What had actually occurred was that after discussing with his manager (as required) a long-planned absence for a family trip, the young person forgot to actually write his name on the “unavailable for shifts” sheet for those days. The manager then proceeded to schedule him for shifts, unknown to him. He was out of state on a trip with the family. On the day of his first shift his manager phoned him to say he ought to have shown up. When questioned, the manager admitted that he recalled the conversation in which the employee gave notice of his intended absence. Nevertheless he apparently counted each scheduled shift that was missed as an absence without notice and called that justification for dismissal.

What rights does the ex-employee have in this situation, and what next steps would you advise? He does not want being fired from his first job to mar his record permanently and stand in the way of his chances for another position.