Wrongful termination of contract - who to pursue ?

I recently had an experience where my contract was through an agency who then placed me into a client. The client was this agency's consulting arm who were working onsite at a financial services client. That consultancy then placed me in the client to work with them both as part of the consultancy's project team but on an 'employee assignment' basis (i.e. the contract was signed off by the end client).

All went well for the first 6 months and then contract renewal came up and I was renewed for a further 12 months. The client seemed happy with the work as far as I could tell and the consultancy and the agency also expressed this. I even got it in writing.

Then, 8 days into the new contract, something happened. The project had always been under extreme pressure but this was due to poor planning and delivery by the consultancy who were responsible for specific project elements. The consultancy were translating that pressure down into their contractors, of which I was one, and pushing them to push the end client to sign off specific deliverables and so on. This did not go down well with the end client and the end client reacted badly to one circumstance I found myself in where I was told to push an issue that in the end I didn't agree with.

Then suddenly, 8 days in, the contract was terminated. In a conversation with one of the consultancy staff members, I was told it was due to this particular circumstance. I told them that this was not of my doing but I was told to push a specific agenda and this was the result. Further to that there was then collusion and deceit by the end client, consultancy and agency to push me out. I asked for a meeting to discuss the issues and determine the way forward and was ignored at every turn.

Further to that some time was allowed to pass and I did complain to the regulatory authority (which is APSCO) who ended up doing nothing. However, I have since applied for several roles at the end client since then and have recently learned that the consultancy and agency disclosed information regarding the dispute which has led the client to form a negative opinion of myself without having ever heard my side of the story.

I firmly believe my contract was wrongfully terminated and that my reputation at the end client has been wrongfully tarnished as a result of how the incident was handled by all sides. The termination cost me a good six figure sum contract wise.

I work under an umbrella company and the evidence suggests that all parties involved saw myself as the contracted party, and I therefore believe I am a party to the contract. I want to be able to pursue the consultancy legally and to restore my reputation at the end client. I am firstly thinking of writing to the end client and tabling all the facts and evidence to make them aware of facts on how the consultancy and agency behaved (and colluded) and to then seek a meeting to resolve the issue. This may be better than legal action.

However, if I did pursue legal action, can I do this outside my umbrella company given the damage to my reputation ? And is there a forum to force mediation of the dispute such that all parties must come to the table and resolve the matter ?

All advice welcomed. Thanks.

[Ardesco]

What does your contract say? What was the notice period they had to give you? Did they classify what you did as gross misconduct?

Generally I would say there is nothing you can do, losing a contract at the drop of the hat is one of the risks of contracting and that's one of the reasons we earn slightly higher rates than permies.

IMHO pushing somebody else's agenda was a stupid thing to do, you made yourself a target and paid the consequences.

Apologies if this isn't what you wanted to hear.

Oh if you are looking to go down the libel route you will need hard evidence, if you don't have any don't even bother thinking about it.

[mavster07]

In their termination notice they claimed they were replacing me with a permie (which they never did). However, they had a conversation beforehand advising of the issue raised but wouldn't convene a meeting afterwards.

When the issue was then taken to APSCO, I received written confirmation that the termination was due to the issues raised and this was proof that the termination reason given was false. One has to ask the question why do you terminate a contract 8 days in to a 12 month deal when you've just had glowing reviews for the last 6 ?

I have to disagree that I made myself a target. I was contracted to do the role and to further the project. It was conflict of interest situation with lots of politics outside my control. Hard to explain in detail here but trust me I covered my tracks.

I think this case is provable and worth pursuing, particularly as down the track the consultancy discussed the case with the client.

[Ardesco]

You haven't answered the questions:

1. What does your contract say?
2. What was the notice period they had to give you?
3. Did they classify what you did as gross misconduct?

If you don't tell us this we can't give you any meaningful advice.

[Ardesco]

By the way they don't have to give you a valid reason for terminating, they just have to adhere to the terms of your contract. You don't have any employment rights because you are not a permie!

[pzz76077]

They terminated your contract. It happens all the time. They don't have any further need for your services as an external consultant.

Even if you dispute the reason for the termination, would they ever sign any more of your time sheet so that you could benefit??

Most contractors contracts are not worth the paper they are written on when it comes down to it.

Remember, when someone gives you a contact, its for their benefit and not yours!

PZZ

[TheFaQQer]

In their termination notice they claimed they were replacing me with a permie (which they never did).

Well, that was a bit silly of them, really - they didn't need to give you a reason, and they gave you one that does not appear to be true. That seems to be the one thing in your favour if you decide to pursue legal action. However, it's such a minor thing, it's almost completely irrelevant.

You haven't answered the questions:

1. What does your contract say?
2. What was the notice period they had to give you?
3. Did they classify what you did as gross misconduct?

If you don't tell us this we can't give you any meaningful advice.

WHS - although the third question may be irrelevant. My first contract was terminated after a series of clashes between the functional consultant (their employee) and the technical lead (myself) - he was clueless and refused to accept that the technical team knew what they were talking about. Agency terminated the contract with immediate effect because the contract had a clause that said they could terminate if they were unhappy with the work. Nothing in there to say that they had to prove they were unhappy or anything like that - they said they were unhappy, end of 6 month contract.

Chalk it up to experience, move on, find something else to do. This is a risk of being in business, so act like a business.

[Support Monkey]

"MOVE ON" all your gonna do is tie yourself in knots mentally and financially, this happens all the time, They can tell you your the best contractor in the world but the minute the Tulip hits the fan everyone looks for the scapegoat
and unfortunately in this instance it was you.

The consultancy were translating that pressure down into their contractors, of which I was one, and pushing them to push the end client to sign off specific deliverables and so on. This did not go down well with the end client and the end client reacted badly to one circumstance I found myself in where I was told to push an issue that in the end I didn't agree with.

you where already in a no win situation you push the client the wrong way and your finished if you had told the consultancy you did not agree and would not push the client you where also finished.

And why would the end client want to look at you for other Roles when you have quite clearly pushed for deliverables that they did not want and even you did not agree with, they would think you may do this again and if you tell them the consultancy told you to do this they will want to know why you did not stand up to them in the first place.

As for reputation yes its hurt but unless your in a very niche market 1 terminated contract is no big deal and you could infact make matters worse by pursuing some pointless legal action.

[Ardesco]

WHS - although the third question may be irrelevant.

Only reason I'm asking that one is because they will most likely be able to ignore any notice period if they classified it as gross misconduct. If the OP tried to bully them into signing off something they shouldn't have signed off I could see a gross misconduct charge sticking no matter where the driving force for this action was.

[TheFaQQer]

Only reason I'm asking that one is because they will most likely be able to ignore any notice period if they classified it as gross misconduct. If the OP tried to bully them into signing off something they shouldn't have signed off I could see a gross misconduct charge sticking no matter where the driving force for this action was.

I agree - but in my case, there was nothing in the contract that said it had to be misconduct, just that they weren't "happy" with the work.

Whatever the contract says, I reckon he's screwed anyway.