Wrongful Termination Claim by Underperforming Employee — Healthcare, Delhi
The Client: A multi-specialty hospital chain in Delhi with 400+ employees across 13 branches.
What Happened: A senior administrative manager was terminated after 18 months of underperformance. The hospital gave her two Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and three written warnings — but she missed her targets, quarter after quarter.
When the hospital finally terminated, she filed a wrongful termination complaint with the Labour Commissioner and filed a civil suit claiming ₹32 lakh in damages — alleging that she was fired illegally, her poor performance records were fake, and the hospital just wanted to give her job to the director's relative. She also went to the media, giving interviews claiming she was illegally fired. The hospital's reputation was at risk.
What the Evidence we collected from company records:
- The company had given two Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), 8 months apart. Each one had clear target, deadlines, and signature acknowledging receipt
- She had received three written warnings — duly signed by herself, with her own written comments
- Her quarterly performance reviews for six straight quarters showed she missed 60-70% of her targets every single time
- The PIP review meetings were attended by HR, the reporting manager, and herself. All three signed the meeting notes
- The person she claimed was the "director's relative" was actually hired 4 months after she was terminated — and had 12 years of experience. There was no connection between the two
- Her own emails during the PIP period showed she admitted she was struggling and asked for extra training — which completely contradicted her claim that the PIPs were fake
- The company followed every single step mentioned in its HR policy and her appointment letter before terminating her
How SPJ Advocates Helped:
- Represented the hospital before the Labour Commissioner and district court with all documents — both PIPs, three warning
letters, six quarterly reviews, meeting notes, and the employee's own signatures on every document
- Filed a detailed counter-statement in the court showing that the hospital followed every rule and step before terminating her
- Proved that the "director's relative" story was completely false — the new hire was selected through a proper interview process based on merit and experience
- Drafted a response to the media allegations for the hospital that protected its reputation without revealing anything private about the former employee
- Advised and stopped the hospital from agreeing to a quick settlement, which the employee's lawyer was pushing for, because settling would set a wrong message that any terminated employee can demand money and get it
The Result: The Labour Commissioner rejected the employee's complaint. They found that the hospital had followed the right process at every step and the termination was fair. After this decision, the employee withdrew her civil suit on her own — because she knew her case had become very weak. The hospital paid nothing in damages and its reputation stayed safe. After the case, SPJ helped the hospital create a strong PIP and termination process — with employee signatures, witness signatures, and clear timelines — so no employee could challenge a termination again. This process is now used across all three branches.
