PS: I have a BS from small and inexpensive college and at 28 I got promoted to the same job as the 27 year old with a BS and MS from MIT I sit next to. Now we both went to college, but if you compare the sticker price of his education he got a much worse deal then I did. Granted, 10 years from now he will probably make more than I will because he works ridiculously harder than I do.
You assume that because you have the same job and sit next to each other that you make the same amount of money. In my experience that is a very unsafe assumption. Unless you know what he makes, you don't know that. (In most US companies, talking about what you make to co-workers is a fireable offense for a reason.)
Quick note: in California wage secrecy is illegal.
Section 232 of The California Labor Code prohibits employers from:
* requiring as a condition of employment that any employee refrain from disclosing the amount of their wages [Section 232(a)];
* requiring an employee to sign a waiver of their right to disclose their wages [§232(b)]; or
* discharging, formally disciplining, or otherwise discriminating against an employee who discloses the amount of their wages [§232(c)].
However California is an at will state, you don't have to disclose why you fired someone. And I've been verbally informed at all of my jobs in California that I shouldn't disclose what I make. So in practice it seems that people are strongly encouraged to keep what they make secret.
Furthermore when I worked in New York I was informed that it was a legal requirement that I not disclose. And I have no reason to doubt that that was the law there.
You have a right to know why you're fired. You can't be fired for legally protected reasons. If you're fired for revealing your wage, your employer is in a lot of trouble.
Yes, you cannot be fired for legally protected reasons. Well, the company that fired you also knows that. So they come up with a reason that is not protected( "Does not fit well with the company culture"). The burden of proof is upon the ex-employee to show that they were let go for a protected reason(It is a very high burden).
You assume that because you have the same job and sit next to each other that you make the same amount of money. In my experience that is a very unsafe assumption. Unless you know what he makes, you don't know that. (In most US companies, talking about what you make to co-workers is a fireable offense for a reason.)