Have you been Wrongfully Terminated?
When being employed means providing for your family and maintaining a certain standard of living, it can be devastating to lose your job for any reason. Unless you are protected by a Union or have any other type of tenure, you are at risk of being fired due to downsizing, poor performance, or the fact that your position has been eliminated. There are many reasons that are perfectly legal for your employer to cite for letting you go, but where do you draw the line? When does it become wrongful termination?
If you feel your termination was unwarranted, contact us or call 707-525-1212 to schedule a free initial consultation at your convenience with one of our skilled Wrongful Termination Lawyers.
What is Wrongful Termination?
Most individuals will undoubtedly be upset and feel wronged after they are laid off or fired from their jobs. Some may feel their employers have broken the law by letting them go. Truth be told, most bosses actually have every legal right to terminate employees for justifiable reasons that are perfectly lawful. In most cases, employees have no recourse or cause of action for a lawsuit against former employers; however, if you can prove that your boss discharged you for an illegal reason, you could have a claim for compensation. Some illegal reasons for terminating employment are:
- Firing because of race, gender, age, national origin, religion, pregnancy or veteran status
- Firing as an act of retaliation because the employee made a workers’ compensation claim
- Firing due to your disability, for which the employer failed to provide reasonable accommodations to allow you to perform the job
Termination in Relation to Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment-related firing means an employer’s or other worker’s actions usually progress through a series resembling the following:
- Hostile work environment, which often includes sex-related jokes or taunts
- Implied or overt requests for sexual favors
- Inappropriate physical contact and/or groping
- Verbal abuse
- Termination, allegedly on other grounds such as failure to perform duties of the job
- Retaliatory discharge after you report the sexual harassment
Employment Law Attorneys in Santa Rosa, California
If you have concerns about anything related to Employment Law, please contact an attorney at Teal & Montgomery to schedule an appointment at your convenience to discuss your questions.
Broken Promises
If you have a written contract, which outlines intentions or promises of future employment, you may have grounds for a lawsuit. Promises include terms of employment, guaranteed salary or pay raises. Some employers give letters guaranteeing an employee will not be fired for any reason other than certain stated grounds.
Implied promises can also be taken into consideration. These verbal contracts are based on things said or done by your employer which gave you good reason to assume the duration of your employment, guarantee of regular pay raises or even if your employer states verbally that he or she violated the usual processes when hiring or firing you. Any kind of broken promises should be taken into consideration when building a wrongful termination case.
Public Policy Violations
Did your termination violate public policy? It is against the law to breach public policy when firing a worker. This is firing for reasons recognized by society as a whole as illegitimate grounds for termination. These might include:
- Refusing to pay workers their earned commissions or accumulated vacation pay
- Firing an employee for taking time off for jury duty
- Firing an employee for taking time off to vote
- Firing an employee for serving in the military or National Guard
- Firing an employee for whistle-blowing
Good Faith and Fair Dealing
If your boss acted unfairly, you might have a claim for a breach of a duty of good faith and fair dealing. Some courts have discovered that employers breached the duty of good faith and fair dealing by terminating or relocating employees to keep sales commission from them, misleading employees about promotions and commissions, failing to expose dangerous work conditions and others.
Talk with an experienced lawyer concerning your claims of unfair termination, discrimination, or discrimination that led to a hostile work environment or loss of income. Investigate your options and whether you have a compelling claim for compensation from the transgressing employer.
Contact Our California Wrongful Termination Attorney
Please contact us or call 707-525-1212 to schedule a free initial consultation at your convenience.