Getting booted from your job is no laughing matter. It can jeopardize the progression of your career for years to come. Plus, it can cause financial difficulties in the time before you can find a new job. An employer can’t just fire someone without any reasonable cause, as being terminated means that the company is not liable for any compensation, unlike a lay-off. The employment contract signed at the beginning of employment details the agreements to which both parties are held accountable to.
If you haven’t done anything to break those agreements, the employment laws, or the federal laws, your employer cannot legally fire you. If you suspect that you were wrongfully dismissed, you will need to involve a lawyer in the case. In this article, we’ll discuss a wrongful termination in more detail so that you can handle the situation properly if it ever happens to you.
What is a Wrongful Termination?
In short, wrongful termination is when an employee is fired illegally. Some examples of wrongful terminations are listed below:
// Discrimination
An employer cannot fire an employee based on their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, age, legal statuses, and characteristics that do not affect their ability to do their job.
// Retaliation
An employer cannot fire someone for rejecting non-work-related requests, whether legal or illegal. For example, if an employer makes sexual advances on an employee and gets rejected, termination is not justified.
// Misalignment of Moral Standards
In most states, it is wrong to fire someone for misalignment of moral codes. One has the right to exercise free speech and freedom of beliefs within the legal boundaries, and if they haven’t violated any laws, they can’t be held accountable for it. For example, if they participate in a legal movement that their employer doesn’t believe in, the employer has no right to fire them based on their beliefs if it doesn’t affect their ability to do their job.
// Breach of Contract
As mentioned, the employment contracts may state certain workplace rules that an employee is expected to follow, and if they fail to do so, they can be terminated. However, the scale of damage that the violation of this rule costs must justify the employer’s decision, or it can result in a long-winded legal battle between the two parties.
What Can a Lawyer Do For You?\
If you have recently been fired and things don’t seem to add up, you may want to gather as much evidence as you can and give an employment lawyer a call. Your lawyer can review the contract and compare it to the evidence that you collected to see if their decision to fire you was justified or not. If your lawyer finds any holes in their decision, they can advise you on what further legal actions you can take, and what you may get out of those actions. The available options will depend solely on how the strength of your case and how binding and conclusive the evidence is. If your case is compelling and all of your evidence is clear and indicative of how the termination process went down, you will have leverage for the ensuing negotiation.
For example, you can set up a meeting to negotiate a severance payment, settlement, or compensation. If all else fails, you can file for a wrongful termination case at the appropriate administrative office. Your lawyer can guide you through all of these processes and help you build the most compelling case for the evidence that you have.
In Conclusion
If you have been fired for one of the aforementioned reasons, get in touch with an employment lawyer as soon as possible. With most types of legal actions, it’s best to act fast so that the other party can’t hide or destroy the evidence before the investigation. This will ensure that you have the best chance of getting the most out of the case.
Knowing your rights and keeping track of the information in the agreement you sign is the most integral part, as that is the basis on which the right people will determine whether the termination was wrongful or not. It’s always a good idea to at least have your lawyer look through the documents to make sure that you’re not being taken advantage of by your former employer.
Romanosky Law specializes in protecting individuals that have had a wrongful termination. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help.
