By Derrek Cummings on December 18th, 2017
Being fired from a job is always painful, but suspecting you were unfairly treated and affected by wrongful work termination can be even more devastating. Wrongful termination laws are meant to protect workers from this situation, but unfortunately, discriminatory firing still occurs.
Wrongful termination refers to termination that violates an employment contract, is in bad faith or is illegal. Many forms of employment are “at will,” which allows employers to fire employees for any reason at any time. However, laws prohibit employers from terminating employees due to:
- Implied or actual violation of an employment contract. If you’re an executive or employee with a written contract, the employee must follow that contract. If the agreement is for a specific term of time, for instance, your employer generally can’t fire you without serious cause before that time is up. Even if you don’t sign a contract, there may be an implied contract. An employer may say you’ll be with the company permanently or as long as you like, for example. That may constitute an implied contract.
- Illegal reasons. You can’t be fired for your religious beliefs, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity or race. You also can’t be fired if you refuse to do something illegal during your employment.
- Disability. You can’t be fired because of a disability if you are able to do the essential functions of your job, with or without a reasonable accommodation.
- Bad faith. An employer can’t fire you to avoid paying workers’ compensation claims, for example, or sales commissions.
- Retaliation. In many cases, employers can’t fire you if you acted as a whistleblower.
Do I Have a Wrongful Termination Suit?
It can be difficult to tell whether you’ve been wrongfully fired, since an employer may give some reason for your termination to make it appear more legitimate. There are a few signs you’ll want to contact an attorney:
- The timing is suspicious. If you’re fired shortly after becoming a whistleblower and exposing your employer’s illegal actions or shortly before you’re about to retire with full benefits, your situation bears further investigation.
- Your employment situation is difficult for some time due to a specific issue. If an employer or staff has made discriminatory remarks and you’ve been demoted or have suffered ill-treatment in the workplace before you were terminated, you may have been wrongfully fired.
- There is no cause for termination. If your performance is very good and you’ve been with the company for some time, there may be no cause for termination. If others with your level of performance are still employed or are getting raises and promotions while you have lost your job, you may wish to consider whether you’ve been wrongfully fired.
What Should You Do If You Suspect Wrongful Termination?
If you suspect your employer violated employment discrimination laws or fired you wrongly, you may consider pursuing a claim. Ask why you’re being terminated and if you can evaluate your personnel files. Read your employment contract to see whether there are any clauses explaining your current predicament.
If you’re terminated for what you feel may have been wrongful or discriminatory reasons, speak with an attorney about filing a claim. Seeking a settlement can be one way to hold an employer accountable. Settlements for wrongful termination also give you resources while you work on rebuilding your career and looking for a new position.