Different Grounds for Wrongful Termination

When you get fired from your job it can be extremely tough. You have to find a whole new source of income. That’s not always easy to do. Getting fired is even worse when you know it wasn’t fair. You may have a case for wrongful termination. There are certain laws put in place to prohibit employers from firing employees for a certain specific reason. Generally, employers act of firing someone cannot be in any way discriminatory, a violation of public policy, or in retaliation.

Discrimination

Employers can get in trouble if they are found to have fired an employee based on discrimination. The federal law states that it is illegal to fire someone based on their race, gender, disability, national origin, religion, or age (the employee must be at least 40 years old to contest this). These are considered “protected classes”. Employers also cannot fire based on pregnancy, childbirth, or a condition related to pregnancy. For example, if an employee was pregnant and came back to work after giving birth and some time passed, and when they got there they were fired based on that, then it is considered discrimination. Some states also include sexual orientation to be part of one of the “protected classes”. For example, an employer cannot fire an employee because they are homosexual.

Violations of Public Policy

Public policy laws are set to prevent employers from firing employees in a way that would be viewed as ethically wrong or morally reprehensible to the public. An example of this would be firing an employee for taking some time off to go vote. This can be a gray area because morals and ethics vary by state.

Violation of public policy also prevents employers from firing employees who refuse to commit illegal acts, exercising a legal right (like the voting example), or complaining about illegal activities done by the firm.

Retaliation

If an employee tries to assert his or her rights under the federal or state anti-discrimination laws and the employer fires them because of that, then that is illegal and is grounds for wrongful termination. If the underlying case for discrimination doesn’t work in favor of the employee, then this may help build a successful retaliation claim. An example of this would be if an employer fired a woman employee for complaining that she isn’t getting equal pay as her male counterparts, then she may have grounds for a retaliation lawsuit. This is even if the employer proves that the pay gap was not based on the sex of the employee.

When you get fired from your job it can be very overwhelming and scary. When you get wrongfully terminated it is extremely unfair. Your employer took advantage of you. When dealing with this delicate subject matter, you want someone who is experienced. If you’re fired, it should be on the basis of not doing your job correctly, not from your employer’s discrimination, their violation of public policy, or in response to your retaliation. wrongful termination attorney at Rager & Yoon – Employment Lawyers has years of experience and will fight for your rights. Contact them for a free initial consultation at 310-527-6994 or fill out this contact form.