If you are like the majority of us, you need your job. You and your family rely on your income in order to eat, buy gasoline, pay for public transportation, and to put a roof over your head. For those reasons, losing your job can be incredibly stressful and detrimental to your health. What makes losing your job even harder to swallow is when you have been fired for unfair and illegal reasons.
California has comprehensive protections for employees. If you believe you have been fired for reasons that may be protected by California law, you are entitled to compensation. Even if you are an at-will employee, meaning your employer does not need to have a reason to fire you, your employer is not allowed to fire you for reasons that are illegal. If you know or suspect that you may have been wrongfully terminated, contact our Glendale wrongful termination attorneys to schedule a consultation.
Retaliation
Generally, you can be fired if you are an at-will employee for any reason unless it is prohibited by California law including unlawful retaliation and discrimination. Retaliation occurs when your employer takes action to fire or demote you, or exercises conduct that otherwise negatively impact your job because you reported or participated in an investigation related to wrongful conduct. Examples of illegal conduct include workplace harassment, wage violations, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other illegal activity or violations.
Discrimination
Discrimination occurs when an employer takes action to fire an employee or negatively impact his or her employment such as a demotion or moving an employee to a less desirable position for discriminatory reasons that are protected by California law. An employer may not discriminate against employees for reasons including, but not limited to race, religion, national origin, color, disability, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, and sexual orientation.
Other Wrongful Termination
Other common wrongful termination cases in California relate to breach of an employment contract for contract employees and violations of public policy.
Breach of employment contract: If you have an employment contract rather than being an at will employee, your contract may offer you additional protections. Employment contracts often provide that an employee will remain employed unless he or she engages in specific types of misconduct that gives the employer cause to fire him or her. If the employer terminates an employee for any other reason than what is stated in the contract, the employer may be in breach of contract and the employee would be entitled to damages. Every contract is different which is why you need an attorney to review your contract to determine whether or not your employer may have violated the terms of your agreement.
Violations of public policy: In California it is illegal to fire an employee for exercising a legal right or legal obligation related to important public policies that benefit society at large. Employers may not fire or otherwise harm an employee’s job for refusing to violate a statute or reporting a violation of a statute related to public policy.
Our Glendale wrongful termination attorneys at Rager & Yoon – Employment Lawyers are committed to protecting employees from wrongful termination and other illegal employment related conduct and we will work to see that you are fully compensated for your related damages.