Did you know that over 60% of the U.S. working population has faced workplace discrimination at some point? These situations often led to employee dismissal. Discrimination and harassment cases have become frequent occurrences and have grown into tens of allegations every year that most people file with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Unjust termination can lead to several serious problems and involve severe circumstances such as wrongful discharge, discrimination, harassment, retribution, illegitimate reasons for termination, or breaching the expressed or implied conditions of work.
Employment laws in many regions are meant to protect one’s job, and even in at-will employment states, employers are restricted from firing a worker. An employer is not allowed to dismiss a worker based on protected characteristics such as sex, race, national origin, disability, age, and religion.
According to San Diego wrongful termination lawyer Frank S. Clowney III, one example of workplace termination is when an employee talks about salaries with a colleague and proceeds to be fired from work. Several other grounds for illegal dismissal also exist.
In the aftermath of an unjust dismissal, it would benefit employees if they compiled job-related information, kept records of their correspondence, researched administrative rules in the organization, filed for unemployment, and sought help from in-house representation of the company or external employment attorneys, including the Department of Labor.
Let’s discuss the important steps one should take if they experienced illegal firing at work.
Understanding At-Will Employment and Its Limits
In 49 states, all employees are employed under the “at-will” doctrine, meaning they may be discharged for any reason or none. The only exception is Montana, where state law (the Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act) requires a fair reason to terminate an employee upon completion of the probationary period. Prior to the end of the probationary period, employees may still be free to terminate their work.
Being in an at-will position does not shield the employer from legal responsibility when they terminate someone based on unlawful grounds. Once the firing motive is within a protected class, then the at-will label does not protect the employer.
No statute or case law justifies dismissal for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons as an advantage of at-will employment. The “at will” arrangement does not mean that the employer can terminate an employee based on an illegal reason.
The Legal Exceptions: When a Firing Becomes Wrongful
Discrimination
Federal law prohibits acts of discrimination based on race, gender, color, ethnic origin, religion, age, disability, genetic information, and pregnancy, among other factors. Workers are entitled to protections under sections 4 and 15 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Other similar and applicable statutes exist in some states.
State and local laws typically help out or further add to these protections for smaller employers and they also add more protected categories that Congress doesn’t cover, like marital status, sexual orientation, sex, political affiliation, and other similar things depending on the place. Discrimination statutes vary between states.
Discriminatory termination is often proven through circumstantial evidence, such as suspicious timing, inconsistent reasons for firing, unequal treatment of similar employees, statistical patterns, or negative comments about the employee.
According to the law firm website https://www.hallandlampros.com/, if you have been discriminated against as a result of your gender, employment discrimination attorneys will fight for justice for you. You should talk to them to know your next steps.
If an employer’s reason for terminating the employee is factually incorrect or is inconsistent with the treatment of a similar situation involving another employee, there is evidence of pretext for discriminatory termination.
Retaliation
Retaliation usually happens when an employer takes an adverse employment action against an employee for engaging in a legally protected activity. The adverse action is almost always evident, like firing. The only question is whether the protected activity was the cause.
Activities protected by the law from legal termination include:
- An employee’s charge of discrimination or sexual harassment complaint to the federal and state agencies or participation in an inquiry
- An employee discloses that they have been a victim of some form of discrimination or untoward behavior attributed to the acts of the employer.
- An employee who asks their employer to take into account any prevailing conditions, especially the recognized absence of a given job requirement due to physical disability or religious holiday.
- A firefighter who files a claim for workers’ compensation or identifies an injury while working.
- An employee who reports a health or safety violation to OSHA or any other body. Reporting any cases related to wage theft, unpaid overtime, and other wage and payment issues is protected under employment laws.
- Employees who made a request to take leave, specifically those who consistently followed FMLA or a certain state provision.
- An employee who informs any relevant bodies about possible fraud involving government entities is seen as a whistleblower and is entitled to several protections.
The time between the protected action and the firing is often the most compelling evidence of retaliation. A worker who was extolled in a performance evaluation two weeks prior to filing an EEOC complaint and was let go three weeks later has a timeline that would raise a substantial inference of retaliation.
Breach of contract
An employee who concludes a valid employment agreement ceases to be an at-will employee unless it is stated otherwise in the contract. If an employment agreement limits the job to a specific term or allows the dismissal of an employee only for a valid reason, in most cases, the employer cannot simply dismiss the employee without cause or for any other reason during that term. The employee, if the contract is breached and the employer wrongfully dismisses him or her, can seek damages or any other legal relief as stipulated in the agreement.
In the absence of a written contract, an implied contract is one that is created based on circumstances. These may arise from the conduct of the employer, the promises made verbally, or written documents such as policy manuals, employee handbooks, and the like. Employee manuals outlining specific HR practices are a common document, especially within larger organizations. Such detailed provisions can influence management’s behavior and can be classified as a contract. Such things are often evidence of an enforceable contract, and an employer can be held liable for not following the termination procedures they articulated. If an employer fails to respect its commitment to an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing when firing an employee, the employee may claim a breach of that covenant.
One such case would include a claim for an “implied contract” being available to an employee who felt that they were fired without the proper proceedings that should have triggered the employee’s dismissal. Courts will discuss whether the employer’s statements and conduct would encourage a reasonable employee to hold the belief that they could not be terminated without cause and whether the employee relied on that belief.
Public policy violations
Most states acknowledge a public-policy-based wrongful discharge claim, which tends to involve firings performed for certain conduct that the law specifically protects. Classic examples include the firing of an employee for serving jury duty, voting, performing military service, filing a workers’ compensation claim, or reporting illegal conduct to an agency of the government.
The public policy doctrine allows employers to terminate employees in at-will employment contracts unless statutory or constitutional structures provide restrictions. It has its significance since not all employee protections are provided for in the retaliation laws, but this exception seeks to sustain unarticulated policy protection of the employee. In such cases, the public policy doctrine may address the issue and prevent workers from losing their jobs for the wrong reasons.
What to Do Immediately After Termination
The actions you take after being fired can profoundly affect your case and how well it will hold in court.
If you are unlawfully dismissed, you should not sign anything under the termination. Read over the release document cautiously. Employers will frequently present a separation agreement to you and offer severance in return for a waiver of suit. A release is a legally binding contract, giving up the right to sue the employer for the severance payment.
State and federal law require that employees over the age of 40 be given at least 21 days to consider waiving an age discrimination claim by signing a release and seven days to revoke it. It is critical to review a separation agreement before signing anything and, ideally, to have an attorney go over it.
Save a copy of every relevant proof before you lose all access to important documents.
Evidence needed for a wrongful termination case includes:
• The termination letter or any written material about termination: reasons cited
• Evaluation result: clear, while characterizing the reason given for termination
• Words of negative performance after the time you engaged in activity that is protected
• Work rules, handbook, and papers that define the procedure for employer
• Evidence of complaints you made emphasizing discrimination, harassment, or other acts prohibited by the law
• Prominent people having the contact information: accounts of relevant evidence
You must not remove, destroy, or tamper with any documentation related to your employment or its termination. Such actions will only land you in further legal complications if you attempt to remove company documents or data once you resign.
Filing a Charge: Administrative Requirements Before a Lawsuit
Federal statutes typically require individuals complaining of discrimination and retaliation to exhaust any administrative remedies prior to resorting to the court system. This requirement precedes the filing of a claim with the EEOC.
In states without an equivalent state agency, the statute of limitations will be 180 days after the discriminatory act that triggered the complaint. One must see to it that they comply with these deadlines. Failure to do so will result in an individual waiving their rights to seek justice and compensation.
After the charge is filed, the EEOC shall conduct its investigation. Mediation will be used if necessary. If matters cannot be resolved through mediation and other alternative dispute resolution processes, a right to sue will be issued. The right-to-sue letter is mandatory from the EEOC before a lawsuit can be filed in federal court, in most cases. The timeline from charging to the issuing of a right-to-sue may stretch to a year or beyond.
State administrative agencies and state court claims have unique deadlines. These deadlines change with state and claim type. Retaliation claims under various types of whistleblower statutes, workers’ compensation, and FMLA interference have different requirements and timelines.
What a Wrongful Termination Claim Can Recover
Employees may collect monetary awards as a result of wrongful termination claims. Recoverable damages include back pay, lost benefits, diminution in future earnings, psychological pain and suffering, and emotional distress. In exceptional circumstances, punitive damages can apply if the employer showed malicious or reckless behavior.
Federal law on race discrimination cases under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act limits the total actual (employee compensation) damages, non-economic losses, and punitive damages to anywhere from $50,000 to $300,000 based on the number of employees at an employer’s corporation. Specific laws may change what the limit of the allowable recoverable amount is.
Breach of contract claims recover the economic losses caused by the breach. These kinds of claims typically involve the wages and benefits owed under the contract until the end of the contracted term. Any amount the employee earned or could have earned through reasonable mitigation efforts will also be included.
Reinstatement to the former position is a remedy available in some cases, though many plaintiffs prefer front pay as an alternative when the employment relationship has become irreparably adversarial.
The Decisions Made Earliest Matter Most
In the days following a termination, an employee must make important decisions. The employee will decide whether to sign a severance agreement or not and what evidence should be preserved. The affected worker will also account for the EEOC deadlines and check whether a valid claim could be made.
A professional lawyer in the field of employment law can go through the necessary facts to determine whether legally there is a course of action. They are also in a position to evaluate the prevalence of the case and articulate the necessary actions to take.
Many employment attorneys provide free initial consultations and represent clients in wrongful termination cases on a contingency fee basis. This means the client pays no fees during the consultation and until the case is won.
An initial consultation is also the best step toward weighing the feasibility of a claim. Timing is another important factor in most wrongful termination cases.