Working as a manager in any industry can trigger an incredible amount of stress. After all, you often have to juggle the needs of your team members with the demands of upper management. When you received news of your dismissal from your company, you wondered can a manager be fired without cause. All the talk of loyalty went out the proverbial window.
Just because you worked as a manager does not mean you had a job for life. Your employer can fire you without cause because of a principle called at-will employment. However, your employer cannot terminate you for an unlawful reason. Distinguishing between the two types of terminations requires the legal support of an employment attorney who has a record of handling wrongful termination cases.
Can a Manager be Fired Without Cause?
Working as a manager, whether you run a busy restaurant or oversee the development of an artificial intelligence program, seems like a safe job that you should keep for years to come. Nonetheless, the economic cycle goes as fast upward as it spirals downward. During down economic periods, many companies either lay off or terminate the services of managers. The companies do not have to explain why they fired their managers due to a doctrine called employment at-will.
Employment at-will means employers can fire employees without explaining why they let them go. Almost every state has established some form of at-will employment. You show up for work one day, only to learn you no longer have a job and your employer does not have to tell you why. Employment at-will also allows employers to change the terms of employment, from reducing compensation to eliminating some of your job responsibilities.
Wrongfully Terminated as a Manager
What is wrongful termination as a manager? According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, your employer cannot fire you because of any one of several factors, including age, race, and gender. Discrimination is considered an unlawful act when it comes to terminating employees. As a manager, your company cannot terminate you as an act of retaliation. If you reported an illegal act committed by your employer to a government agency, your employer is prohibited from terminating you in retaliation for your role as a whistleblower.
Another type of wrongful termination concerns an employment contract. Some companies sign employment contracts with managers that specify terms such as job duties and length of service. An employer that violates one or more sections of an employment contract has committed an act of wrongful termination.
What Are the Types of Compensation for Wrongful Termination Cases?
You have the right to seek monetary damages for a manager wrongful termination case. Economic damages recover the financial losses caused by lost wages, as well as the diminished income earned because of your work history. Wrongful termination cases also can include compensation for emotional distress, as losing a job for any reason can leave a manager devastated for a prolonged period. If the judge hearing your case discovers your company fired you for an illegal reason, the judge can award you punitive damages that punish your employer for breaking the law.
Get Legal Support from an Employment Attorney
If you were wrongfully terminated as a manager, you should seek the legal support of an employment lawyer. An attorney can help you file a lawsuit before the expiration of the statute of limitations, as well as prepare you to answer questions under oath during the trial phase of the legal process.
Schedule a free case evaluation to push back against wrongful termination.
