Wrongful termination can be hard to prove because most employees are employed at will. This means most of the time while employed you and your employer are given the free will to decide when to start and finish employment and no reason has to be given by your employer if you are terminated. It is down to you to prove if your employer has violated any state or federal laws which cover discrimination, whistleblowing and the taking of family or medical leave. Hiring an employment attorney can increase your chances of winning your wrongful termination case, as do following the following tips.
1. Know Your Employment Status
Before you can file a claim for wrongful termination you should make sure you know your status as a worker. If you are an at-will employee, or you work as a contractor, this can affect the rules for termination. You should be able to tell by looking at the documents given to you when you began to work for your employer.
2. Know What Constitutes a Wrongful Termination
If an employer decides to fire you for a poor work record, then there is not much you can do about it. If you can prove you were fired due to the3 protected reasons then you may have grounds to file a wrongful termination claim. The 3 protected reasons are:
- discrimination,
- whistleblowing,
- family/medical leave
Discrimination
Based on federal laws an employer should not be able to terminate an employee due to any of the following reasons:
- Religion: Whether an employee is an atheist, evangelical Christian, or a Muslim, their religious beliefs are protected and are not a reason that can be given for terminating an employee. For some religions, an employer may be expected to make some specific accommodations for that person in the workplace to enable the employer to perform better at his/her job.
- Race: An employer is not allowed to terminate an employee based on his/her race.
- Pregnancy: women who fall pregnant are protected under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and cannot be terminated for that reason alone.
- Gender: It is illegal to terminate someone for being a male or female. In some states including New York if you are fired for being transgender you may have the right to file for wrongful termination under transgender laws.
- Disability: An employer cannot terminate an employee for being disabled and reasonable accommodation may be required for an employee with a disability
- Age: An employer can technically fire someone for being too young, but not for being too old, as long as being old is over 40 as described in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
Whistleblowing
The False Claims Act contains an anti-retaliation provision that makes it illegal for employers to retaliate against employees who participate in whistleblowing against them. Any employee who successfully proves a False Claims Act retaliation case is entitled to be reinstated and should receive the following:
- up to two times the amount of their back pay;
- interest on that back pay;
- special damages costs;
- attorney’s fees.
As well as the False Claims Act, there are several other federal and state laws which are specific to certain industries. These include provisions to protect whistleblowers from wrongful termination.
Family/medical leave
In most cases the Family and Medical Leave Act allows an employee to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for his or her own medical treatment or that of a close family member.
Not every employee is covered but those who are employed by an employer which has 50 or more regular employees who work within 75 miles of each other are covered. Also, employees must have worked for at least one year for a total of at least 1,250 work hours in the year before to be eligible for coverage for medical or family leave.
3. Gather As much Evidence as Possible To Prove Your Wrongful Termination
It doesn’t matter which protected feature has led to your termination as long as you can prove that your termination falls under one of the protections. You can gather evidence from several different sources that may help you support your claim.
The most important one is eyewitness accounts of events that led up to your termination notice being received. The second is any communication that has taken place that indicates the reason for your termination. This could be text messages or emails that reveal the reason for your termination.
4. Proof of Damages
When you have gathered all the evidence you require to back up your wrongful termination claim you will need to record all the wages you are owed as these will be included in your claim. If the case has caused you a large amount of emotional distress you may be able to get the monetary value of your distress calculated and included in your claim.
Your doctor may be able to write a report proving your emotional distress. Finally, the cost of your attorney’s fees is also part of a wrongful termination claim.
5. Work with a Wrongful Termination Lawyer
An employment lawyer can help gather evidence and present a case for wrongful termination on your behalf. It can be confusing to navigate through the process of filing a claim against an employer. You may have limited time to file your complaint. And you may have to submit certain pieces of evidence in order to prove your claim.
A wrongful termination lawyer that specializes in helping people fight for their employment rights can advise you when you are building your case against an employer.
A wrongful termination lawyer will look over the facts of your case and make sure that you don’t miss the deadline for filing the claim. They also can help you gather evidence to support your claim and figure out what evidence you have that best supports your case.
A lawyer can negotiate a settlement on your behalf with your employer if the employer would rather settle than to go to court. You have a better chance of getting all the money you’re entitled to with an attorney negotiating for you.
And if the case does go to court a wrongful termination lawyer can argue your case in court which will give you the best chance to hold your employer accountable for wrongfully firing you.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Wrongful Termination Cases
If you think you have been wrongfully terminated, you might have some questions regarding your case. Rest assured, you are probably aren’t the only one to have those similar questions. Scroll below to see some frequently asked questions about wrongful termination cases. If you have specific questions regarding your case, an employment lawyer will be able to help.
What Are Some Examples of Wrongful Termination Cases?
Examples of Wrongful Termination Cases include:
- Race discrimination. If you were fired for any reason related to your race you can file a wrongful termination claim. If you were fired after you complained about being subjected to offensive language, racial slurs, or other race-related incidents by your coworkers or supervisor that is also wrongful termination. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act employers cannot fire someone for any race-related reasons or retaliate against an employee who complains about race-related bullying, harassment, or discrimination by firing them.
- Age discrimination. Age discrimination happens when an employer targets employees over the age of 40 and tries to force them to quit so they can bring on younger workers. If your employer refuses to make age-related accommodations or fires you for any age-related reasons that’s considered to be discrimination.
- Sexual harassment. You cannot be fired for being a victim of sexual harassment. If you complain about being sexually harassed at work and you are fired that’s wrongful termination. The law says that you can’t be fired for reporting sexual harassment.
- FMLA violations. The FMLA states that employees are allowed to take unpaid leave to care for a child or a sick family member. If your employer fires you while you are on FMLA, refuses to let you take FMLA leave, or tries to demote you while you are on leave all of that is illegal. Your employer also can’t eliminate your position while you’re on FMLA leave to try and get rid of you.
- Whistleblower retaliation. If you report unsafe working conditions, OSHA violations, or other problems in the workplace to authorities and your employer fires you for that it’s retaliation and that’s illegal. You cannot be lawfully fired for filing a complaint or reporting your employer for workplace safety or health violations.
- Contract violations. You also can’t be fired for reporting contract violations of any kind. All retaliation-related firings fall under wrongful termination.
- Wage and hour disputes. Wage and hour disputes are not legal reasons to fire employees. If you’re fired for a reason related to wage disputes, scheduling disputes, or reporting your employer for not paying overtime rates that is wrongful termination.
How Hard is It to Win a Wrongful Termination Lawsuit?
It is much easier to win a wrongful termination case if you are working with an employment law attorney and have a lot of corroborating evidence. The more evidence you have of your wrongful termination, the easier it is to win a wrongful termination lawsuit. Proving wrongful termination in the workplace often boils down to the statements made by witnesses, as well as the statements made by a worker and an employer. Without compelling physical evidence, winning a wrongful termination lawsuit depends on your word against your employer’s word.
Because of the establishment of the at-will employment doctrine, proving wrongful termination is often difficult to do. At-will employment means either an employer or an employee can end an employment relationship without giving any notice, if the termination does not violate a principle of law.
Let’s say you received a job offer that pays you more money and gives you more professional responsibilities. Although it is common courtesy to give your employer time to find a suitable replacement, you do not have to under the at-will-employment doctrine.
Although the at-will employment doctrine makes it hard to win a wrongful termination lawsuit, you might have a strong enough case if your employer violated a state or federal law. According to Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers cannot discriminate against workers based on several demographic factors.
Employers are forbidden from discriminating against workers based on demographic factors such as race, gender, disability, and sexual orientation. Employers also cannot fire anyone as an act of retaliation. For example, an employer cannot fire a worker because the worker filed a formal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Similarly, an employer cannot push you into a forced resignation due to the discrimination and harassment you are experiencing at work.
Next Steps to Take
If you think you have been wrongfully terminated at work, you could have yourself an employment law claim. If that is the case, then you should get connected to an employment law attorney who can take a case in your area. An employment law lawyer will be able to review your case and see if you have enough to file a claim against your employer. Fill out the free case evaluation to get connected to an attorney who can take a case in your area.
