You showed up for your Saturday night shift as a line cook at a popular creole restaurant operating on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. However, you showed up for your shift 30 minutes late, which has put the chef in no mood to the deal with an excuse for the tardiness. In fact, the chef decided to fire you for the late arrival, and he doesn’t even give you a reason for the dismissal from your job.
Has the chef committed an act of wrongful termination in Louisiana?
Wrongful termination is a general term that is typically defined by an employer firing a worker for any reason the state statutes deem unlawful. In Louisiana, wrongful termination is somewhat clouded by a legal term referred to as at will employment.
What are Your Rights
As the state agency that fosters employment growth in the Bayou State, the Louisiana Workforce Commission describes the impact of employment-at-will labor agreements. The standard for at will employment is every employment relationship allows an employer to terminate an employee for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason whatsoever. However, the state of Louisiana has made several exceptions to at will employment that prevent employers for arbitrarily firing workers.
Breach of Contract
Employers in the Bayou State cannot terminate a worker for a good reason, for a bad reason, or for no reason at all if there is an employment contract established between the employer and the worker. Employment contracts form the relationship between companies and workers in industries that have a high number of special projects, such as road construction and disaster damage mitigation.
Discrimination
Federal statutes override state laws when it comes to cases of workplace discrimination. For example, the at will employment clause found in your employee handbook has no bearing on your employment status if your manager discriminated against you because of age, race, gender, and sexual orientation. Discrimination cases often require the filing of witness statements, as well as documentation that proves the existence of discrimination in the workplace.
Retaliation
Louisiana prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for any reason. Health and safety issues usually come into play for employer retaliation cases.
For example, an employee that publicizes a company’s unsafe work environment cannot be terminated for outing the company as a whistleblower. If a worker issues a formal discrimination complaint against a supervisor, the company cannot fire the employee because of the formal complaint. Testifying against an employer and subsequently receiving a termination notice is against the law in Louisiana.
Malice
The state of Louisiana recognizes an implicit legal doctrine called good faith and fair dealing. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, "Examples of bad faith terminations include an employer firing an older employee to avoid paying retirement benefits or terminating a salesman just before a large commission on a completed sale is payable. There have been relatively few cases in which employers were found liable under an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing theory."
Violations of any of the legal principles that define a wrongful termination case in Louisiana give workers the right to sue their employers in a civil court.
How to Sue for Wrongful Termination
Filing a lawsuit against an employer for wrongfully terminating you requires plenty of patience and perseverance. Even a small business comes to a civil courtroom with a team of attorneys representing the business interest of the company on the wrong end of the lawsuit.
You need to submit documentation that proves your employer unlawfully fired you, which includes records of job evaluations and any disciplinary paperwork that demonstrate the company never took steps to correct any workplace performance issues. Testimony from eyewitnesses, particularly from co-workers and members of management, can help bolster your case for filing a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Compensation awarded for favorable wrongful termination decisions depends on the severity of the employment violations, as well as the length of time that unfolded during the entire process. Judges have the legal authority to award plaintiffs financial compensation in the form of punitive damages and money to cover court costs and legal fees. You also might have the opportunity to reclaim your former job, but you should first consult with an experienced employment lawyer to determine whether that is a good idea.
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