Do you have enough proof to show that according to the law you were wrongfully terminated? If this is your situation you may be a victim of a wrongful termination which means your employer has violated the law.
Both state and federal laws state you cannot be fired by your employer unless there is a legal reason for doing so, even if you are an employee at-will.
According to the employment-at-will code, an employer is not permitted to dismiss an employee if when this action is taken it is in violation of state, federal or local anti-discrimination laws.
If you have the proof beyond a reasonable doubt that your employer wrongfully terminated you then you may be entitled to submit an employment law claim today.
Reasons Nurses Get Fired From Their Job
There are many reasons why a nurse may be fired which may be any of the following:
- too much absenteeism;
- poor professional conduct;
- patient abuse;
- misuse of social media;
- making too many mistakes;
- lack of professionalism;
- HIPAA violations;
- failing to renew the nursing license;
- arriving late to work too often;
- abuse of prescription or non-prescription drugs.
However, there are situations where a nurse may have been wrongfully terminated. This is when the employer has broken federal law by firing a nurse based on a protected characteristic he or she possesses. It is illegal for a nurse to be discriminated against or fired based on the following features:
- age;
- family or careers’ responsibilities;
- marital status;
- national extraction or social origin;
- physical or mental disability;
- political opinion;
- pregnancy;
- race;
- religion;
- sex;
- sexual preference.
Another reason why a nurse may have been wrongfully terminated which is when he or she has acted as a whistleblower by complaining about his or her employer for violating the law.
If you believe you were illegally fired you may be able to file a wrongful termination claim. However, you have to be able to provide evidence that proves your firing was an act of wrongful termination and not for a legal reason. The sorts of evidence you may need to support your claim may include eye witness accounts of your treatment at work.
Common Types of Wrongful Termination
If you were working as a nurse and you were terminated by your employer because you filed a complaint about anything that concerned you about the job, you may be the victim of a wrongful termination as determined by law such as:
- floors in the hospital weren’t cleaned regularly which could result in slip and fall accidents;
- lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect you against diseases in the hospital;
- dirty, torn and unsanitary uniform;
- lack of changing and washing facilities.
If you make complaints similar to the ones above your employer doesn’t have the legal grounds to retaliate by terminating you.
There are some other illegal reasons that could lead to your employer wrongfully terminating you and these are as follows.
- Discriminating against you as a result of your sexual orientation which federal laws do not allow. Employers are simply not permitted to discriminate against their workers due to their sexual orientation.
- Retaliating by terminating you due to complaints you have made about your work conditions are not permitted by law. Also, you cannot be terminated if you are a whistleblower.
- Racism and race discrimination is not legal under United States laws but some employers still show biased towards other ethnicities employed by them based on skin color or ethnicity, which is typically illegal. If you think you have been terminated based on racism you may be able to file a wrongful termination employment claim.
- Gender discrimination is not permitted under the law in spite of the fact employers frequently promote a man in preference to a woman when there is no good reason to do so or there are times when a woman employee is terminated much more quickly than a male.
- Having a disability isn’t grounds for termination from your job. It is a requirement by law that an employer gives reasonable accommodation for a disabled worker. This means your employer cannot fire you just because you are disabled as long as you can perform the job duties as required.
- Age discrimination affects mostly workers over 40 years of age. Sometimes, older nurses are fired and younger ones are put in her place as this gives the business a better image. This of course is illegal but you have to provide evidence to prove it.
What to Do If You’ve Been Wrongfully Terminated as a Nurse
If you were working as a nurse and you have the evidence to prove you were wrongfully terminated, the best defense you may have is finding reliable evidence that shows you have been wrongfully terminated.
You will need the documents listed below to help support your claim:
- any employment documents showing your latest contract as a nurse;
- job performance evaluations conducted by your employer and the date(s);
- the termination notice sent to you by your employer;
- the employee handbook;
- the workplace policies;
- timeline of events preceding your termination notice;
- witnesses’ statements commenting favorably on your job performance.
If you have been terminated even though you possess many positive reviews about your job performance, it looks like you have probably been legally wrongfully terminated.
You should now check your employer’s behavior and ask your co-workers if they can recall any times when another nurse has been faced with termination for no apparent reason.
Get a Free Evaluation Today
If when working as a nurse you know you were wrongfully terminated from your job, you should get your case reviewed free of charge under an employment law claim.
When an employment law attorney works on your behalf, you will be helped with finding and collecting the evidence you will need to prepare all the necessary paperwork for your employment law claim.
Some employment law attorneys typically work on a contingency fee basis while others prefer to charge an hourly rate. Get a free employment law case evaluation today and get the compensation you deserve for your wrongful termination.
Additional Resources
- How to Know If You Were Illegally Fired
- What Is the Average Wrongful Termination Settlement?
- Wrongful Termination Sample Letter
