WRONGFUL TERMINATION
If you were fired from your job for no reason or for a reason you feel were illegal, you may have a claim for wrongful termination.
Status of Employee
Some wrongful termination suits are governed by whether the employee is an “at-will” employee or one working pursuant to an employment contract, oral or written. An at-will employee can be fired at any time for any reason so long as it is not for an unlawful purpose or reason.
An employee working under a contract may usually only be terminated if he/she fails to meet certain contractual terms such as poor performance, failure to meet established goals or for certain conduct. In other words, for “good caus” only.
Good Cause
If the individual’s employment is contractual or subject to certain oral terms, then he/she may only be fired for good cause, which must be business-related and only after an investigation, notice of the alleged misconduct or performance is provided to the employee, and the employee was given an opportunity to respond. Any termination must be according to the employer’s written guidelines as well.
Discriminatory Reasons
An employee may not be terminated or termination for a discriminatory reason including:
- Disability
- Age
- Marital status
- Medical condition including pregnancy
- Sexual orientation
Retaliatory Reason
- Race
- Gender
- Religion
- National origin
An employee cannot be termination if he/she was engaged in a protected activity such as refusing to perform a business-related act if it is discriminatory or unlawful and the employee was either termination or subjected to demotion, loss of benefits or pay or any other adverse employment action. Employees also may not be termination for whistle blowing, complaining about discriminatory actions, participating in an investigation of the employer or discussing with a government representative unlawful employment policies and practices.
Filing a Claim
A wrongful discharge claim can be filed with the FEHA, or California Fair Employment and Housing Act or with the EEOC, or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. An employee has 180 days from the alleged unlawful act to file a complaint with the EEOC and 90 days after the agency issues a right-to-sue letter to file a suit in civil court.
Employees have one year to file a complaint with the FEHA. Alternatively, the employee can seek remedies under the FEHA so long as she/he files a complaint within one year of the employee’s discharge.