In the U.S., most employment situations are 'at will', hence all workplaces have the right to fire you at any time, for any reason, or without any main reason, as long as it isn't due to some kind of discrimination. But even then, the termination must be in observance with the laws.
Being fired or let go never feels good, but it is even more disheartening when the firing seemed arbitrary or in retaliation for actions you took to do the right thing. Our Wrongful Termination Attorneys protect employees' rights against unlawful firing of employment. We represent employees throughout the areas of Southern California.
Many workplaces utilize "at-will" employment, meaning that they can let employees go at any time. However, at-will policies do not remove the workplace's obligation to act legally. Under both California state laws and federal laws, companies can not terminate employees who:
Violating an employment contract is also another way to wrongfully fire an employee.
Most of the time, discrimination is the main reason behind a wrongful termination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has listed several kinds of discrimination that employees become victim to, which include race, color, gender, religion, age, disability, pregnancy, and nationality.
Although the federal government doesn't consider discrimination on the basis of a person's sexual orientation illegal yet, state and local governments consider the LGBTQ community as a protected group of people, which makes it against the law for companies to discriminate against them on the basis of their orientation.
Other than discrimination, the EEOC also covers retaliation as a prohibited main reason for firing someone from the job. Under some circumstances, companies might fire employees for retaliation for taking actions like,
If you're sure that your firing was driven due to discriminatory reasons or as retaliation, you have the right to file a complaint with the EEOC. Once you've provided the required documents, the agency will investigate and make a decision.
If they send you the dismissal and notice of rights letter, it means that even though they believe that the workplace hasn't violated any laws, you can still file a lawsuit against them. Whereas the letter of determination means that the agency believes that you have grounds to file a lawsuit.
In both cases, the victim gets a 90 days period from the date of the letter to file a wrongful termination lawsuit.
The letter is sent to both the plaintiff and the defendant, for the possibility of a settlement between the two parties. If this attempt is not successful, you receive a right to sue letter from the agency meaning that you can proceed with filing a lawsuit.
If you have illegally fired, please call us or contact us online to schedule a free case evaluation.
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