Lost Your Job? Wrongful Termination Checklist

Being fired from your job is painful and perhaps embarrassing. You may feel frightened and overwhelmed. However, if you were fired for an illegal reason, it is called “wrongful termination,” and you may have a case to file against your employer.

What is Wrongful Termination?

“Wrongful termination” is any firing of an employee that is done in violation of federal, state, or local laws, the terms of an employment contract, or for any reason that goes against public policy. Being fired unfairly does not rise to the level of wrongful termination according to the law, however, there are several reasons that you may have been fired for an illegal reason.

Wrongful Termination Checklist

To determine if you were fired for an illegal reason and would have a claim for “wrongful termination,” follow this checklist to see if any of these situations apply in your circumstance. If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, you may be eligible to file for wrongful termination.

Discrimination and Harassment

• Were you terminated due to your ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, pregnancy, age, disability, or genetic information?
• Did your employer ever make statements of a discriminatory nature towards you?
• Is there either circumstantial or direct evidence from your employer or other employees that you were fired for discriminatory reasons?
• Were certain groups of people treated differently in your office?
• Were comments made by your employer that could have been construed as racist, sexist ,or otherwise discriminatory?
• Were there ever any unwelcome sexual advances, or sexual requests by an employer? Did you get fired after terminating a romantic relationship with an employer?

Retaliation

• Did you tell a government agency or law enforcement about suspected violations of the law or regulations that you believed your employer engaged in?
• Did your employer react negatively to learning that you reported potential violations?
• Were you ever warned about engaging in such participation or reporting such violations?
• Were you ever discouraged from exercising your rights under the law, such as under the FMLA?

Breach of Employer/Employee Contracts

• Did your employer fire you against the provisions in your employer handbook?
• Did your employer make verbal promises, such as guaranteeing that you would have a job, and then fire you?
• Did your employer provide adequate reasons according to the handbook or your employer/employee contract for the firing?
• Did your employer act in bad faith? For example, if you worked for a company for 30 years and you were fired with only one week away from full benefits.

Violation of Public Policy

• Were you fired for voting, participating in jury duty, or filing a worker’s compensation claim?
• Were you told by your employer to lie under oath or break the law?

An Experienced Employment Attorney on Your Side

A survey shows those employees who were wrongfully terminated, and hired legal representation in the matter, earned 150% higher on average in their claim than those who represented themselves.

The experienced employment attorneys at Asbill Law Group can help you build your case regarding your employer’s discriminatory practices, or illegal actions, and help you get the compensatory damages you are owed. For more information, and to speak with one of our attorneys at Asbill Law Group, please call us at 916-877-4227 or online today.