When an employee is fired, he or she might start to wonder if the termination is legal. In some cases, termination might be illegal. The types of termination that are illegal vary greatly, but knowing them might help someone who has been terminated to determine if the termination is legal or illegal.
Retaliatory termination is illegal if the termination is because of complaints made about discrimination. An example of this would be if you were fired because you complained about one gender making more than the other gender in the company. Of course, the complaints made must be valid and made properly.
Employers can’t terminate employees for reasons that are prohibited by federal law. This means employees can’t be fired because of the employee’s age if the employee is at least 40 years old, gender, religion, race or national origin. This means that if you were fired because of those reasons, you may have a claim against your former employer.
An employee can’t be fired because he or she refuses to take a lie detector test or make complaints about violations of the Occupation Safety and Health Act. Additionally, employees can’t be fired for refusing to do something illegal or for whistleblowing on an employer who is doing something illegal.
Anyone who feels he or she has been wrongfully terminated might decide to pursue actions against an employer. It is vital for you to learn your rights and options so you can decide how you want to pursue your claims against your former employer.
Source: FindLaw, “Wrongful Termination Laws: Illegal Reasons,” accessed April. 09, 2015