Losing your job is always difficult, but being fired for an illegal reason is a violation of your rights that you do not have to accept. Federal and state law prohibit employers from terminating employees for a wide range of legally protected reasons, and employees who are wrongfully discharged may be entitled to substantial compensation for their lost wages, future earnings, and the emotional distress that an illegal termination causes. The challenge is identifying whether the termination was illegal, gathering and preserving the evidence before it disappears, and navigating the legal process on the timeline that the law requires. For all of these reasons, consulting an experienced Wrongful Termination Attorney as soon as possible after a termination is essential.
What Makes a Termination Wrongful
Not every termination an employee believes is unfair is legally wrongful. In at-will employment states, employers can generally terminate employees for any reason or no reason, unless the termination violates a specific legal prohibition. Legally protected reasons that cannot be the basis for termination include: the employee’s race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability; the employee’s pregnancy or status as a parent; the employee’s exercise of rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act; the employee’s filing of a workers’ compensation claim; the employee’s report of illegal activity by the employer to a government agency; and the employee’s participation in protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act.
A Wrongful Termination Attorney will evaluate the timing and circumstances of your termination to determine whether any of these protected reasons likely motivated the employer’s decision.
Whistleblower Retaliation: A Special Category of Wrongful Termination
Employees who report their employer’s illegal activity to government authorities are protected from retaliation under a variety of federal and state whistleblower protection statutes. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act protects employees of publicly traded companies who report securities fraud. The False Claims Act protects employees who report fraud against the federal government and provides for substantial financial rewards if the government recovers money based on the employee’s tip. OSHA administers whistleblower protection programs for employees in specific regulated industries. California’s Labor Code section 1102.5 provides broad protection for employees who report violations of any law, rule, or regulation to any government agency.
Whistleblower retaliation cases can be complex, but they also carry significant potential rewards for the employee and for the public interest served by the underlying report. An experienced Wrongful Termination Attorney who handles whistleblower cases will evaluate the strength of the report, the timing of the termination, and the available evidence of retaliatory motive.
How Retaliation After a Safety Complaint Led to Justice
A warehouse worker I know reported to OSHA that his employer was requiring employees to use defective equipment that created serious injury risks. He was fired two weeks later, with the stated reason of poor attendance. His actual attendance record was above average, and his supervisor had previously given him positive performance reviews that were inconsistently cited. He consulted a Wrongful Termination Attorney who identified the close temporal connection between the OSHA complaint and the termination, the inconsistency between the stated reason and the actual attendance record, and the suspicious timing of a negative performance evaluation that appeared in his file only after the OSHA complaint was filed.
The attorney filed a whistleblower retaliation complaint with OSHA and ultimately a civil lawsuit. During discovery, the attorney obtained internal communications between the warehouse manager and HR that directly referenced the OSHA complaint and the need to find grounds for terminating the worker. The email evidence was compelling and the case settled for a substantial amount that included back pay, front pay, and damages for the emotional distress of the retaliatory termination.
Documenting the Evidence Before It Disappears
The evidence in a wrongful termination case can disappear quickly. Email communications that document the employer’s actual motivations may be deleted. Witness colleagues who observed relevant events may leave the company. Performance records may be backdated or altered. Acting quickly to consult an experienced wrongful termination attorney allows for the immediate identification and preservation of all relevant evidence. An attorney can send legal preservation letters that require the employer to maintain all documents relevant to the termination, preventing destruction that would otherwise be permissible.
The Damages a Successful Claim Can Recover
A successful wrongful termination claim can recover back pay from the date of termination, front pay for future lost earnings that cannot be mitigated, compensatory damages for emotional distress, and in cases of particularly egregious conduct, punitive damages. California’s FEHA and many federal statutes provide for attorney’s fee recovery by prevailing plaintiffs, making quality legal representation financially accessible. A Wrongful Termination Attorney who takes your case on contingency is invested in maximizing your recovery and will pursue every available damage category with the same commitment.
