Getting fired from a job you’ve been constantly depending on can be very annoying. And this could even get worse if this termination was based on some unacceptable practices and characteristics. The employer will be violating the law against wrongful termination. Over the last few decades, there have been several examples of such wrongful termination cases that have been witnessed and reported. The following are 7 of such examples and what you can learn from them. Please read on.
- Discrimination
The federal law discourages employers from terminating employees’ employment based on their religion, gender, race, age, national origin, or genetic information. However, some employers have been violating this law by terminating the employees’ employment on grounds of one of the characteristics mentioned above. There have also been some cases where the employers have fired an employee because of a medical condition, pregnancy or childbirth. If you think you or a family member was wrongfully fired because of any form of discrimination, you should consult a professional employment attorney experienced in handling similar cases. You can visit www.mbradylaw.com for more information.
- Breach of Contract
A contract can be implicit or in writing. Either way, the employee expects to be allowed to work within the bounds of the specific contract and not having to worry about being let go. But have employers always been considering these? Well, at least some. Even with several states adopting the form of employment “at will,” others have been firing their employees for reasons not included in the contract they agreed-upon. For instance, an employer can terminate the employment of an employee before the year or date agreed-upon when initializing the contract. Normally, the employer is expected to pay the employee some amount upon termination of the contract. You will need to discuss the circumstances with your attorney to determine the options available to you.
- Retaliation
Employees have the right to participate in certain protected activities without being punished by the employer. Such activities are inclusive of safety violations or discrimination. For instance, an employee can collaborate with investigators interested in investigating a potentially illegal behavior like a research of the minimum wage violations. In order to know if you have a valid claim for wrongful termination of your employment on grounds of retaliation, you need to consider the immediate events that took place just before the termination. You may’ve reported potential violations to your employer or enforcement agencies like OSHA and was warned or faced a negative reaction like being demoted or wage-cuts. Your attorney will help you access these events and advise you on the legal steps to follow.
- Time Off Dismissal
Every employee is entitled to have some time off, but which is protected by law, such as military service or voting. The women on maternity leave are also protected by the FMLA. However, there have been cases where the employers tend to fire employees for taking time off for such reasons protected by law. For instance, if you’re working in some small business company and are required to attend a mandatory event, say, in two months’ time and you give the company a prior notice of the same. Then when the time comes, your employer lets you go and claims that there’s a need to do layoffs in the business. And since you really need so much time off, you’ll be the one to go. Reporting the employer to the relevant authorities will help you get your justice.
- Harassment
There are several forms of illegal harassment that are normally experienced by some of the employees while in the place of work. A lot of harassment cases where some employers or supervisors have offensively given remarks about the gender, race, age, or employees’ role in the business have been reported recently. Remarks that create a hostile working environment for the employee to work in. For instance, an employer can seek to establish an unwelcome sexual relationship with an employee or the two could have been engaged and, this engagement resulted in the termination of the employee’s employment or mistreat. In such situations, you need to file a wrongful termination claim.
- Fraud
Intentional bait and switch situations have been more common over the last decade. An employer can make promises and fail to honor them. It could be promises of a job, a promotion, or specific job duties that were the main reason for the employee’s decision for changing their current job or duties to accommodate the new promises and benefits which they end up not enjoying. For instance, you could be working at some small business company while looking for a new better job. Then you receive a job offer from a reputable and high paying company and you leave the current job. But on the first day in your new job, you’re told the job was restructured and now you’ll need to work in a job which pays less than your previous job. This is fraud and should you find yourself in such a situation, you’ll need to seek legal justice.
- Public Policy Violation
An employer can terminate an employee’s employment for reasons considered ethically or morally wrong. For instance, an employer can terminate an employee’s employment for refusing to exercise a legal right like voting. Some employers can also terminate the employment of their employees for refusing to commit illegal acts like lying to the state auditors or not falsifying insurance claims. Cases of employers terminating the employment just because an employee complained about the employer’s illegal behavior of, say, not paying the minimum wage have also been experienced. Therefore, if you think that your employer has violated the public policy by terminating your employment, you need to file a wrongful termination claim.
Conclusion
Despite the presence of clear and precise federal and state laws that protect employees from wrongful termination, some employers have chosen to violate these laws. The examples above represent the major cases that have been frequently reported. There are also other relevant themed blogs where you can find more information about wrongful termination and the necessary steps to follow.