Wrongful Terminations

Here’s a hard truth:  lots of terminations are wrongful. But not all wrongful terminations are illegal.

Here’s another truth: it’s hard to tell one from the other because modern-day managers are savvy and easily (and often) hide their true motivations.

That’s why it is critical workers speak to an attorney if their antennae are up and termination feels imminent, or if they’ve been fired and the reasoning just doesn’t add up.

Fortunately, in order to prove that an illegal termination has taken place, most laws protecting employees only require a wronged employee prove the employer was motivated in part (meaning the employer could be motivated by more than one thing) by an illegal reason. 

Examples of illegal wrongful terminations include:

• When an employer is motivated by the employee’s race, age, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or another protected class.
• When an employer retaliates against an injured worker who filed a workers’ compensation claim.
• When an employer retaliates against an employee who has taken FMLA-protected leave to care for a sick family member.
• When an employer is motivated by the employee’s recent decision to speak out about suspected illegal practices in the work place.

If you suspect a termination is imminent, there may be things you can do to protect yourself. Feel free to schedule a consultation with us to learn a bit more. If you’ve been fired and things don’t feel right, also get in touch with us because there are certain things we see time and again—through circumstantial evidence and patterns—that may reveal an illegal termination and a case we’re eager to take on so justice can be done.