Many times, being let go from your job comes as a surprise. Other times, you may have known there was an issue such as the company not taking your sexual harassment complaint seriously and seeing you as a troublemaker. Your termination in that case might not come quite as a surprise, but it is frustrating and unfair – most likely illegal, too.
If you have just been let go and are wondering if you have a wrongful termination case, it is possible you do. Here is a look at some reasons that wrongful termination occurs.
Retaliation
The business could be punishing you for blowing the whistle on any of many issues, including reporting sexual harassment, insisting you will not break the law and filing for worker’s compensation. Wrongful termination is not the only outcome you could have a case for, either. If you received a demotion or disciplinary action instead of termination, you could have a retaliation case.
Discrimination
Maybe you have become disabled, or the company no longer wants to do what the law requires it to do to accommodate your disability. Perhaps you have just come out of the closet as gay, and the company does not like that fact. There are many reasons behind workplace discrimination, including religion, pregnancy, national origin and age.
Contract violations
The reasons behind your termination might not be wrongful per se—but they could be in violation of a contract you signed with the employer. For example, if the contract says you must receive a warning after missing one deadline and can lose your job only after missing four deadlines, the company may not legally be able to fire you after you miss only one deadline.
Wrongful termination is not always a clear-cut issue. Talking through your situation with an attorney can help clarify if you might have a case and what types of evidence and other documents it may require.