State law establishes at-will employment. With certain exceptions for contractual promises, either an employer or an employee can terminate a work arrangement at any time. Neither party necessarily needs to provide advance notice or a specific justification for the decision. Workers who lose their jobs suddenly often face hardship.
In a one-on-one termination scenario, getting fired can trigger emotional reactions that have negative effects on the employee. They may not have the resources necessary to support themselves and their families until they find a new job elsewhere.
In a layoff scenario, the feelings of personal failure may not be as strong. However, the worker may have to contend with a flooded job market where numerous skilled or experienced workers are all searching for employment at the same time. Occasionally, workers who lose their jobs can seek reinstatement or financial compensation through a wrongful termination lawsuit.
When is litigation an option for a recently terminated employee?
When the employer discriminated against them
Mass layoffs sometimes have more of an impact on workers with certain shared characteristics than on other employees. If a company lays off every worker who doesn’t belong to a certain religion or the vast majority of its female employees, the company may have inappropriately considered the protected characteristics of workers when deciding who to terminate.
Individual terminations can also involve discrimination. Companies may let go of workers after discovering they have a disabling medical condition or learning about what religion they practice. If workers can prove that their protected characteristics influenced the company’s decision, they may have grounds to claim that they faced discrimination that led to their wrongful firing.
When employers retaliate
Federal and state laws protect worker rights. Employees have the right to perform certain actions without facing on-the-job consequences. For example, workers can ask for unpaid leave when they have medical issues.
They also have the right to notify their employers about harassment from coworkers or unsafe job conditions. If companies decide to terminate workers after they engage in protected workplace activities, those workers may be able to reasonably claim that their employer retaliated against them by firing them for an inappropriate reason.
Reviewing the circumstances leading to a firing with a skilled legal team can help people determine whether they’ve experienced a wrongful termination. A wrongful termination lawsuit can benefit a worker who lost their job and can also prompt an employer to change how it treats workers in the future.