As an employee, you can be terminated in different ways. Understandably, getting fired from your job can be a difficult and essentially demoralizing experience. Getting fired can also be harmful to your emotional and financial well-being. This aspect perfectly explains why many people contact wrongful termination attorneys or employment law attorneys for help.
The lawyer can only help if what the employer has done is illegal – but – they cannot do a lot of what the employer has done is unfair, as there is a difference between unfair and wrongful termination.
What Makes An Unlawful Termination?
To understand what an unlawful termination is, you might find it easier to understand if we were to tell you what falls into the category of lawful. Most states, such as Colorado and California, are at-will employment states, which means that your employer can fire you at any time for any reason they want.
Of course, there are a lot of exceptions to the default rule of at-will employment, and as long as your employer doesn’t violate any of these exceptions – they haven’t terminated you illegally.
Exception #1: You Don’t Have A Contract
Most employees don’t have a contract. On that note, you do have a contract if you are covered by a mutual bargaining agreement, or you are a member of a union, or you might have signed an individual contract to work on a specific project for a specified time period. You might have another contract as well.
There might as well be an oral contract where your employer says things such as they would never fire you unless you would really mess things up. They might as well tell you that they promise that you could keep your job for at least two years.
Other Ways of Having A Contract
The other way of having a contract is when your employer has documents or a handbook that promotes how long you can work, what it takes to fire you, or what the potential disciplinary process will be. Apart from any of the above-mentioned circumstances, you might not have a contract at all.
Now, if you do have a contract, then termination is illegal because it means that your employer isn’t following the terms of the contract.
Exception #2: You Are Discriminated Against At Work
Now, even if you live and work in an at-will employment state, such as Colorado, you might want to get in touch with a Wrongful Termination Colorado lawyer if you are terminated based on discrimination. Here is the thing: your employer cannot discriminate against you in any way based on a protected characteristic, such as age, religion, race, or sexual orientation.
Federal and state laws prohibit this type of discrimination, and it can turn into a serious case if your employer discriminates against you based on any of your protected classes.
However, if your boss discriminates against you based on something else, such as they don’t like your personality, then this termination can be unfair, but it is not unlawful.
Exception #3: You Are Retaliated At
According to the law, your employer cannot retaliate against you when you do certain things, such as the following:
Whistleblowing
Reporting illegal conduct by your employer, such as fraud, safety, and health violations.
FMLA
Taking leave after the Family Medical Leave Act.
Concerted Activity
Taking action to improve your working conditions and pay, whether with a union or without.
Jury Duty
Taking off time for jury duty and getting terminated as a result.
Workers Compensation
Filing for workers’ compensation and then getting terminated.
Unsafe Conduct
Refusing to work under conditions that are unreasonably dangerous to you.
Filing A Complaint
Filing a complaint involving employment discrimination and getting fired in response.
Illegal Conduct
Refusing to do what your employer wants you to do as it is illegal.
Legal Product
Using legal products off-duty, such as alcohol.
Investigation
Participating as a witness or in other ways in an investigation that involves employment discrimination, wages, or hours of work.
If, in any of the above-mentioned situations, your employer terminates you, demotes you, or retaliates against you – after you do any of the above-mentioned things, then you might want to get in touch with an employment lawyer or a wrongful termination lawyer as you might have a case of wrongful termination.
What Happens if the Employer Makes A False Allegation Against You?
Now, there might be a situation where your employer terminates you after making a false accusation against you. They might not do so intentionally, but they might have mistakenly suspected that you had done something wrong and even blatantly accused you of doing something wrong.
In most cases, a false accusation isn’t against the law. On that note, if the accusation really ends up damaging your reputation or career, then you might have a case of defamation.
Employers might do a lot of things that might truly be unfair, immoral, or even unethical. But – simply because it is one of those things, it doesn’t mean that it is necessarily unlawful. So, if what your employer has done falls within the exceptions that we mentioned above, then there is a chance that you will have a case for wrongful termination.
How Can A Wrongful Termination Lawyer Help?
Just because your employer doesn’t say the reason you are fired, it doesn’t mean that the reason they fired you is legal. Moreover, just because your employer or your company said that the reason was legal – perhaps they even made up a performance issue – you should still know that it doesn’t make the termination legal.
If you get wrongfully terminated, the best thing you can do is to get a lawyer on board who will help you collect evidence and prove in court that the termination is indeed illegal. The wrongful termination lawyer will use legal arguments to prove that the employer did indeed fire you illegally and that they are truly responsible for that conduct, which is why they have to pay you.
