Imagine you’ve been going to the same office and working in the same job for the last 20 years. You have been comfortable in your position all of these years as it has provided you with a steady and reliable income, plenty of vacation time and nice benefits. The problem is, even though you have impeccably performed your job duties, you were recently terminated from your job without warning, and you suspect it that you may have suffered from wrongful termination.
There are many ways that a wrongful termination can happen. Do any of these reasons for a wrongful termination sound like what happened to you?
Your termination constitutes “retaliation:” Retaliation in employment law relates to an adverse treatment or punishment against an employee who complained about something at work. An employee might get fired, for example, after complaining about sexual harassment, unlawful behavior or discrimination. This is retaliation and wrongful termination.
Your termination violated labor laws: Numerous labor laws protect employees from being terminated in various circumstances. For example, employers cannot terminate an employee to wishes to exercise their right to take unpaid medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
You were terminated because of your disability status: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), your employer must provide you with reasonable accommodations so that you can perform your job duties. Furthermore, your employer cannot terminate you because you have a disability.
If you lost your job in a way that caught you completely off guard or seems entirely unfair, don’t panic. Reach out to an experienced employment law attorney to determine if you might be able to pursue compensation in court.