Wrongful termination can be a difficult area of the law, especially when you are an at-will employee. The employer does not necessarily even need a reason to terminate you at any time. They have that ability when you do not have an employment contract. You would need to dig far deeper into the facts and circumstances that led to your termination to determine whether there was any illegal conduct at play. There are several instances in which an employer cannot terminate you, even if you are an at-will employee. If your employer has broken the law, you may be able to file a lawsuit against them.
At-Will Employees Can Typically Be Fired for Any Reason
Employers have the ability to fire or lay off their workers at any time if they do not have an employment contract. The employer is well within their legal right to simply come in one day and decide that you no longer have a job. Although it may be bad business practice to summarily terminate employees, it is not necessarily illegal conduct. It is only when there is an underlying illegality involved with the termination that you may have the ability to file a wrongful termination lawsuit.
The Allegations or Decision Cannot Be Based on Discrimination
The allegations against you, or the determination to terminate you from your job, cannot have anything to do with a discriminatory purpose. If you are a member of a protected class, you cannot be wrongfully terminated from your job based on your membership in that class. For example, if you are facing allegations at work because of your race or ethnicity, and other employees who are not part of that protected class do not face these allegations, you could consider the conduct to be discriminatory in nature.
In addition, you must be treated the same as other employees who are not a part of your protected class. There may be a track record of disparate treatment of employees who are members of a protected class, while others who are not do not experience the same type of treatment. Desperate treatment is all that you need to show discrimination on the job. Of course, you can file and win an employment lawsuit if there is direct evidence that you were discriminated against on the job. It is more likely that you would have to come up with circumstantial evidence that shows that the reason your employer gave for your termination was either discriminatory in itself or was a pretext to wrongfully terminate you.
The Termination Cannot Be Based on Protected Conduct
Your termination can also not be retaliation when you have engaged in protected conduct. As an employee, you have a legal right to come forward and report misconduct, whether it involves you or something else that you have witnessed on the job. For example, you may have come forward to report a safety violation that places you and other employees in danger. If there are false allegations against you after that, you could consider your termination wrongful because it may be in retaliation for reporting potential misconduct. You have the right to speak up as an employee if your employer is violating the law, and you cannot be retaliated against because of it. In that case, your employer could be liable for the termination, even if you are an at-will employee.
Finally, termination based on false allegations against you could be wrongful if you had an employment contract with your employer. A contract gives you more protection than an at-will employee has. Here, the employer needs a valid reason to terminate you, and false allegations may not provide it. Then, all you would need to do is prove that the allegations are false, as opposed to having to demonstrate discrimination. If you can, the termination is wrongful, and you may be entitled to financial compensation.
South Jersey Wrongful Termination Lawyers at The Law Offices of Leo B. Dubler, III, LLC, Will Fight for You
If you have been illegally fired from your job, the South Jersey wrongful termination lawyers at The Law Offices of Leo B. Dubler, III, LLC, can help you take legal action. The first step to getting justice from your employer is scheduling a free initial consultation with an attorney, which you can do by filling out an online contact form or by calling us today at 856-235-7075. With offices in Mount Laurel and Atlantic City, New Jersey, we proudly serve clients in the surrounding areas.