When an employee believes they have been wrongfully terminated, they may seek legal recourse against their former employer. The loss of the job can have a significant impact on their career, their income and much more. There are legal options if they believe their rights have been violated.
There are two main ways that a wrongful termination can take place. The details of each incident may be unique, but it is important to understand how the general process works.
Contractual employees
For some employees, they already have an employment contract in place. This gives them certain protections, such as stating that they should remain employed for a certain number of years or that they can only be fired for cause.
If the termination violates the terms of this contract, then it may be wrongful. Perhaps the employer cannot show cause or illegally ended the business relationship before the contract expired.
At-will employees
For the majority of employees, however, they are at-will, so they have no contractual protections. Their employer can legally fire them at any time, and they can legally quit their job at any time.
That being said, an illegal reason cannot be used for this termination, even in an at-will employment relationship. For instance, perhaps the employee became a whistleblower, and the termination was a form of wrongful retaliation against them. Or perhaps the firing was a case of age discrimination or racial discrimination, violating the employee’s rights because they are in a protected class.
In either of these cases, it is very important for employees to understand their rights and the legal steps they can take moving forward.