Understanding Wrongful Termination

19 August 2019
 Categories: Law, Blog


Under many circumstances, employers don't have to continue your employment. However, in many states, there are limits on reasons why they can fire you. If you are a reliable employee who does your job and doesn't break the rules of your employer or do other things that would be problematic for the work environment, then there should be no reason for you to expect to be fired. If you have been fired in a way that would be considered wrongful termination, then you are protected by the law. Here are some things that will help you understand whether your employer had probable cause to fire you or you have been wrongfully terminated by your employer.

Examples of rightful termination

Being written up several times – Many companies will have policies in place regarding how many times an employee can be written up in a certain period of time before being fired. There will be many reasons why an employee can be written up, and they won't need to have the write-ups be for the same reason—they will still count even if they are all for completely different offenses. Some examples of reasons for writing up an employee may include being late to work, missing work too many times, not calling work in the required time frame to let them know the employee is going to be late or absent from work, insubordination, or anything else that is considered to be wrong for workplace behavior.

Stealing – If an employee is caught stealing from an employer, customers, other employees, or anyone else while in the workplace or while representing their place of employment, then this is grounds for immediate termination of employment. Also, the employee can be charged with a crime and therefore may even face jail time.

Violence – If an employee shows violent behavior to anyone while at work or while representing the company that they work for, then they could be rightfully fired. Violence can include everything from being physical with someone to threatening acts of violence.

Examples of wrongful termination

Discrimination – Your employer cannot terminate your employer for things like your sexuality, your nationality, your interracial relationship, your disability, your religion, the location of your birth, your age, or anything else that would prove to be a discriminatory reason.

Personal disagreements – Your employer can't terminate your employment because they don't agree with your opinion on a topic completely unrelated to work or because they don't agree with things like the way that you live your life or what you choose to do in your spare time, unless those things can jeopardize the reputation of the company.

Retaliation – Your employer cannot terminate your employment in order to punish you for something. For example, if you have a legitimate worker's compensation claim, the employer cannot fire you because they are angry about the claim.

Reach out to a wrongful termination lawyer to learn more about your options.


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