Working in an environment where everyone seems determined to make you feel out of place is a stressful experience, but you continue to do it because you need the money. In the worst cases, your coworkers do not keep it a secret that they think you do not belong. It is because you are a woman, an immigrant, a single mother, or a member of a different religious group than the one to which most of your coworkers belong; in other words, it is about who you are, not about the work you do. Perhaps other coworkers who share your demographic characteristic, or who are otherwise noticeably different from most of your company’s workforce, might commiserate with you about the unpleasantness of your work environment, but you might decide that complaining about it to human resources or to upper management will only make things worse. Maybe you did complain, and nothing changed, or else it only escalated the bullying.
You would think that getting fired from a job like this would be a relief, because it would mean that you no longer had to work there, but the reason that you did not quit is that you needed the money. The Bozeman wrongful termination discrimination lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP can help you if your employer fired you because of a protected characteristic of yours.
Employment Discrimination Laws in Montana
Employment discrimination is illegal in all 50 states, but each state has slightly different laws about which characteristics are protected from discrimination. You can file an employment discrimination claim against your employer if your employer takes an adverse action against you based on a protected characteristic of yours and not because of anything you did wrong at work. The protected characteristics recognized under the Montana Human Rights Act are age, race, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, and disability.
Montana state law does not acknowledge sexual orientation as a protected characteristic, which means that in some parts of Montana, it is technically legal to discriminate against workers based on their sexual orientation. Bozeman is one of five cities in Montana that have enacted local laws identifying sexual orientation as a protected characteristic safe from discrimination. If you live outside Bozeman and the other cities that protect against sexual orientation discrimination, but your employer has discriminated against you based on your sexual orientation, you can still file an employment discrimination claim, but you will have to categorize the discrimination you experienced under a different protected characteristic, such as sex or marital status.
Wrongful termination of employment is only one of the possible manifestations of employment discrimination. It also counts as discrimination if your employer takes another adverse action against you, other than termination of employment, because of your protected characteristic. Other examples of adverse actions include a hostile work environment, changing your work schedule or job duties when you did not request it, negative performance reviews, demoting or reducing your pay, and failing to give you a promotion or raise for which you are eligible.
The Freedom From Wrongful Discharge Act and Wrongful Termination Protections for Montana Workers
To prevail in your employment discrimination claim, you must prove that the protected characteristic was your employer’s motivation for firing you, not merely that the protected characteristic exists and that your employer terminated the employment relationship. The employer has the chance to cast doubt on your claims. In most states, your employer can simply argue that they fired you for no reason, instead of because of your protected characteristic.
Fortunately for workers in Montana, that excuse does not fly here. In Montana, we have the Freedom From Wrongful Discharge Act. The Freedom From Wrongful Discharge Act states that employers cannot fire employees without a reason, even if the employee does not have an employment contract. This stands in contrast to most other states, which follow the at-will employment rule, by which employers do not have to give a reason to fire an employee who does not have a contract, that is, an employee who was hired at will. In Montana, if your employer fires you, they must state the reason for firing you, such as your poor work performance or the employer’s reduction in revenue for reasons unrelated to your work. Protected characteristics are not a legally valid reason for terminating an employment relationship.
What to Do If Your Employer Terminates Your Employment for Discriminatory Reasons
If your employer terminates the employment relationship for a discriminatory reason, that is, based on a protected characteristic, you have the right to file an employment discrimination lawsuit. In other words, if you believe that discrimination was the true reason that your employer fired you, but your employer says that it was for a different reason, the final decision rests with a judge. If the court rules in your favor in your wrongful termination discrimination lawsuit, the court will order your former employer to reimburse you for the financial losses that you incurred because of your job loss.
When you file an employment discrimination lawsuit, including but not limited to discrimination cases that involve wrongful termination of employment, you must follow the preliminary steps, or else the court will reject your lawsuit even before your employer files a response. Before you can bring an employment discrimination lawsuit to court, you must get approval from the Montana Human Rights Bureau or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). When you meet with a counselor from the Bureau or the EEOC, you should present the evidence of discrimination as thoroughly as possible; it helps to start working with a lawyer even before your first meeting with the Bureau or EEOC. The EEOC or Bureau will investigate your claims and, if applicable, look for additional evidence of discrimination at your workplace. If the Bureau or EEOC approves your claim, you may proceed with the lawsuit.
HKM Employment Attorneys for Wrongful Termination Employment Claims
The Bozeman employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP can counsel you about filing a wrongful termination of employment claim. Contact our employment lawyers in Bozeman, Montana, to set up a consultation.
