People who are frustrated with their jobs sometimes fantasize about quitting their jobs in dramatic fashion, shouting, “I quit!” in front of all their coworkers and then storming off, never to set foot on the job site again. At least, that is what the older generations used to do, the ones who still believed that they would be able to get a new job if they quit their current one. These days, the most accessible refuge of burnt-out workers is to quiet quit, where your body is at work, even though your mind is elsewhere.
As much as your job makes you miserable, you would not want your job to end unless it were by your own initiative. It is always distressing when your employer terminates your job, regardless of the terminology surrounding the event. Your employer might say that you are fired, or conversely, that the matter is a layoff, downsizing, a merger, or a corporate restructuring, among many other euphemisms.
The truth remains the same, namely that you are no longer getting a paycheck. You probably think that the termination of your employment is beyond your control, and it is almost certain that your employer wants you to believe this. In some cases, the best thing you can do is dust yourself off and start looking for a new job, but in other cases, it makes sense to fight back. The Bozeman wrongful termination lawyers at HKM Employment Lawyers LLP can help you if your employer has wrongfully terminated your employment.
The Montana Wrongful Discharge From Employment Act
Fortunately for people employed in Montana, we have more protections from arbitrary termination of employment than our counterparts in other states have. The Wrongful Discharge From Employment Act is a state law that protects employees from being discharged “just because.” Instead, your employer must specify a reason for terminating your employment when they do. Most other states follow the at-will employment rule, where, unless you have an employment contract, your employer can fire you for almost any reason or for no reason at all. Conversely, in Montana, your employer must provide a written justification for terminating your employment. If you believe that your employer’s reason for firing you is an illegal reason, such as discrimination based on a protected characteristic or retaliation for taking part in a protected activity, you still have the right to sue your employer for wrongful termination of employment, unless you signed a separation agreement.
Can it Still Be Wrongful Termination, Even if You Didn’t Get Fired?
Employers who believe that their employers broke the law by terminating the employment relationship can file a wrongful termination of employment. Your chances of prevailing in your wrongful termination claim have more to do with your employer’s motivations for firing you than they do with the final days leading up to your employer breaking the news that you are no longer employed. In other words, it might be wrongful termination if an authority figure in your organization or an employee of the human resources department calls you into their office and tells you that you no longer have a job because you messed up so badly. It might also be wrongful termination if your employer goes out of their way to demonstrate to you that your job is ending through no fault of yours.
Wrongful termination of employment can take the form of death by a thousand cuts. Your employer may write a series of negative reviews of your job performance and then make you sign the dreaded performance improvement plan, in which you agree that your employer was justified in firing you unless you fulfill certain conditions in the next year of your work. If your employer asks you to sign a performance improvement program agreement, you should contact a Bozeman employment lawyer before you sign.
In another scenario, you might have no warning except a vague, sinking feeling that your company is not doing well and you are about to become the next casualty. Your employer might offer you a separation agreement and as much consolation as they can muster, assuring you that it was nothing you did wrong, but we can all see that the economy is in tatters. As with performance improvement plans, you should consult an employment lawyer before you sign a separation agreement. Even if you do not decide to sue for wrongful termination of employment, your lawyer can help you negotiate for a severance package that gives you adequate compensation.
When Employers Terminate Your Employment for Discriminatory or Retaliatory Reasons
With or without an employment contract, separation agreement, or performance improvement plan, and even in states that do not have laws analogous to the Montana Freedom From Wrongful Discharge Act, it is against the law for your employer to terminate your employment when doing so amounts to discrimination or retaliation. Employer retaliation occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against an employee, including but not limited to wrongful termination of employment, in response to the employee engaging in a protected activity, such as requesting disability accommodations, filing a workers’ compensation claim, or reporting workplace misconduct to the relevant authorities. Employment discrimination occurs when the adverse action, up to and including termination of employment, is based on a protected characteristic of the employee, such as the employee’s race, sex, religion, age, or national origin.
Montana state law does not recognize sexual orientation as a protected characteristic, but the local laws of Bozeman do. You might be able to prevail in a wrongful termination claim if you can prove that your firing was discriminatory or retaliatory, even if your employer denies it.
Contact HKM Employment Attorneys About Wrongful Termination of Employment Claims
The Bozeman employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP can counsel you about filing a wrongful termination of employment claim if you believe that your employer fired you as a matter of discrimination or retaliation. Contact the employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP in Bozeman, Montana, to set up a consultation.
