Although there are no official data on the matter, the number of people who dream of never having to work again probably exceeds the number of people who would choose to remain in the workforce as long as their health enables them to do so, even if they had saved enough money to retire. Despite this, if you suddenly found out that you were losing your job, it would be an unpleasant surprise even if you already had enough savings that you could afford to retire.
Sometimes you know perfectly well why the employment relationship ended, and you could see it coming from a long way away. For example, the company you worked for might have gone out of business entirely or dissolved in a corporate merger. The employment relationship might have ended after a series of ultimatums exchanged between you and your employer, leaving it unclear as to whether you quit or got fired.
When your employer terminates your employment but maintains that you have not done anything wrong, this is at least as unsettling. Why is your employer trying so hard to get rid of you and ostensibly being so nice about it?
Employees who were unjustly fired, even if the employer insists that they did not fire the employee, have the right to sue their former employers for wrongful termination of employment. The Huntsville wrongful termination lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, can help you if your employer fired you for an illegal reason and attempted to disguise it as an inevitable layoff.
Wrongful Termination of Employment in an At Will Employment Relationship
In most jobs, it is legal for your employer to fire you for no reason. This is the meaning of “at will employment”, which includes all employment relationships where the employee did not sign a contract that guarantees employment until a certain date or for a certain minimum length of time. If you are employed at will, which you are unless you have a contract that says otherwise, you are free to quit at any time and for any reason, with or without giving notice. Your employer is also free to stop employing you at any time and for almost any reason or for no reason at all.
Despite this, it is still possible to claim, rightfully, that your employer wrongfully terminated your employment. Even in an at will employment relationship, employment discrimination and employer retaliation are still illegal. Discrimination is if your employer fires you because of a protected characteristic such as your race, religion, sex, age, or pregnancy, among other protected characteristics. Retaliation is if your employer fires you as a penalty for engaging in a protected activity, such as filing a workers’ compensation claim or reporting misconduct in your workplace to the authorities.
Did Your Employer Breach Your Employment Contract by Terminating Your Job Early?
If you have signed an employment contract, it probably indicates when and why your employer can stop employing you. For example, the contract has an expiration date and indicates whether it is renewable. If the contract is renewable, it indicates what the employer and employee should do to renew it and not renew it. You can still claim wrongful termination of employment if you believe that your employer’s decision not to renew your employment contract was for an illegal reason, such as discrimination or retaliation.
Likewise, employment contracts indicate the procedures must take if either of the parties chooses to terminate the contractual relationship before it expires. For example, if the employer terminates the relationship in the middle of a contract period, it must usually compensate the employee with part of the money that the employee would have earned if he or she had continued working until the end of the contract period. Following these procedures may protect the employer from breach of contract claims, but the employer might still be liable for wrongful termination of employment.
Your Rights if Employer Wrongfully Terminates Your Employment
You have the right to sue your former employer for wrongful termination of employment if you have evidence that your employer terminated your job for a discriminatory or retaliatory reason. If you are claiming that the wrongful termination of employment was due to discrimination, then you cannot file a lawsuit until after you go through the preliminary investigation process with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The EEOC must authorize all discrimination lawsuits before the courts will consider them, and it only does this after it investigates the workplace and corroborates the employee’s claims. You should contact an employment lawyer before you begin discussions with the EEOC, to maximize your chances of the EEOC authorizing your lawsuit. The deadline for initiating contact with the EEOC about a discrimination claim is 45 days after the most recent discriminatory action. In the case of wrongful discrimination claims, that means 45 days after you got fired.
This all sounds simple enough, but sometimes employers try to make it look like they did not really fire you, just to stop you from suing them. They might tell you that it is a major round of layoffs due to a corporate restructuring. They might even offer you a severance package that pays you an amount of money equal to several months of your salary.
The catch is that, in order to receive your severance pay, you must sign a separation agreement, where you promise not to sue your employer for wrongful termination of employment. It is difficult to turn down a severance package, especially when you have just found out that you are losing your job. Therefore, if your employer offers you a separation agreement with severance pay, you should promptly meet with an employment lawyer and discuss whether to sign the agreement and give up the right to sue your employer for wrongful termination. If you decide to sign, your lawyer might be able to help you negotiate for better severance pay.
HKM Employment Attorneys for Wrongful Termination
The Huntsville employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, can give you advice about wrongful termination claims. Contact the employment lawyers at HKM in Huntsville, Alabama, to set up a consultation.
