As an employee, you have certain rights. Some of the rights you have include protection from discrimination and harassment, as well as the right to fair wages. You should not experience mistreatment from your California employer or others in your place of work due to factors that include your age, your gender, a disability or other factors. You should also not experience any type of mistreatment, including wrongful termination, for exercising your rights or seeking compensation when appropriate.
If you are a victim of wrongful termination, you may feel as if there is nothing you can do. However, there are certain steps you can take that will allow you to seek justice after experiencing any type of mistreatment. One of the first steps is to seek an understanding of whether what you experienced was wrongful termination or if it was something else. This will be imperative when determining the legal options that could be available to you.
Losing your job for illegal reasons
There are many different motivations for wrongful termination, but it often occurs in response to something the employer doesn’t like, such as filing a complaint with the EEOC or seeking workers’ compensation. Termination is wrongful when an employer violates the law or the terms of an employment contract when firing an employee. The following are factors that could play a role in whether it was a justified termination or not:
- There is evidence that suggests the termination occurred with the motivation to harass or demean the employee.
- The termination is in direct violation of the terms of an employment contract.
- The termination occurred with the motivation of acting in a discriminatory manner toward the victim for factors that may include his or her age, race, gender and more.
- The employer manipulated the work environment and details of the situation to cause the employee to quit his or her job.
- The termination came immediately after the employee filed a workers’ compensation claim, filed a complaint or exercised his or her rights in another way.
Victims of wrongful termination do not have to remain silent. You may benefit from seeking an assessment of your case to determine the legal options that could be available to you. There is no excuse for the discriminatory or illegal treatment of an employee, and you may have grounds to pursue legal action as a victim.
