If you’ve been fired from your job in the Glendale, California area, you do have legal options if you were fired unlawfully, and a wrongful termination lawyer can help you to explore them. It’s always best to talk directly to a lawyer to get the best advice for your specific case, but the following are some of your legal options if you were fired unlawfully.
What Are Your Legal Options If You Believe You Were Fired Unlawfully?
Defining Terms
Unlawful
The first question that your lawyer will go over with you is the circumstances of your firing. People can be fired with and without cause, and if they are fired with cause – and if that cause is valid and doesn’t violate the terms of any contract you may have had with an employer – then there’s little you can do. When someone is fired without cause, that means there was no breach of conduct in the workplace that precipitated the firing, and it becomes more likely that you were fired unlawfully.
One of the things that makes all of this difficult is that you can only bring illegal action for an unlawful firing; not just an unethical one. In other words, your employer is allowed to lie to you about why you were being fired, fire you for no reason, and fire you with no warning (so long as you don’t have a contract that specifies that you are to be given a certain amount of warning). These may all seem very unethical reasons for a firing, but they are not necessarily unlawful.
However, sometimes these actions are actually cover for illegal discrimination or for retaliation. If you have recently reported your employer for something like a workplace safety violation or for sexual harassment, and you are then fired, even if another reason is given for the firing, there may be reason to suspect retaliation, and you should talk to a lawyer about investigating.
At-Will
Part of figuring out whether your termination was lawful is understanding that California law does allow most employees to be both fired “at will” and also to quit “at will.” This means you’lll have to do some work to show that your employer’s firing of you was actually illegal.
If you have an employment contract or if you are in a union, the terms of those contracts would supersede “at will” laws, and your employer cannot fire you in violation of those terms. For example, even if you engaged in behavior that would normally be grounds for termination, if you have a contract that says you must be given a certain number of written warnings before you can be fired and those warnings were never given, then your employer will have fired you unlawfully.
Discriminatory Firing
A firing counts as discriminatory if a person was fired because they were a member of any protected class or because they associate with a member of a protected class. You also cannot be fired because you made a complaint about discrimination, and you cannot be fired for intending to use guaranteed state or federal benefits, such as maternity leave or medical leave.
Retaliatory Firing
If you have made a complaint about conditions or behavior in your workplace or if you have made a whistleblower complaint about illegal conduct on the part of your employer, like unpaid wages or violations of workplace safety regulations, you cannot be fired in retaliation. Even if it turns out that your complaint was unwarranted and your employer is innocent, so long as you make the complaint in good faith, you cannot be fired in response.
Wrongful Termination
This is the technical term whenever someone is fired in violation of either federal or California state law. It can also be used if the firing was not in violation of the law but was in violation of the terms of your employment contract.
Remedies for Wrongful Termination
Talk With a Glendale, California Wrongful Termination Lawyer
If you believe you’ve been terminated wrongfully, the first thing you should do is talk with an employment lawyer. A lawyer can help you understand whether it’s wise to take steps to pursue a claim against your employer, can investigate the circumstances of the firing, represent you in all negotiations with your employer and with the government, and help you pursue every legal remedy at your disposal. A lawyer will also make sure that all paperwork you fill out to make complaints or bring claims is done correctly and filed with the right entities within the appropriate time limits.
File a Complaint
You have two options for filing a complaint, and your lawyer can help you decide which of these two government bodies you should reach out to. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal government entity, and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) can take complaints that violate California law. Who you file with (and it may even be both) will depend on precisely who your employer is and what they’ve done. These government entities will look into your claim and, if they find evidence of unlawful termination, will either attempt to bring you and your employer to a settlement agreement or authorize you to bring a lawsuit.
Bring a Lawsuit
If you have a major complaint and cannot come to an acceptable agreement with your former employer, you can then talk to your lawyer about bringing a lawsuit. Your lawsuit can ask for you to be reinstated to the job, ask for back pay that you’ve lost since being fired, and claim compensatory damages. Bear in mind that it will be your responsibility to prove your claims against your employer. They do not have to prove that your firing was lawful; rather, you must prove that your firing was unlawful. This is why it’s so important to work with an experienced lawyer. The most valuable thing you can do other than talk to a lawyer quickly is to gather as much evidence about your termination as you possibly can. Any documentation of the incident, including electronic communications, performance evaluations you may have had, any warnings you’ve been given in the past, or anything else that shows your record or the details of the firing itself will be a valuable start for your lawyer.
Finally, bear in mind that there are time limits to all of this. The exact time limit you face will depend on your claim. For example, if you’re bringing a claim under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), you have three years to do so. If your claim is that your employer violated the terms of a contract you have with them, you have four years to bring a case. If you’re claiming that you’ve been retaliated against because of whistleblowing, you have two years. And these are just the time limits for bringing a lawsuit: you have much less time for reporting the incident to the EEOC or DFEH.
Contact Our Employment Law Attorneys
Contact the experience team of attorneys of Haig B. Kazandjian Lawyers APC today. We proudly serve clients across California. Visit us at our Glendale office at:
Haig B. Kazandjian Lawyers APC
801 N. Brand Blvd., Suite 1015,
Glendale, CA 91203
Phone: (818) 696 2306
