Wrongful injury and wrongful termination occur in workplaces across the United States more often than you may realize. The terms “unlawful termination” and “wrongful termination” are blanket terms that cover many different situations, often on unfounded grounds.
Wrongful termination can lead to financial hardship and emotional stress. Since there are many types of wrongful termination, it is important to understand how to recognize and resolve it. Here is what you need to know about unlawful termination and how a wrongful termination attorney may be able to help you fight back.
Many cases of wrongful termination include acts of discrimination, which occur when someone is unfairly treated differently than other people. In the United States, it is unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire, discriminate against, or fire you due to certain types of discrimination.
For instance, you cannot be fired due to a disability, including workplace injury. It is also unlawful for your employer to fire you due to the following:
- Age
- Religion
- Nationality
- Ethnicity
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
Gender-based discrimination and unlawful termination is the most common type of discrimination practice that occurs in the workplace. In 2020, new legislation at the federal level was created to provide more protection for employees relating to gender.
Even with legal protections in place to reduce wrongful termination, the following instances are all-too-common in the workplace:
- Disproportionate pay
- Discriminatory raise and promotion practices
- Discrimination in terms of types of assignments given
- Discriminatory job advertisements
- Unfair hiring policies
Federal law protects you from being fired as a form of retaliation for certain actions you may take as an employee. A wrongful termination hostile work environment situation can occur when you take such actions.
This means that you cannot lose your job for expressing safety and health concerns in the workplace or filing official harassment reports against other employees or your employer. Similarly, an employer cannot fire you if you refuse to perform illegal tasks in your workplace.
Furthermore, a wrongful termination due to work injury occurs when you are fired due to an injury resulting from your workplace.
A wrongful termination breach of contract case occurs when you and your employer have a contract in place. If the employer violates the contract terms by firing you, that constitutes wrongful termination.
In some states, you must have a written contract to potentially file a wrongful termination breach of contract lawsuit. Other states allow you to have what is called an “implied contract,” which requires only a job offer letter or other provable action taken on the part of your employer indicating certain employment terms.
