When an employee has been fired from a job, he or she often wants to sue his or her now-former employer. However, most employment these days is considered to be “at will,” which means that any employer can fire an employee at any time, for any reason or even for no reason at all. That is, as long as the reason for firing isn’t itself illegal, and doesn’t violate the employee’s rights.

That said, while courts severely limit the types of wrongful termination claims an employee can bring, there are some very important exceptions to the at-will rule that can sometimes be used to help an employee keep his or her job or, if it’s too late for that, may allow a person to sue his or her former employer and win.

The most common of these exceptions comes when the termination violates the employee’s rights. For example, if the termination is for discriminatory purpose, that termination is “wrongful” because such a thing violates the law and the employee’s rights. Also, if the termination is retaliatory, that’s also wrongful. For example, recently an employee of a trucking company was reinstated and given $230,000 in back pay and damages, because he was fined for reporting that a driver was operating a tractor-trailer for more hours than was allowed by law.

A termination may also be considered “wrongful” if it violates an employment contract. If a written contract promises the employee job security, or spells out specific reasons an employee may be fired, that employee is not considered at-will, and he or she will have a strong argument for wrongful termination in court. Likewise, if the employee has a written document, such as an offer letter that promises continued employment, he or she probably has a strong case even if he or she doesn’t have a specific written contract.

On the other hand, the existence of a written contract is not always necessary, because this same exception can also apply to an implied contract, as well. It’s possible to establish an implied contract in several ways. While employers will rarely guarantee “permanent employment” to anyone, courts have often found implied contracts where employers promised employment for a specific period of time, or even where employers laid out specific disciplinary procedures in an employee manual that must be followed before termination, and they weren’t followed.

Whether there is an implied contract or not can often hinge on a number of factors that courts will take into account, such as how long the employee has been with the employer, how often he or she has been promoted and the number of positive performance reviews. They may also look at statements the employer made, such as promises made when the employee was hired or assurances made during the employment.

Basically, in order to prove “wrongful termination,” the employee will have to prove that his or her rights were violated. Many terminations can be wrong on some level, but they must also be illegal before a court can intervene. If the terminated employee cannot prove a rights violation, the courts have no power to do anything.

On the other hand, if the employee can prove that the discharge violated his or her rights, the court can order a number of remedies, including recovery of lost wages and benefits, as well as payments for emotional pain and suffering.

References:

My Employment Lawyer: Wrongful Discharge

NOLO – Wrongful Termination: Was Your Firing Illegal?

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