Wrongful Termination California

Wrongful Termination Services – Los Angeles Lawyers and All over California!

The term “wrongful termination” is often used without a clear understanding of what it really means. When is a termination wrongful in the eyes of the law? The answer is simple. A termination is wrongful when an employee is fired for an unlawful or impermissible reason.

Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, one of the nation’s strongest protections against wrongful termination, it is illegal for employers to discriminate in employment decisions on the basis of several factors. Such factors include the employee’s:

Race
Gender
Age
Pregnancy or maternity leave
Mental or Physical disability
Religion or religious practices
Sexual orientation or gender identity
National Origin
Political affiliation
Constructive termination – hostile work environment
Retaliation for complaints and reports of violations

If the decision to terminate the employee was motivated by any of these factors, even if only partially, the termination is illegal under the law. In such instances, the wronged employee may have a claim for wrongful termination.

In California, many employees are under an “at-will” employment arrangement. In general, almost all employees without a labor contract are employees at-will. However, there is an important exception to at-will employment. If the employer violates a statute or public policy by firing an employee, a wrongful termination has occurred.

What Qualifies as Wrongful Termination?

Wrongfully terminated workers may be unsure if they can take legal action. In addition to this stress, the unexpected loss
of a job, especially for illegal reasons, can leave a person unprepared and without savings. At JLG Lawyers, we fight to
get our wrongful termination clients maximum compensation for their cases.
Your first step in filing a wrongful termination claim is to determine if your employer broke the law when they fired you.
Most workers in California are “at-will” employees. This designation means that businesses can fire employees for nearly
any reason, or for no reason at all. Even with this “at-will” designation, however, federal and state laws such as the
California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protect employees from wrongful termination.
For example, employers in California cannot fire or discriminate against an employee because of his or her:

Physical or mental disability
Use of protected time off
Pregnancy status
Race or national origin
Religion or religious practices
Gender
Age
Sexual orientation
Gender identity
Political affiliation

Is wrongful termination hard to prove?

An employee bringing a wrongful termination case has the burden of proving her case by a preponderance of
the evidence. In most cases, proof is circumstantial. An employee does not need “smoking gun” evidence to
win her wrongful termination claim. An employee may win a wrongful termination case by pointing to an
employer’s shifting reasons for the termination, inconsistencies in the employer’s story, or a proximity in time
between an employee’s protected conduct and the employee’s discharge.

How long does a wrongful termination case take?

How long a lawsuit continues depends on many factors, many of which are not in the control of the employee.
According to court statistics, nearly all cases settle before trial. In fact, some cases settle before they are even
filed in court. Other times, the parties are able to settle the claim within a few months after it is filed in court.
Without a pre-litigation settlement, a case may take several years of litigation to get to trial phase.

How much does a wrongful termination lawyer cost?

While some law firms charge a fee up front, JLG only charges a contingency fee – meaning we won’t get paid,
unless you get paid. Schedule a free call with one of our legal experts now and find out how we can help you.

Can you fight any job termination?

Generally, an employer does not need a good reason, or “cause,” to fire an employee. Indeed, an employer
does not need any reason at all to fire an employee. Unlike workers in other countries, employees in the United
States have no job security absent a written contract or union bargaining agreement. In order to fight a job
termination, the employee must be able to show that the firing violated a fundamental public policy or worker
protection law. An employment attorney can help you determine whether your firing was unlawful, or merely
unfair. pursue legal action against for your former employer. You may seek damages for the impacts of the termination.

How long do you have to file a wrongful termination lawsuit in California?

How long you have to file suit depends on the law that has been violated. For example, an employee has three
(3) years to file a complaint of workplace discrimination or retaliation with the California Department of Fair
Employment and Housing. On the other hand, a common law claim for wrongful termination is governed by a
two (2) year statute of limitation.

Can you be fired for no reason in California?

Yes, non-union employees in California can be fired for no reason. An employer may choose to fire an
employee because it’s Tuesday, or because the employee failed to thank the receptionist – these of course are
bad reasons for being fired, but they are not unlawful. Basically, an employee may get fired for no reason, a
bad reason or any reason at all, but if the reason wasn’t an unlawful reason, then the employee hasn’t been
wrongfully terminated according to California law.

Can a 1099 employee sue for wrongful termination?

The fact that a company reports your pay on an IRS 1099 Form does not mean that you are not an employee.
If you are fired for complaining about unlawful conduct, you can bring a wrongful termination claim. The
company’s label of your employment status does not matter; the Court will decide whether you are an
independent contractor or employee.