Losing your job is never an easy thing to deal with, but the pain of losing your job is magnified if you feel you have been unfairly, or wrongfully, dismissed from your job in the first place. There are many reasons why wrongful termination can occur, and these include everything from petty rivalries in the workplace, to outright discrimination because of gender, sexuality or even religion. There are even cases of employers terminating employees as retaliation for them filing a complaint against the employer e.g. a sexual harassment claims.
Obviously you\’re not going to simply accept that you\’ve been unfairly dismissed from your job, so taking legal action seems like the most appropriate way of dealing with this issue. We should just mention at this point that proving wrongful or unfair dismissal can sometimes come down to your word against your employers, and it can sometimes be very difficult to prove motive on the part of your employer. This means that a wrongful termination case can take a long time to prove in court, which can obviously lead to a lot of expense for you.
If, however, you can display a weight of evidence in the form of documents, company policies that were breached, combined with testimony from other employees, then you might find your employer eager to reach a settlement with you almost immediately. They know that if the case goes to court that judges can award substantial damages for cases like this, often 3x – 5x what your employer would be willing to pay you to settle out of court.
There is also the fact that many of the people employed in the United States are classed as \”at-will\” employees, which means your employer can terminate you without cause, and without warning – this is completely legal.
The key to winning an unfair termination case though is ensuring that you have the evidence you need to prove your case in the first place.
Written Employment Contract
If you have any form of written contract from your employer which implies or states that you have job security, this is an extremely valuable document to have in your possession – it can be enough to win a case on its own. This is because a written contract of employment means you cannot be considered an \”at-will\” employee by any legal definition.
Implied Employment Contract
Any form of verbal or written assurance that would imply you have a secure contract of employment is often enough to establish an implied contract of employment. This again can be used to prove that you are not an \”at-will\” employee.
Your Journal
If you find yourself in a position where you feel you\’re being constructively dismissed then you need to start recording the dates, times and names of people involved in this. This can include threats against your employment, being asked to perform duties not normally required of you, or put in a position where you felt that you are being treated unfairly. The more detail you keep in this journal the better it will be for your case. Most people don\’t have the foresight to keep a journal in these situations, so do your very best to recall the last several weeks of your work, and any instances you feel would lend weight to your case against your employer for wrongful termination.
Employee Handbook
You\’ll need to review your employee handbook, and check that the company followed the correct internal process when they terminated you. If your employer did not follow the procedure for dismissal as detailed in the employee handbook then you have a stronger case against them, simply because it shows they breached their own policies to speed up your termination.
Co-Workers
Don\’t expect co-workers or other employees to support your case against your employer – if you\’ve been wrongfully terminated then they\’re probably living in fear of the same thing happening to them. If, however, an employee, or customer, is willing to testify on your behalf this gives your case more merit.
Pursuing a wrongful termination case can be a lot of hard work, but with the right documents, a clean employment record with the company, and the help of an attorney who is familiar with wrongful termination cases, there\’s no reason why you can\’t win a wrongful termination case against your former employer.