It is challenging to find a job these days; at least it is for many people. Finding a financially rewarding job is something that every person wants; keeping it is another thing. Fortunately, there are laws in place that prevents employers from firing employees illegally. A termination law attorney may be consulted for cases where employers terminate their employees for all the wrong reasons.
In the state of California, as well as in almost all the other states in the US, it is quite difficult to pursue a wrongful termination case because employer-employee relations are considered as a at will relationship. This simply means that an employee may choose to leave the company for any reason, and conversely, employers may terminate employees for any reason, except for some that are deemed illegal.
This at will relationship may be modified through changing the stipulations of the employee contract, which he or she will sign at the point of employment. It may also be changed if there is a stipulation regarding it in the employee handbook and other similar documents. A terminated employee may consider reading through the employee handbook in addition to consulting a termination law attorney to determine if he or she was fired legally or not.
One of the illegal reasons for firing an employee is discrimination of any form. The law declares it illegal to treat an employee differently from other employees because of one or more of these reasons:
Ancestry
Nationality
Sexual orientation
Sex
Race
Disability
Medical condition
Religion
Marital status
Age
In cases where you feel you are being fired because of illegal reasons, here are a few things you can try on your own to resolve the matter without going to court first:
Talk to your superiors. There is nothing wrong with questioning the decision of your company to fire you. It is always good to clear things up with your employer before you take any other action
Be familiar with the rights that you have. You can read through when researching about the rights that you have as a worker in many online resources. Read them and know exactly what rights you have for your specific situation so that you will have more confidence when asserting them.
Stick to the facts of your case. Before you even talk to your superiors, write down your thoughts to organize them. If you allow yourself to talk without organizing your thoughts first, you might forget one or two major points in your argument. Write down specific incidents that you may want to bring up. It would also help to run your thoughts by an objective listener and think about possible rebuttals or questions that you might encounter when it is time to talk to your employer about your case
Dont be overly emotional. Control your emotions when it is time to talk to your employers. Overly emotional people tend to say things that they regret afterwards
Document everything. Whenever applicable, document everything that goes on in your negotiation with your employer
If you feel that you have done everything that you can and you were still fired, consult a termination law attorney to find out if you have a strong case against your employer.
Our expert Los Angeles attorneys specialize in wrongful termination issues and other employment concerns. Visit our website at http://www.attorneyservicesetc.com/ and avail of our free case analysis.
Pao is an aspiring writer who writes technical as well as literary articles, among others. She is passionate about animal rights, photography, and literature. She hopes to someday be able to share her ideals to more people through her writings.
