Most of the employers in Southern California employ workers “at will.” This means that you can be fired any time with a reason or without reason. While your employer may be justified in terminating employees, at times, the termination may be illegal. There are so many illegal reasons that can lead employers to face legal consequences. The main question arises on how to differentiate between a legal and a wrongful termination. If you’re an employee who has been recently fired and you feel the basis of the firing could be illegal, you have a right to take legal action against your boss.

Why You May Have A Reason To File A Claim 

When an employer decides to terminate an employee with a reason or without one, he/she must ensure not to violate the federal or state law policies concerning employee termination. If this is not adhered to, one can find labor lawyers in Orange county Ca for legal advice on how to go about the situation. For an employee to claim that he/she has been wrongfully terminated, they should consider whether the employer has violated some or all of the below factors:

  • Termination has impacted the good faith and fair dealing: Your employer must have handed you a contract to sign before offering you employment. This contract meant that everyone included must have honest and fair dealings. Besides, it meant that there must be good faith towards one another during the contract process. Therefore, if your employer has acted unfairly by terminating you wrongfully, he/she can be said to have breached the duty of good faith and fair dealing. An example of this could be when your employer gives employees misleading information about wage increase or promotions or transferring a pregnant employee to carry out strenuous duties and coerce them to quit if they don’t perform.
  • Acting on an implied promise: This could be statements your employer said but were not included in the employment contract. For instance, the employer could have promised you full-time employment if you performed to a certain level. Though this may be somewhat had to prove, implied contractsare enforceable by the law. The judge will have to consider some factors to confirm this:
  • Whether a promise to offer you long time employment was given or an assurance that the job would continue
  • Whether your employer has awarded positive performance reviews
  • The duration in which you have been in employment
  • Wrongful termination against public policy:Not only does the government consider a wrongful termination, but also the society. Meaning, there are instances where termination may be considered illegal, such as to violate the public policy.  It is considered a wrongful terminated if :
  • Took time off to attend to a court hearing
  • You took time off to go for election
  • Reporting any illegal act based on a violation of law: In most cases, employers don’t take whistleblowers positively, to revenge for such; they terminate the employee who reports any violation of the law. For instance, acting as a whistleblower about your employer failing to pay overtime earned. To prove that your employer took an adverse action against you to show that:
  • You raised a complaint about a legally protected activity, such as letting your employer or supervisor aware of harassment in the workplace or raising a discrimination claim.
  • Your employer took action against the complaint raised such as denying you a promotion or wrongfully terminating you.
  • False representation:Your employer may have tricked or forced you to resign. In most instances, employers tend to deceive employees during the recruiting process such that they can force you to stop working any moment they deem fit. If you rely on such information and find out you were tricked, you may file a claim. Though this may be hard to prove, an experienced labor lawyer can differentiate between a false representation and a legal firing or termination.

An employer has no legal reason to terminate you because you have exercised your rights. Being an employee in California, you can rest assured that you’re in a state that offers the most protection to employees against wrongful termination.

Hiring The Best Wrongful Termination Lawyer

If you think to have been wrongfully terminated by your employer, make a step of getting in touch with experienced wrongful termination lawyers. These lawyers know the best strategy to take legal action against your employer. Such a lawyer understands how difficult it can be to file a claim against your employer. They will ensure to make the best decision to protect your rights. When it comes to hiring the lawyer, you need to make sure the lawyer has been successful in representing wrongful termination cases and has some reasonable connection with the local courts.