Per the at-will employment policy in California, employees and employers choose to work with one another out of their free will, and they can legally end the working relationship at any time for any reason. However, there are some exceptions to the at-will policy. Employers cannot dismiss their employees for reasons that are in violation of public policies and the work agreement terms.

You may want to explore these possibilities if you have been fired from your job and think it was unfair or wrongful. It is advisable that you consult a wrongful dismissal lawyer and have him or her review your case. The lawyer will let you know if you have grounds to sue your employer.

What is unfair dismissal?

Unfair dismissal occurs when the employer fires you from your job without having a fair reason for the termination. When you approach a wrongful dismissal lawyer, he or she will check if your employer used the wrong procedure when handling the dismissal. The employer may have fired you for exercising your legal rights, wanting to exercise your rights, or participating in legal activities not approved by the employer. For example, you may have filed a complaint, reported illegal activities in the workplace, or refused to do anything illegal.

The employer may have dismissed you for reasons related to your age, gender, race, national origin, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or medical condition. If an employer fired you for one of these reasons, you could be looking at an unfair dismissal case.

What is wrongful dismissal?

As the wrongful dismissal lawyer will inform you, wrongful dismissal is getting fired from your job without receiving your legal entitlements. You can find these special entitlements outlined in the Employment Standards Act. You may also find the listed in the work agreement you signed with the employer during the hiring process. It is advisable to check if you are entitled to receive a legally mandated severance payment from the employer when they dismiss you from your position. If your employer has avoided paying this amount to you, it is a case of wrongful dismissal.

What is the difference between unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal?

People often use the terms unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal interchangeably, but as the wrongful dismissal lawyer will tell you, there are differences between them. It is unfair dismissal when the employer dismisses you without having a fair reason for doing so, or they may have a valid reason but used the wrong procedure for the job termination. The claims for wrongful dismissal occur after the employer has issued the dismissal notice to the employee.

The wrongful dismissal lawyer will review your case and attempt mediation with your employer. If that does not work, they will file a claim on your behalf with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which enforces the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), or with the federal U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). If that fails, you can file a lawsuit.

Getting fired from your job is never an easy experience for anybody, especially if you are the sole provider in your family. It is normal to run through an entire gamut of emotions, from incredulity to anger to despair. The experience seems even worse when you think your dismissal was illegal and violates federal and state anti-discrimination laws. You may decide to search on the Internet for “employee wrongful termination lawyers” and get legal advice about your options.

While you should certainly speak to a lawyer about your situation, it is important to understand that wrongful termination does not automatically mean unfair from the legal point of view.

Five things employees get wrong about wrongful termination

Here are five things that many employees get wrong about wrongful termination:

1. Any unreasonable termination is wrongful termination

In California, unless you have a written work agreement that states otherwise, employment is on an at-will basis. That means it is legal for employers to fire you from your job for any reason or without any cause. For example, your employer might fire you because they want to hire someone else for that position or because you spend your work hours chatting on your smartphone.

On the other hand, if you have a work contract that states that the company can fire you only for specific reasons, it is not legal for the employer to fire you for any other reason not listed in the contract. Additionally, they cannot fire you in violation of anti-discriminatory public policies.

2. Only women can file a wrongful termination claim

Some employees assume that only women can file a wrongful termination claim after being discriminated against, but that is not the case. Anyone can face workplace discrimination for age, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, marital status, disability, or health condition. Anyone may experience sexual harassment in the workplace. And that means that anyone who is fired for discriminatory reasons and can prove it with verifiable evidence can file a wrongful termination case against their employer.

3. The employment law protects you from age discrimination

You are mistaken if you assume that the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 automatically protects you from discrimination in the workplace if you are over 40. The Act applies only under specific circumstances. For instance, the Act is applicable if a private employer has 20 or more workers and employs them for at least 20 weeks in a year. If your employer employs less than 20 workers in a year, they may not come under the Age Discrimination Act of 1967, which means that you may not be able to sue them for age discrimination.

4. Employers will settle at once if you file a wrongful termination case

If you assume your employer might settle quickly to avoid the bad publicity that could come with a wrongful termination case, you might be wrong. Large companies have very competent lawyers to handle their legal issues, and they may play tough. Unless you have celebrity status or some other public cloud, your matter is probably not going to create much of a stir in the media. You might find yourself at the wrong end of the law and sue for defamation.

So, before filing a wrongful termination case, think carefully and determine if you can back your claims with strong evidence that can withstand scrutiny in court.

5. You cannot sue your employer if you quit your job

Many employers have the mistaken belief that they cannot sue their employer for wrongful termination if they quit their job. Actually, in some circumstances, you can. For example, you might have felt compelled to quit your job because of an intolerable work environment. You may have faced workplace hostility, unsafe work practices, or unhygienic work surroundings. You may have received work assignments that are impossible to complete with the available workplace resources.

In such cases, you may have had no other option but to resign from your job position. And since the employer is at fault here, you can sue them for wrongful termination. However, you should be able to prove with strong evidence that the employer had malicious intent and deliberately created an intolerable work atmosphere to coerce you to resign.

Even though the federal and state laws in the United States forbid sexual harassment in the workplace, many male and female employees still report experiencing this type of harassment in their workplace. If you find yourself in a similar situation, your employer has the legal obligation to stop the harassment. If they do not, it is essential that you contact sexual harassment in the workplace lawyer, use the existing laws, and take appropriate legal action to end the harassment.

Putting up with the offensive conduct is not advisable as the hostile intimidating environment it creates can negatively impact your morale, productivity, and, subsequently, even your career.

What is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment is any sexually offensive, objectionable, and unwanted behavior that makes you feel harassed, threatened or intimidated. From a legal point of view, such conduct can sometimes be hard to prove. The perpetrators might claim that you miscontrued their intentions and that they were merely being friendly. However, if they have continued with their unwanted friendliness despite being repeatedly told to stop, the chances are strong that their behavior constitutes sexual harassment. It might be best to consult experienced sexual harassment in the workplace lawyer and find out about your legal options.

If you have experienced any of the following unpleasant behaviors from your employer or co-workers, you are looking at clear-cut sexual harassment:

• The subject you to lewd, suggestive, creepy comments, compliments, and jokes.

• They send you pornographic messages, images, or videos.

• They make persistent requests for dates and refuse to accept that you are not interested.

• They make aggressive advances and repeatedly get into your physical space.

• The subject you to unwanted touches, pats, embraces, grabs, or kisses.

• They demand sexual favors from you for a work assignment, promotion, or salary raise.

• They spread offensive and damaging rumors about your character and behavior.

• They photograph you without your knowledge or permission.

• They stare at you and your private parts obscenely.

• They sabotage your work because you turned them down.

• They threaten to harm you physically unless you agree to their sexual demands.

What to do when you have been sexually harassed at work?

You can do the following if you have been sexually harassed at work:

1. Make sure that you are not misconstruing the behavior, that it is indeed offensive, unpleasant, and intimidating and makes you feel unsafe in your workplace.

2. Maintain a detailed record of the harassment. For instance, when it started, what the person said or did, when, where, and who witnessed it.

3. Gather evidence of the harassment, such as offensive notes, emails, text messages, chats, photographs, images, and videos the perpetrator sent you.

4. Record yourself informing the perpetrator clearly in the presence of witnesses that you find their behavior objectionable and want them to stop it and stay away from you. Many harassers will back off when you confront them directly and let them know they cannot cross your boundaries. If they do not, you have proof that you asked them to stop, and they cannot claim you misconstrued their behavior.

5. If the harassment continues, inform your manager and file a formal complaint with the HR department. Depending on your company’s policy, you may need to do this within 180 or 300 days of experiencing the harassment. As per the law, employers with 15 or more employees have the legal obligation to investigate complaints of sexual harassment, check the evidence, and take appropriate action against the perpetrators. They may issue them warnings, transfer them, or fire them.

6. If the employer does not take appropriate action and the harassment continues, file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). They will investigate the matter and, based on the evidence, ask your employer to compensate you.

7. If EEOC fails to get a satisfactory resolution, consult sexual harassment in the workplace lawyer. The lawyer may first approach your employer and try to get an out-of-court settlement. If that does not work, he or she can file a lawsuit on your behalf against your employer for subjecting you to a hostile and unsafe work environment, represent you at the trial, and get you justice.