Getting Fired Can Sometimes Imply Having To Declare Bankruptcy If You Don’t Have Savings
Sunday, January 8th, 2012Losing your job is a big problem for most folks because if you can't find another, it can mean that you'll have to declare insolvency. If you've been fired from your job, how does one know if the termination was legal or illegal (called “wrongful termination”)? Most work is “at will,” meaning an employee may be fired at any point and for any reason or for no real reason at all (so long as the explanation is not a crime). But there are some important exceptions to the at-will rule — and legal cures — which will aid you in keeping your job or sue your former employer for wrongful termination.
Violations of Public Policy
It is not lawful to violate state policy when firing a worker — that is, to fire for reasons that society recognizes as illegitimate grounds for termination.
Before a wrongful termination claim based mostly on a contravention of government policy will be allowed, most courts require that there be some specific law setting out the policy. Many state and federal laws have stated employment-related actions that obviously violate public policy, for example firing an employee for:
- disclosing a company practice of refusing to pay staff their earned commissions and accumulated vacation pay
- taking time off work to serve on a jury
- taking time off the job to vote
- serving in the military or State Guard, or
- notifying authorities about some wrong-doing dangerous to the public (whistle-blowing)
Implied Guarantees
The existence of an implied employment contract — a contract based mostly on things your employer said and did — is another exception to the at-will rule. This can be hard to prove because most employers are awfully careful not to make guarantees of continued work. But implied contracts have been found where bosses guaranteed “permanent work” or work for a particular period of time or where employers set forth precise forms of progressive discipline in an employee manual.
When making a decision whether an implied employment contract exists, courts look at a bunch of things, including:
- duration of your work
- regularity of job promotions
- history of positive performance reviews
- assurances that you would have continuing employment
- whether your employer violated a common work practice in firing you — like failing to give a required caution, or whether guarantees of long-term employment were made when you were employed
Written Promises
If you have got a formal contract or other statement that guarantees you employment continuity, you have got a strong discussion that you are not an at-will worker. For instance, you may have a work contract saying that you can only be fired with good cause or for reasons stated in the contract. Or, you may have an offer letter or other written document that makes guarantees about your continuing work. If this is so you might be able to impose those promises in court.
Breaches of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
If your employer acted unfairly, you will have a claim for a break of a duty of good faith and fair dealing. Courts have revealed that bosses breached the duty of good faith and fair dealing by:
firing or transferring workers to hinder them from collecting sales commissions
tricking staff about their possibilities for promotions and wage increases
fabricating reasons for firing an employee when the genuine incentive is to replace that worker with someone who will work for lower pay
soft-pedaling the bad sides of a specific job,eg the need to travel thru perilous neighborhoods late in the evening, and
repeatedly transferring a worker to remote, perilous, or alternatively unattractive assignments to coerce the employee into giving up without collecting severance pay or other benefits that would usually be due.
Some courts don’t recognize the “good faith and fair dealing” exception to at-will work. And some states require that a kosher work contract exist before staff can sue for a break of good faith and fair dealing.
Some states also protect employees from being fired for particular reasons, like service as an election officer or volunteer firefighter. Some courts have also held that employers can't fire you because you took advantage of a legal cure or exercised a legal right — like filing a workers ‘ compensation claim or reporting a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA). The bottom. Line is that you're shielded from discrimination at work by law.
Edwina Q. Miller required California labor attorneys when she had a discomforting work situation with a superior. Her wrongful discharge attorney was ready to advise her on how to pen a letter to the company about what was occuring at work.