With its beautiful backdrop of the Santa Ynez Mountains, Santa Barbara seems like the idea place to live and work. Sadly, many workers in Santa Barbara are victims of harassment, discrimination, and other unlawful treatment. Eventually, the abuse culminates in wrongful termination, which some people accept under the assumption that they are powerless against their employer. The truth is, you have rights and legal options as an employee in Santa Barbara or any other city in California. If your employer took away your job illegally, there are ways to fight back and hold your employer accountable.
If you would like more information on how to sue your employer for wrongful termination, don’t hesitate to contact the offices of California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group. We are an employment law firm with decades of experience in all sorts of labor law violations, including unlawful termination. If you suspect that your recent job loss may have been illegal, we urge you to reach out and talk to our legal experts during a free consultation.
What You Should Do about Wrongful Termination
Wrongful termination is the act of firing an employee based on reasons that violate state or federal laws. For example, employers cannot someone because of a protected characteristic, such as age, religion, race, disability, sexual orientation, and gender. Employers are also forbidden from retaliating against someone by firing them. So, you have the right to complain about or file a formal complaint regarding unfair treatment at your job without the fear of losing your job.
California and federal laws that protect employees from wrongful termination include:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
- The Fair Employment and Housing Act
- The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
- The Family and Medical Leave Act
- The California Family Rights Act
If you want to learn more about legal protections that can help you after an unlawful termination, give us a call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our Santa Barbara wrongful termination attorneys are here to answer all your questions and help you move forward in a positive direction.
Was I Wrongfully Terminated?
Being fired may be unfair, and the notice from your employer may have come without any warning, but does it mean that you were wrongfully terminated? This is an essential question to ask yourself, since California’s at-will employment system makes it possible for employers to fire you for just about any reason, with little to no notice. But as we’ve said before, you have certain rights that guarantee fair and equal treatment in the workplace, meaning your employer cannot fire you on the basis of discrimination and/or retaliation.
Take a look at the following examples of wrongful termination that are common in Santa Barbara County:
- Terminating an older employee – some employers have a bias against people of a certain age and automatically assume that they are incapable of “keeping up” with their younger colleagues. A lot of these terminations are jokes or comments about the employee’s age, and subjecting the worker to excessive criticism and higher standards compared to employees that are younger.
- Firing someone of a particular race – employers may be prejudiced against certain races, ethnicities, or nationalities. As a result, these people are denied work opportunities and chances to advance their careers. They may also have to deal with offensive comments and other kinds of harassment from their coworkers, which the employer refuses to resolve.
- Termination due to gender discrimination – unfair treatment based on gender is fairly common, even in this day and age. With most of these cases, the employee is terminated after filing a Human Resources complaint or reporting the employer to a government agency (the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the California Civil Rights Department).
A lot of wrongful termination cases are not obvious, meaning the employer uses passive, subtle tactics to get rid of the unwanted employee. Thus, it can be hard to determine if you are wrongfully fired by an employer in Santa Barbara. Don’t worry if you are confused and have doubts about your experience at your former job. Our employment lawyers are ready to hear your story and help you figure out the best way to proceed if you are a victim of illegal practices by your employer.
What to do after being Wrongfully Terminated
Even if you are 10% sure that you were fired without a valid reason, you may still have questions on what you can do as someone whose employment rights were violated. If you were wrongfully terminated by your employer, you can start the legal process by filing a labor law complaint at the federal or state level. If, for example, you were fired because of discrimination by your employer, you can file a claim with:
- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
- The state of California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD), previously known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing
A government employment agency will conduct an investigation to see if your employer is guilty of wrongful termination. Based on what they find, the agency can take action against the employer or give you the right to file a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Legal Advice from a Wrongful Termination Lawyer in Santa Barbara
You may feel like there is nothing you can do if your employer gave you the pink slip, but you do have legal options if your employer broke the law in order to fire you. We believe it’s worth it to speak to a lawyer and verify whether your suspicions are correct if you believe that you were wrongfully terminated.
Our employment experts are happy to provide you with free legal advice and help you decide if filing a wrongful termination claim is the right course of action. We can also represent you for $0 upfront, as we take all cases on contingency. That means our payment comes out of the settlement that’s paid to you by your employer. If we do not succeed in winning your case, there is a Zero Fee Guarantee policy to ensure that you are not responsible for legal fees.
Please take this opportunity to schedule a free, confidential case review with a Santa Barbara wrongful termination attorney.
