Employees like to believe that they are fully accepted and valued at work, but there are times when employers are simply looking for profits and power. There are supervisors who seek to make lives difficult and bosses who fire good workers for trumped up reasons. Wrongful termination is a huge problem across the country, made even more difficult to resolve because of the natural deceit that bosses utilize. They do not want to be sued, so they make up reasons to fire someone and to mask their discrimination. One form of wrongful termination is the violation of public policy. If you have been fired from your job in violation of public policy, contact the California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group to take legal action.
California Labor Laws
California is a state with at-will employment. This means that employers can fire their workers at any point in time for any reason, even if there is no particular reason, but the reason cannot be discriminatory in nature. Therefore, you can technically be fired simple if your boss does not mesh well with your personality, or you could be fired for underperforming. There are many possibilities. At-will employment does mean, though, that workers are also free to leave at any point in time without needing to give any notice to their employer.
Violation of Public Policy and Wrongful Termination Information
Wrongful termination comes about when an employer illegally fires a worker. It is most often attributed to some discrimination or bias, such as sex or gender discrimination, racial discrimination, and religious discrimination. There are other forms, though, such as a violation of public policy.
Public policy is the term used to describe actions that workers take that are required of them in society. Employers must be tolerant of these choices and not retaliate against the workers. Retaliation is a common occurrence – employers will usually go to many lengths to punish the workers if they cannot fire them, all in the hopes of making them quit the job. This will still allow them to terminate the employee, but in a more roundabout fashion. Retaliation is also illegal.
Examples of violations of public policy include:
- Exercising your right to vote in an election: Often, elections and voting booths are only open during certain hours, and you may not be able to go to the most suitable location in a timely fashion. You may simply skip the first half of your work day or the later hours so you can vote. You should inform your employer that you are going to the voting booth, though, or provide proof that you went and submitted a ballot. Some employers will claim that they should not be punished for taking action against you because there are opportunities to vote with mail-in ballots, and you should not need to take time off.
- Jury duty: You may be served with a summons to go to jury duty for a trial. If so, you will need to report to the courtroom and may have to be there for a few days, often for hours at a time. This can severely impact your work schedule and income, and even though the court pays a small stipend, it is not nearly a worthwhile replacement. Your refusal to go to jury duty can result in a bench warrant being issued for your arrest. You should inform your employer about the need to go, but if he fires you while you are absent or after coming back, he has violated the policy of allowing workers the ability to utilize their civic rights.
- Whistle blowing: Whistle blowing is the act of alerting government officials, police officers, investigators, reporters, or other similar organizations to illegal acts that are performed in the company. These unlawful conducts should be reported by employees, but many are threatened with the possibility of termination if they let anything slip. There are well known scenarios in which individuals are publicly threatened and must leave their companies after whistle blowing.
- Refusal to be complicit in illegal activities: There are some businesses that request employees to commit illegal acts to benefit the company. A common tactic is to forge tax documents, forge signatures, or withhold revenue. It is also common to steal information and data. Employees who do not agree to these activities cannot be punished by termination.
In the event that you are wrongfully terminated because of a violation of public policy, you should fight back against your employer with appropriate legal representation.
Filing a Violation of Public Policy Lawsuit
In order to sue your employer for the treatment you received in which you were fired due to a violation, you will need to gather appropriate evidence against your employer. This evidence should be acquired as quickly as possible and you should not wait until after you have been terminated. At the first sign of trouble, you should immediately garner proof just in case the situation progressively worsens.
First, you should document what the fundamental action you took was that triggered the retaliation or termination. If you went to jury duty, alerted reporters to illegal activities, or anything else, you should get as much proof as you can showing the occurrence. You can provide slips, messages, emails, notes, and more.
Next, you should get as many testimonies and eyewitness statements as you can. If your other coworkers witnessed the violation or termination, or if they were aware of the situation involving an illegal activity, they can provide their perspectives and support. However, this is often very difficult to acquire in the workplace – many workers are fearful of being retaliated against themselves, and they believe that they will have safer job security if they do not give any evidence against the company.
The best evidence you can have is an admission from your boss that you were fired due to you exercising your legal rights or similar reason. However, most bosses will not outright state this. You could get recordings of your boss wherein he says that you needed to be terminated, but they could be difficult – security footage, audio recordings, or voice messages are not likely to just be turned over by the company to incriminate themselves.
You should record the discrimination as it happened and ensure that you have all the dates, people, and statements accurate.
Lastly, it will greatly benefit your case if you hire an employment lawyer to represent you. You may not have any legal experience at all, and if you try to handle the claim yourself, you may stall completely or be outright denied. Our attorneys will be able to fight night and day for you and ensure that you are given a fair settlement if you were mistreated and fired from work due to a violation of public policy.
Compensation from an Employment Lawsuit
The goal of a lawsuit against your employer after you were fired from a violation of public policy is to secure you ample compensation. You should not be missing out on income because your employer discriminated against you. We will do everything possible to win your rightful restitution. You could receive the following:
- Reinstatement into your old job position, but any individuals do not take this route if the boss or supervisor still works there or if other coworkers complicity in the situation are still employed; there is the chance that further retaliation will just happen in the future
- Missed income, bonuses, commissions, tips, and other wages you could have earned but did not due to unemployment, as well as future lost income
- Enactment of changes to the employee handbook and work atmosphere so that similar situations do not unfold in the future
- Loss of benefits, health insurance, life insurance, coverage, and more
- Pain and suffering damages to cover PTSD, anxiety, fear, emotional distress, psychological trauma, and more
With the help of our lawyers, you will receive the maximum settlement under the law.
Our Firm’s Promise
The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group promises to aggressively work for your rightful damages. We will do everything in our power to negotiate a worthwhile deal from the company. If we cannot secure you a settlement, we are willing to go to court and fight for your rights. Our attorneys have years of experience in employment law and we know the most successful tactics to wrestle a verdict for you.
To set up a free legal consultation, call our law firm today. We will answer all questions you have and enlighten you about the legal process. All consultations are completely confidential – none of your personal details or case information will be shared outside of our offices. If you want to hire us for our services, we will give you our zero fee guarantee. We don’t get paid unless and until we win – the employer will pay your legal fees. If we lose, we do not get paid anything, and you walk away owing our firm no debt.
To sue for a violation of public policy wrongful termination, contact the California Labor Law Employment Attorney Group
