If
federal or state anti-discrimination laws cover your employer,
then he can't fire you for a discriminatory reason - such
as your race, age, or disability. That
constitutes a wrongful termination.
Retaliatory firings
If
you report your employer to the police or a state or federal
agency for some violation, your employer can't fire you
in revenge - even if you are an at-will employee. That's
called "whistle blower" protection. For example, if your
employer is illegally dumping toxic waste and you report
the company to the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"),
you cannot be fired for that reason. Even if your employer
claims to fire you for a different reason, it will be very
suspicious if you are fired immediately after your report.
See a lawyer who specializes in employment law if this happens
to you. If you are involved in a wrongful termination suit,
contact a labor lawyer near you.
Firings for complaining about wages or working conditions
Your employer probably may not fire you for complaining about wages or working conditions - if other employees joined in your complaint.
If
two or more workers get together to complain to their employer
about their wages or their working conditions, the employer
probably can't fire them because of those complaints - because
their complaints were "concerted activity" protected by
federal law. That claim should be brought to the National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is the agency that handles
labor union complaints. You must file that claim within
6 months of the date the employer fired you. If you have
been illegally terminated, contact a labor lawyer in your
area.
Other prohibited reasons for firing
Some
states have rules that protect workers from being wrongfully
terminated. Those rules range from protections from firing
for engaging in private, off-duty conduct (such as "moonlighting")
to protections from firing for their political activity
(such as attending a political rally).
If I quit, may I sue for wrongful termination?
Perhaps you can sue for a form of wrongful termination called "constructive discharge".
Generally,
a constructive discharge happens when no reasonable person
would have stayed in the job under such bad conditions,
and the worker tried without success to get the employer
to fix the problem. It's hard to prove a constructive
discharge case, and the rules vary from state to state.
You should contact a labor law attorney who specializes
in employment law if you think your employer constructively
discharged you.
If you have questions about wrongful termination, contact
a labor lawyer near you.
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