What Is Wrongful Termination?

If you’ve been terminated from your job, but you believe you shouldn’t have been, you may wonder if you have a case for wrongful termination.

Read on to learn more about wrongful termination in California.

Reasons for Wrongful Termination

Contracts

If you’re under an employment contract promising your employment for a specified period of time or that you may only be let go for specific reasons, your employer is required to honor your contract. If your employer violates the contract, you may have a viable claim against your employer.

Your contract may be made verbally or in writing. In addition, your employee handbook can be used as a contract of sorts. For example, the employee handbook may state that employees may only be fired for justifiable reasons.

If your employer breaches your contract, you may be able to sue for the following:

Wages
Benefits
Anything else you should’ve received

Discrimination

The state of California protects employees from being hired and/or fired based on the following characteristics:

Race
Color
National origin
Religion
Sex (including pregnancy)
Age
Disability
Genetic information
Sexual orientation
Gender identity
Citizenship status
Marital status
AIDS/HIV status
Medical condition
Political beliefs or activities
Military or veteran status
Status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking, or assault

Retaliation

You may not be fired for exercising or attempting to enforce your employment rights. For instance, you cannot be let go for any of the following:

Filing a complaint of discrimination or harassment
Requesting or taking family and medical leave
Taking time off to serve on a jury
Filing a workers’ compensation claim
Criticizing illegal wage and hour practices

Violating Public Policy

You may not be let go for exercising a legal right, disagreeing to commit an illegal act, or criticizing workplace illegality. Public policy claims are like retaliation claims but have key differences.

A retaliation claim prohibits your employer from firing you for exercising your legal right to file a complaint. A public policy claim isn’t based on a particular law or statute but instead based upon the firing of an employee for refusing to commit an illegal act.

The overarching principle here is that you cannot be fired for exercising a legal right or declining to participate in illegal or unethical conduct.