California may be an at-will state, but that doesn’t mean that employers can discriminate against you. If you believe you’re a victim of a wrongful termination, you have the right to take legal action against an ex-employer. Our Encino wrongful termination lawyers can help you build your case.
Omega Law Group Accident & Injury Attorneys wants to make it as easy as possible for California residents to understand the protections afforded to them by the Fair Employment and Housing Act and related acts. We’ve gone to bat for California employees since 2016 and are ready to put decades of experience to work on behalf of our clients.
Contact us today to discuss the circumstances that led to your wrongful termination and to learn more about how our Encino employment lawyers can advocate for you.
What is At-Will Employment in California?
The state of California allows businesses and employers to fire employees at will. This means that employers do not have to provide a reason for an employee’s termination. However, there are exceptions to the rule, and legal limits designed to protect employees from flagrant abuse or bias.
For example, employers throughout California do not have the right to terminate an employee in retaliation for protected actions or based on discriminatory beliefs. Likewise, terminations may not violate public policy or an employee’s employment contract. Finally, terminations may not violate state or federal labor laws.
Terminations that break that law or result from discriminatory practices, or are a symptom of a larger harassment campaign, don’t have to leave you high and dry. You can investigate your termination with a wrongful termination attorney in Encino and assess whether or not you have the right to responsive action.
What is Discriminatory Termination?
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides employees with anti-discrimination policies that they can reference when targeted by harassment campaigns or wrongfully removed from the workplace.
The characteristics protected by this act include a person’s:
- Nationality
- Religion
- Disabilities, be they physical or mental
- Race or ethnicity
- Medical conditions
- Sexual orientation
- Gender identity
- Sexual or gender expression
- Age
- Marital status
- Veteran status
If you want to argue that you were wrongfully terminated from a position due to discriminatory policies, you will need to bring forward evidence that your termination resulted from behaviors targeting one or more of the aforementioned protected characteristics.
You can also refer to other federal laws, including the Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), to identify patterns of negligence and protect yourself from mistreatment. Our team can compare your case against these acts to assess what rights you may have to recoverable actions.
How Our Encino Wrongful Termination Lawyers Build Cases for Discrimination
You can identify discrimination by bringing forward evidence of a company’s pattern of behavior. For example, if the company you work for has policies in place that make it uncomfortable or unpleasant for people above the age of 40, or if your employers have previously dismissed employees above a certain age, their operational policies may violate California law.
Our team can connect you with investigators who can help you bring forward evidence to argue discrimination when challenging a previous termination. We can also discuss why you think you may have been targeted during ongoing case consultations.
(310) 526-8383What is Retaliatory Termination?
You also have the right to take action if you believe that an employer terminated you from a previous position in response to your whistleblowing or otherwise engaging in legally protected activities.
For example, some employers may retaliate against employees who:
- File for workers’ compensation after a workplace accident
- Track and report wage violations
- Track and report unsafe working conditions
- Help with an outside investigation into the company’s policies
- Take protected leave
- Report workplace harassment or discrimination against themselves or other coworkers
Likewise, employers may not ask you to break the law, and cannot terminate you from your job if you refuse to break the law. Retaliation is illegal at both the state and federal levels and entitles victims to legal action against previous employers.
When Can You File a Wrongful Termination Claim?
If you want to file a wrongful termination claim, make sure you file your paperwork before your relevant statute of limitations expires. If you’re filing a claim under the FEHA, you need to complete your claim within three years of your incident.
Comparatively, filing a claim against retaliation requires you to finalize your paperwork between one and three years after an incident, with your timeline varying depending on the specifics of your case. If you want to file for breach of contract, you need to do so within four years if the contract was written and two years if the contract was verbal.
Finally, if you want to argue that your employer violated public policy, you need to complete a claim within two years of your termination. Working with Encino wrongful termination attorneys can make it easier to stay on top of these deadlines and assess which apply to your case.
Contact Omega Law Group
You don’t have to let previous employers get away with discriminatory practices. If you believe you were wrongfully terminated from your job, you can contact Omega Law Group and conduct an investigation into your circumstances. Our support can help you exercise the rights afforded to you by the Fair Employment and Housing Act and other protective acts in California.
Our wrongful termination attorneys in Encino, CA, want to help you pursue accountability for the discrimination you endured. We can represent you in and out of civil court as you fight to make your voice heard in conversations with an ex-employer and other legal representatives.
Contact us today to discuss how Omega Law Group can approach your wrongful termination case.
