Unlawful Termination

The accepted rule in California is that either the employee or the employer may end the employment bonds for any reason or for no reason at all. Most employees find themselves in "at-will employment" unless they have an express contract of employment, which can be written or verbal. If the employee does not have a contract with the employer, the employer can terminate an employee without worrying about what the employee can do. Despite appearances sometimes to the contrary, in many cases the furlough or termination of an employee may be unlawful and lead to a claim of damages.

If the employee proves that the parties agreed that the employee would be discharged only for good cause, an employment relationship is not "at will." This is sometimes proven by an employee handbook, which may describe the sound grounds for an employee to be terminated or demoted. This is a justly common practice from both minuscule businesses to huge corporations. Reasons for employee termination can often be found within company guidelines and memos from within the office. An employee may possess a valid breach of contract claim if the employer violates their own rules.

The issue sometimes is whether other evidence of the parties' conduct has a tendency to demonstrate the existence of an actual mutual understanding on particular terms and conditions of employment when there is no express agreement. This is called an implied contract, which can be created without it being explicitly discussed. An employee depends on the implied agreement to protect him/her from being terminated without a good reason. The personnel policies or practices of the employer, the employee's longevity of service, actions or communications by the employer reflecting assurances of continued employment, and the practices of the industry in which the employee is engaged often determines whether such a contract exists.

When an employer decides to fire or demote an employee, good cause is present if it was based on a fair and honest reason. If the employer's reasoning for demotion or discharge is based on arbitrary or trivial reasoning, is unrelated to business, or if the stated reasons are not the true reasons and/or are inconsistent with common practices, good cause does not exist. The employer is liable for potential damages if an employee is terminated because of national origin, religion, race, or sex.

An employee may have a valid claim when his or her employment is terminated or the employee is demoted because the employee has exercised certain rights protected under the law, in addition to a claim for breaching the implied covenant not to terminate except for good cause. As an example, the worker is usually entitled to remuneration when an employee makes a work-related-violation claim to the government and the employer takes revenge. This is known as the "whistleblower" claim.

The prior practices of the employer may be the cause that will give rise to a damages claim when an apparently lawful termination occurs. Sometimes employees are used and then discarded before they realize the employer's actions had been illegal. For instance, workers are allowed time for food and rest, and these rest periods are defined in the California Labor Code. The employee, following what appears to be a lawful discharge, may collect certain penalties when there is a failure to comply with the law and the employer is subjected to such penalties. At termination, an employer must pay the former employee money owed immediately or, in the case of the employee quitting, the employee must be paid within 72 hours. Non-compliance with these limitations of time allows the employer to become subject to certain penalties, such as 30 days worth of pay continuation.

It is common for the employee, after an employee-employer relationship ends, to have certain rights to compensation separate and apart from just their last paycheck. The possibilities of wrongful termination or termination following unfair treatment (by violating the Labor Code) can both give rise to damages.

Each case for wrongful termination is different, and the potential damage claims are nearly endless. Utilizing an experienced trial attorney to navigate through the law is helpful in reaching an amicable resolution.

About the Author

For more than 15 years, Paul W. Ralph has been an Orange County personal injury attorney. He has won many wrongful death suits as an Orange County wrongful death lawyer, and he is fully committed to fighting racial discrimination as well. Mr. Ralph has appeared on CNN and has also been quoted on the front page of the Los Angeles Daily Journal.