Wrongful Termination / Retaliation
In an “at-will” employment environment, employers are permitted
to fire employees for almost any reason or for no reason at all, as long
as the firing does not violate the law or public policy.
The exception is when an employee can show his or her firing was wrongful
because it violated state or federal prohibitions against firing an employee
for a discriminatory reason or if the firing was in retaliation for the
employee reporting the employer to state or federal officials in certain
protected circumstances.
Businesses that are subject to anti-discrimination laws are prohibited
from firing employees on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, national
origin, pregnancy or some other protected category.
Similarly, federal and state whistleblower laws protect employees from
retaliatory firing if they report the employer’s allegedly illegal
activities to the appropriate state or federal agency. In many
cases, employers are not permitted to fire employees who have complained
to the appropriate regulatory agencies about wage or working condition
issues and employers are prohibited from firing employees because they
filed workers’ compensation claims.
In rare cases, employees who resign can still bring a wrongful termination
suit alleging constructive discharge if the employee can show no reasonable
person would have remained in the job under the allegedly terrible conditions
and that the employee tried and failed to get the employer to fix the
situation.
The Law Offices of GRANT & ASSOCIATES helps employees who were wrongfully
terminated obtain full recoveries, including back wages, fines and even
punitive damages in some cases.
The Tacoma Washington employment and personal injury attorneys of Grant & Associates are focused on legal matters including injury, accidents, employment and discrimination cases. Contact our firm to discuss your case with our attorneys.
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