Sue for Wrongful Termination

If you were fired from your job for an illegal reason, you may have a claim for wrongful termination. Wrongful termination may occur if you are fired for discrimination, or for a reason judges consider to be against public policy. Additionally, firing you for no reason when you had an employment contract stating you could only be fired for good cause also could be considered wrongful termination.

Steps

Filing a Discrimination-Based Lawsuit

1. File a charge with the EEOC. If you believe your former employer fired you on the basis of your race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information, you can file a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
   • All of the laws enforced by the EEOC require you to file a charge with the agency before you will be allowed to file a lawsuit for discrimination.
   • To file a discrimination charge, you can simply walk-in to your nearest EEOC field office and fill out the form to file a charge. If you live too far away, you can call the EEOC toll-free number at 1-800-669-4000. A representative will take basic information about your case and forward it to the appropriate field office.
2. Talk to an EEOC agent. Either in person or over the phone, an agent in the appropriate field office will talk to you about your charge and ask you questions about your termination and the reasons you believe you were terminated for a discriminatory reason.
   • For example, suppose your boss needed to lay off a number of workers, and he decided to lay off the oldest workers first, keeping the younger ones. This could be evidence of age discrimination.
   • You'll need to back up your charge with as much evidence as you can find, including eyewitness accounts or any notes or emails that contain discriminatory statements.
   • Within 10 days of receiving your charge, the EEOC will send a copy of it to your former employer and ask for a response to the charge.
3. Attend mediation if required. In some cases, the EEOC will require you and your former employer to attend a mediation and attempt to resolve the dispute without proceeding to a formal EEOC investigation.
   • The mediator will work with you and your former employer to attempt to reach a voluntary settlement of the dispute.
4. Cooperate with the EEOC investigation. If the EEOC found evidence to support your discrimination charge and you and your former employer were unable to reach a settlement during mediation, the EEOC may launch a full investigation of your case.
   • During the investigation, the EEOC will request documents and interview witnesses to get to the bottom of the facts and circumstances surrounding your case.
   • Depending on the amount of information to be analyzed and other factors, the EEOC investigation could take as long as six months.
5. Wait for EEOC action. At the conclusion of the investigation, the EEOC will notify you of the action it is taking in your case. Regardless of the EEOC's decision, you always have the right to file a lawsuit.
   • If the agency finds no violation of the law, it will send you a notice that you have the right to sue for discrimination in federal court.
   • If the agency does find a violation of the law, it will attempt to reach a settlement with your former employer. If that isn't possible, the agency will either sue your former employer itself or send you a notice that you have the right to sue for discrimination in federal court yourself.
6. File a lawsuit in your nearest federal court. When the EEOC has completed consideration of your discrimination charge, you have the right to sue your former employer in federal court.
   • Even if the discrimination does not violate one of the laws the EEOC enforces, you still might be able to recover damages for wrongful termination.
   • Before you file a lawsuit in federal court, consider hiring an attorney. Federal court procedure is complex and if you file on your own, you will be expected to know all the rules to the same extent an attorney would. If you can't afford an attorney, check with your state bar association for free or reduced-cost legal services such as legal aid societies or law school clinics.

Filing a Contract-Based Lawsuit

1. Read over your written contract. If you signed a written employment contract, it may include a clause outlining the circumstances under which you can be terminated.
   • If you were terminated for any reason other than those listed in your contract, or for no reason at all, you may have a breach of contract claim against your employer.
2. Determine if you have an implied contract. Actions or statements on the part of your employer may create an implied contract in some situations, even if you never signed a written contract.
   • While a judge always will look at the totality of the circumstances, promotions, employee handbooks, and letters or emails assuring continued employment all may add up to an implied contract.
   • Most employers will point out in any written policy, application, handbook, or other employment-related document given to you that you are an at-will employee. If you are employed at will, you may be fired at any time for any reason or no reason – with the exception of some illegal reasons. If your documents contain explicit statements that you are an at-will employee, they cannot reasonably be interpreted as creating an implied contract.
   • Similar to the implied contract, some courts have determined that an employer wrongfully terminated an employee by violating an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing – essentially, that the employer cheated the employee by firing her. For example, an employer may fire a sales employee to avoid paying her sales commissions she earned. In such a case, a judge typically would find that the employee had been wrongfully terminated and require the employer to pay her those commissions.
   • You might consider consulting with an attorney about your case, especially if you are basing it on an implied contract. This area of law can get complicated, and if you file your lawsuit on your own you'll still be expected to understand it just as much as an attorney would.
3. Consider sending your former employer an initial demand letter. If you have what you believe is an open-and-shut case that your employer breached your contract by firing you, send your employer a letter outlining your claim and offering to settle the matter without going to court.
   • Don't be rude or threatening, but be assertive in your claim. Give your employer a deadline to respond, and explain that you are prepared to file suit if he doesn't agree to your demands.
4. Decide where you need to file your lawsuit. If you decide to file a lawsuit, you must figure out which court has jurisdiction over your claim.
   • Usually you would file your contract-based lawsuit in the county where the contract was supposed to be completed. For example, if you live in one county but worked in the neighboring county, you would want to file your lawsuit in the county where you worked, not the county where you live.
   • Also keep in mind that different courts deal with different types of cases. For example, some courts only hear cases involving family law, or only hear juvenile proceedings. In larger counties, the civil courts may be divided based on the amount of money you want or what other remedies you're requesting.
5. Draft your summons and complaint. The complaint tells the judge about your former employer's breach of contract, describing how this injured you, and asking to be compensated financially for that injury. The summons tells your former employer that you're filing a lawsuit against him and he needs to show up in court and respond.
   • Each court has its own format for civil court complaints. You may be able to find a form online or by contacting the clerk of court's office. If your county doesn't have a form, the clerk may be able to provide you with complaints filed in other cases that you can use as examples or guides.
   • Find out from the clerk if you need any other documents, such as a certificate of service or a notice of hearing, to accompany your complaint. Those forms should be available at the clerk's office or online as well.
6. File your complaint in the appropriate court. Typically, you must bring several copies of your complaint and summons. The clerk will file the original and may schedule a date for your first hearing in the case.
   • You will have to pay a filing fee to initiate your lawsuit. If you don't believe you can afford the fee, the clerk will have an application for a fee waiver that you can fill out. If your application is approved you won't have to pay court fees.
7. Serve your former employer. After you've filed your lawsuit, it must be formally served on your former employer so he has notice that he's being sued.
   • You cannot serve the papers yourself. You must get someone else to do it. That person must be someone over the age of 18 who isn't part of your case.
   • You can also use certified mail for service. Sending something certified means you will get a signed receipt back when your former employer receives the papers.
   • When service is completed, you'll have to fill out a proof of service form and file it with the court. This form tells the court that you served your lawsuit on the other party.
8. Consider mediation. Depending on how contentious relations are with your former employer, you may find it easier and less expensive to use a private mediation service than to go through with a formal trial.
   • Mediation uses a neutral, uninvolved third party to work with you and your former employer to resolve the dispute together.
   • Because mediation proceedings are less formal than trial, and because the outcome of a mediation can remain confidential, it may provide a more comfortable setting for both you and your former employer.
9. Prepare for trial. During the pre-trial discovery phase, you will collect facts and statements about your case and share information and evidence with your former employer.
   • You may interview witnesses or request copies of documents from your former employer that are relevant to your case, such as personnel records.
   • Because conducting discovery requires an understanding of the court's rules of procedure and rules of evidence, you should consider having an attorney assist you with the process.

Filing a Lawsuit for Violation of a Public Policy

1. Research your state law and court decisions. A violation of public policy is based on a specific statute or regulation, or on your state constitution.
   • For example, you cannot be fired for exercising a legal right such as taking time off work to vote or serve on a jury.
   • Consider consulting an attorney. Claiming your former employer violated public policy when she fired you entails making legal analysis. Although you can review the law on your own, you won't understand it the way an attorney would. Even if you can't afford to have an attorney represent you for the entire case, you may be able to talk to someone about your initial complaint.
2. Gather evidence. Before you start drafting your lawsuit, pull together all the documents or witnesses you have that will support your claim that your former employer violated public policy when she fired you.
   • For example, if your boss sent you an email that said "You should have participated in early voting. If you leave work on election day to vote, don't bother coming back," that might support your claim that she fired you because you took time off to vote.
3. Consider sending a letter to your former employer. Wrongful termination lawsuits based on public policy are rather complex, and can cost a lot of time and effort. Send your former employer a letter describing your findings and conclusion and offer to settle the matter out of court.
   • You don't want to threaten your former employer, but you do want to remind her that court cases like this can be costly, and may cause her damaging negative publicity.
   • Come up with a reasonable demand and offer to compromise. Give your former employer a deadline to respond to your letter before you file a formal lawsuit.
4. Make sure you've completed any administrative prerequisites to filing suit. If the basis of your public policy suit is discrimination or retaliation, for example, you may be required to first file a complaint with a state or federal agency and exhaust that administrative process before you file a lawsuit in court.
5. Draft your summons and complaint. Check with the clerk of the court where you plan to file your lawsuit for forms or samples that you can use as a guide to draft your lawsuit.
   • Each court has its own rules regarding other forms that must be included with your summons and complaint to initiate a lawsuit, such as a notice of hearing or a cover sheet. Make sure you have forms or examples of each of these documents.
   • Once you've completed and signed your complaint, you'll need to make at least three copies of all the documents you intend to file with the court.
6. File your summons and complaint in the appropriate court. Take your original documents and your copies to the clerk's office and file them to initiate your lawsuit.
   • The clerk will stamp all your documents "filed" with the date. Depending on the court, he may also schedule a court date for an initial hearing or other court appearance.
   • You will have to pay a filing fee to have your lawsuit filed. If you don't think you can afford to pay the fee, you can fill out an application for a fee waiver in the clerk's office. If your application is approved, you won't have to pay any fees.
7. Serve your former employer. After you've filed your lawsuit, you must serve your former employer so she knows you are suing her and when and where she needs to show up in court.
   • You complete service by getting someone over the age of 18 who isn't involved in the case to give the complaint and summons to your former employer.
   • You also can serve your employer by sending the documents using certified mail.
   • After your former employer is served, you'll have to complete a proof of service form that tells the court you served your lawsuit.
8. Consider mediation. You can use a neutral, third-party mediator to help resolve your dispute more quickly and inexpensively than going to trial.
   • Mediations tend to be less formal than a trial, so you don't have to worry about knowing all the rules of evidence and procedure, as you would if you went to trial.
   • Because mediation is confidential, the process allows you and your former employer to resolve the case without a public record, which your former employer might prefer.
9. Prepare for trial. Before trial, you will exchange information and evidence with your former employer during the discovery process.
   • You may send questions to your former employer that she must answer under oath, or you may request documents such as your personnel file that are relevant to your case.
   • Participating in the discovery process requires extensive knowledge of the court's rules of evidence and procedure, so you should consider consulting an attorney to help guide you through it.

Tips

• Regardless of the method you use, act quickly when initiating a lawsuit for wrongful termination. Courts and government agencies give you deadlines for pursuing your claims. If you don't file before that date you won't be able to recover anything. The best way to ensure you still have the right to start a lawsuit is to file your complaint as soon as possible after you are fired.

References

See also

• Sue the Government for Discrimination
• Claim Age Discrimination for Apprenticeship Programs
• Help Avoid Employee Lawsuits
• Verify Rehab Treatment for an Employee
• Handle Disciplinary Actions
• Claim Weight Discrimination
• Know if You Should Sign a Covenant Not to Sue
• Defend Yourself in a Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
• File Charges With EEOC
• Defend Yourself in an Asbestos Exposure Lawsuit

Read more ...

What links here

• Take Legal Action if an Employer Forces You to Get a Flu Shot
• Know if You Should Sign a Covenant Not to Sue
• Report Unpaid Wages