At-will employment laws aim to be mutually beneficial for workers and businesses. Companies can potentially terminate workers without notice and without even providing them with an explanation as to why they have lost their jobs. Employees also have the right to quit without notice and without facing any consequences for leaving their position at the company.
Many people misunderstand the implications of at-will employment. For example, they may assume that their employers may never face consequences even if they fire workers for truly inappropriate reasons. In reality, workers subject to at-will employment statutes can still experience wrongful termination. They also have the right to pursue litigation if a wrongful termination occurs.
When at-will firing becomes illegal
Generally speaking, there are two main scenarios in which a termination might be wrongful. The first is when the decision is discriminatory. Employers cannot consider the protected characteristics of individual workers when making employment decisions. If the company chooses to fire a worker because of their race, sex, religion, age or disabling medical condition, that constitutes a discriminatory firing. Companies should never consider protected characteristics when deciding who keeps their job and who gets laid off or fired.
The other potential form of wrongful termination involves retaliation. Employment laws also protect certain employee behaviors in addition to their unique characteristics. Workers have the right to report safety violations and advise their employers of on-the-job injuries. They can ask for accommodations for medical issues in many cases and may be able to take unpaid leave to deal with medical or family matters. Workers can discuss their wages with one another and even attempt to unionize.
All of those actions benefit from protection under federal law. If employers punish workers for engaging in protected activities by firing them afterward, that situation may involve a retaliatory firing and could therefore constitute wrongful termination. A successful wrongful termination lawsuit can sometimes lead to the reinstatement of a worker to their prior position. Other times, the goal is financial compensation for the practical impact of the job loss. Lost income, reduced earning potential and other hardships caused by a wrongful termination can contribute to the value of the lawsuit brought against the former employer.
At-will employees who believe they may have experienced a wrongful termination may need to discuss their concerns with an employment lawyer. Holding businesses accountable for inappropriate terminations can compensate the affected workers and prevent similar organizational misconduct in the future.