Losing your job suddenly is always hard to swallow. When you’re fired under illegal and unfair circumstances, you have the right to sue your employer for your wrongful termination. Bringing a lawsuit against your employer can feel daunting. However, with the proper preparation and skilled legal support, California employees can build a strong case and potentially recover financial compensation for the wrongs they’ve suffered.
This blog post will offer some time-tested tips for how to win a wrongful termination case in California and answer some common questions employees have about wrongful termination lawsuits in the Golden State.
How to Win a Wrongful Termination Case: Step-by-Step
A successful wrongful termination case starts long before you file a lawsuit. Here are some tips that can help you protect yourself and your claim at each step in the process.
1. Figure Out Your Employment Status
If you think you’ve been fired illegally, you first must confirm whether you’re an at-will employee. You can review your employment contract or check with your former HR department.
Whether you’re employed at will can impact how you proceed with a wrongful termination case. Under California law, employers don’t have to have a valid “cause” to fire an at-will employee. Your boss can legally dismiss you at any time and for almost any reason, whether trivial or petty.
If you’re an at-will employee, you can only take legal action for wrongful termination if your employer breaks the law when they fire you.
2. Understand What Makes Your Termination Illegal
Even if you’re an at-will employee, California and federal laws still protect you from being fired under certain illegal circumstances. Valid reasons at-will employees have for wrongful termination lawsuits include:
- Discrimination—targeted firing due to your race, gender, disability, religion, or membership in another protected class;
- Sexual harassment—losing your job for resisting an employer’s sexual advances;
- Retaliation—punishment for reporting illegal activity or complaining about workplace misconduct;
- Violation of labor laws—e.g., in response to your report about safety violations or wage theft;
- Violation of public policy—firing you for exercising a legal right or refusing to break the law; and
- Breach of contract—breaking the terms of your employment contract.
To have grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit, you must identify how your employer broke the law when they fired you.
3. Document Everything and Preserve Evidence
A winning wrongful termination case requires compelling documentary evidence. Here are some steps you can take to preserve valuable evidence immediately after wrongful termination:
- Save email and other communications. Collect any physical and digital messages from the workplace that could relate to your case. Messages include voicemail, memos, letters, text messages, and physical notes and should be forwarded to a personal email address.
- Record the events leading up to your dismissal. Write down what you remember of the days before your termination. Make a note of any incidents of potential discrimination, misconduct, or actions on your part that could have sparked retaliation.
- Request your termination letter. Ask HR for your employer’s official reason for dismissing you and have them put it in writing.
- Get copies of your records. Request copies of the documents in your employee personnel file, such as performance reviews and disciplinary records. Keep your employee handbook and other documents outlining workplace policies.
It’s best to start gathering evidence as soon as possible. If you wait too long, you could lose access to valuable information, such as work email records.
4. Consult with a Legal Professional
Wrongful termination cases involve complex legal issues and overlapping state and federal laws. Schedule a consultation with a unlawful firing lawyer trained in California employment law who can evaluate your case and help you identify which regulations apply to your situation. An experienced attorney can help you understand and protect your rights at every step of the legal process.
5. Stay on Top of Required Deadlines
California and federal laws have time limits for employees to take legal action against an employer for wrongful termination. The deadline, or statute of limitations, for filing a wrongful termination lawsuit can vary depending on the situation. For example, if your firing was an illegal violation of public policy, you have two years to file your lawsuit in California. However, many other cases of wrongful termination due to retaliation only have a one-year statute of limitation.
In some cases, you may also have to file a complaint with a state or federal agency before you’re allowed to file a lawsuit. Consult your lawyer and ensure you act well ahead of these time limits. Too many employees lose their cases before they can even begin because they have waited too long to take action.
How Hard Is It to Win a Wrongful Termination Lawsuit?
In wrongful termination cases, employees have the burden of proof. You must demonstrate that your employer broke the law when they fired you. This can be challenging. Many employers understand that it’s forbidden to discriminate or retaliate against employees and take pains to hide their illegal motives. Your employer may try to defend themself with a pretext or false but legal excuse for terminating you. A skilled employment lawyer can help anticipate an employer’s pretext and prepare compelling evidence and legal arguments to challenge it.
How Do You Prove Wrongful Termination?
Proving your employer fired you illegally requires more than your word alone. It requires clear and compelling evidence that your boss acted out of discrimination, retaliation, or another unlawful motive. Documentary evidence such as emails, reports, and internal messages can help show illegal intent. Witness testimony from colleagues can also be valuable for showing a pattern of mistreatment by your employer.
For example, testimony from coworkers about your boss’s history of discriminating against pregnant job applicants can help support your case that your employer illegally fired you due to your pregnancy.
What Is the Average Wrongful Termination Settlement Amount?
The value of a wrongful termination claim can vary widely depending on the specific circumstances. Some factors that can impact the amount of a potential settlement include:
- The reason for your firing,
- Your income level and seniority,
- Your age and professional training,
- Quality of evidence,
- Your employer’s history of misconduct, and
- The skill of your employment lawyer.
Because each case involves a combination of factors, estimating a potential settlement is challenging without knowing the situation’s specifics. To accurately assess your case, it’s best to speak with a legal professional.
Tomorrow Law™: Trusted Advocates Who Get Results
For the past decade, Tomorrow Law™ has fought to help California employees stand up and assert their rights in the face of deceitful and abusive organizations. With a track record of recovering tens of millions of dollars per year for employees, our dedication to our clients speaks for itself. If you’re concerned that your employer wrongfully terminated you, contact our office today to schedule a free consultation with an attorney.