Walnut Creek Wrongful Termination Attorneys

Grounds for a Wrongful Termination Claim in California

California employees are protected from being fired on certain protected grounds under state and federal laws. A vast majority of wrongful termination cases occur as a direct result of discrimination or retaliation.

In California, your employer cannot fire you as a result of your:

• Race
• Religion
• National Origin
• Sexual Orientation
• Gender Identity
• Political Beliefs
• Pregnancy or Marital Status
• Physical or Mental Disability
• Age (if over 40)
• Medical Conditions
• Military or Veteran Status
• Genetic Information

Employers also cannot retaliate against you for exercising your legal rights, such as:

• Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim
• Filing a Sexual Harassment Claim
• Reporting a Workplace Sexual Assault
• Reporting Workplace Discrimination
• Complaining about Unfair Pay or Unsafe Workplace Conditions
• Blowing the Whistle on Unlawful Behavior
• Requesting and Taking Protected Family or Medical Leave

In most wrongful termination situations, employers will not be direct about why they are firing someone. They will often use vague terms like “not a good fit” or “not working out” when justifying a dismissal that is actually the result of a protected characteristic or retaliatory act. Some employers will also exploit broader layoffs to conceal wrongful terminations.

Most wrongful terminations will be suspiciously timed. Consider an example scenario where your pregnancy – which you previously did not disclose – is now unavoidably apparent to colleagues in your workplace. Despite a strong performance record, you are surprised to learn you are being dismissed for ambiguous, unclear reasons. In this case, there is a good chance your employer discovered the pregnancy and chose to wrongfully terminate you to avoid having to provide you with pregnancy disability leave and other accommodations. 

In an example involving retaliation, you might be experiencing sexual harassment at work and decide to report the issue to your company’s HR department. While the HR representative might appear to be empathetic to your concerns, you are unsatisfied with the results of the internal investigation and elect to file a claim with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission you are soon summoned to your boss’s office and told you are being let go for “not being a team player.” Your employer likely retaliated against your decision to file a claim, and you thus likely have a wrongful termination case.

California employees are considered “at-will” by default unless their employment agreement specifically states otherwise. Though most California workers are hired “at-will,” some employees – particularly executives – may sign contracts, including union contracts, that guarantee they can only be fired under specific, outlined circumstances. In these instances, you may have a wrongful termination case if your employer violates your employment agreement.

It can sometimes be difficult to determine whether you have been wrongfully terminated and whether there is sufficient evidence to file a lawsuit. Our Walnut Creek wrongful termination attorneys can carefully evaluate the available evidence and advise whether you have a strong case.