 WRONGFUL TERMINATION
The vast majority of employment relationships in California are classified
as "at-will employment." However, there are two primary exceptions. If you
are a union member and your union has a collective bargaining agreement
with the employer, then you are not an at-will employee. Also, if you and
your employer entered in to a written contract that specifies a certain
length of time for your employment, you are not considered at an at-will
employee.
At-will employment means that your employment relationship may be legally
terminated at any time, without notice, and for any reason at all, or for
no reason. If you quit, or your employer terminates you for any reason or
no reason, neither you nor your employer is legally liable for ending your
employment relationship.
However, there are two very important exceptions to this general rule. The
most common exception is when an employer terminates an employee for a
legally "bad reason." The law protects people based on their membership in
certain classes: race, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual
orientation and national origin. If you are fired for any reason related
to your race, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation or
national origin, then you may have a legal claim for wrongful termination
and you may be entitled to compensation.
The other exception to at-will employment is one that has been created by
the courts in recent years. Some California courts have found that, under
certain circumstances, an at-will employment arrangement may develop in to
something else that ultimately provides an employee with greater
protections against termination without notice and without good cause. The
primary factors the courts look for are if at-will
employment has developed in to an employment arrangement where an employee
can only be terminated for cause. This includes the number of
years on the job and whether the employer has ever indicated to the
employee (for example, in policy manuals, performance reviews or informal
conversations) that he or she was certain to have ongoing, long-term
employment with that employer. When such a situation occurs, the employee
can only be terminated "for cause" because of his or her bad conduct or
some other legally justified cause. If your employer has promised you
ongoing, long-term employment and then fires you without cause, you may
have a legal claim for wrongful termination and you may be entitled to
compensation.
If you believe you have been wrongfully terminated, you should immediately
contact the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the
agency responsible for enforcing state laws regulating the workplace.
Also, you should seek the advice of a private attorney familiar with
employment law because an attorney could assist you in obtaining
compensation for your claim.
For additional assistance, please contact the Group
Law Service at 661-325-3425.
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CHAIN, YOUNGER, COHN & STILES
1430 Truxtun Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93301-5220
Tel: 661-323-4000
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