Workers in California generally have the freedom to move from job to job as they desire. Many professionals develop their careers by moving to better positions with new companies every few years. Employers in California have the option of terminating workers who do not meet company standards and replacing them with new hires.
At-will employment in California helps provide career mobility to workers and operational flexibility to businesses. Neither party has to provide advance notice when choosing to terminate the working relationship. Providing a reason for ending the employment arrangements is also not technically necessary.
Some professionals assume that their at-will employment status prevents them from taking legal action after what feels like a wrongful termination. Despite what they might believe, employees fired for inappropriate reasons can take legal action despite at-will employment statutes.
Some firings are outright illegal
Employers can terminate workers for having a bad attitude, failing to meet performance metrics or a desire to slightly increase company profits by reducing operating expenses. However, there are two main scenarios in which a termination could be wrongful.
The first involves discrimination. Employers should not consider protected characteristics when deciding who keeps their job during staffing reductions or whether to retain the continued services of a specific professional. Characteristics including race, age, religion and sex should not influence employment decisions.
Similarly, employers should not consider a worker’s disabling medical condition or pregnancy when making decisions about who keeps their job. If terminations are discriminatory in nature, then workers may have experienced wrongful termination.
Companies also cannot retaliate against employees. If workers make use of their employment rights by refusing to perform unsafe work, requesting unpaid leave or reporting abuse from coworkers, they should not face punishment for making use of their rights.
Retaliatory terminations are illegal and may open a company up to litigation. In some cases, workers may also have the right to take legal action when a termination violates the standards established in their initial employment contract.
Reviewing a termination and other details about a concerning situation with a skilled legal team can help workers determine if they have grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit. Workers fired unfairly can pursue reinstatement in some cases or financial compensation from their former employers in others.