According to research based on wrongful termination cases in California, the average settlement amount received by plaintiffs is around forty thousand dollars. It’s even more when it becomes a court verdict. According to responses from several wrongful termination lawyers in Los Angeles, researchers found that the average value of wrongful termination court verdicts was a whopping $45,000.
So if you believe that you lost a job because of unlawful reasons, you might be able to claim compensation from your employer for wrongful termination.
It goes without saying that such litigation could be challenging and involve complicated legal work. So the question that’s probably swirling in your mind would be if it’s worth pursuing a wrongful termination lawsuit instead of an out-of-court settlement. You might also wonder if you could get a larger compensation by going for trial.
Well, you might. If you are entering into a legal battle, you can spread the word by just sending a notice or filing an injunction. So you might as well get a larger compensation and move forward in life.
Let’s look at different kinds of wrongful termination cases. These might be scenarios where you might require counsel of a wrongful termination lawyer.
Employment Contract Violation:
Let’s suppose that you found out, from your memo, that the grounds for your dismissal was a breach of contract/employment agreement. It is important to understand that sometimes the clauses in the agreement drawn up by your employer could be unlawful. Such a finding could enable you to prove that you were wrongfully terminated. Only a seasoned employment lawyer or law firm could uncover such minute details, verify, and achieve the best results in your favor.
Differential Treatment:
Do you strongly feel that the reason(s) stated in your memo does not make sense at all? Was the concerned officer unresponsive to your follow-up queries because of this very reason? Such acts might constitute to be a case of workplace discrimination. Suppose you could at least partially determine that the differential treatment was caused by discrimination because you belong to a protected class. In that case, you might want to hire a wrongful termination lawyer.
Employer Policy Violation:
If your employment has been terminated for employer policy violation, your termination was likely a part of some other plan unless you were willfully and repeatedly acting against your employer. It is not illegal to violate a company policy from the employee handbook. Ideally, you should have been left with just a warning or pay cut.
Retaliation and Whistleblowers: Let’s say you just got fired for a nonsensical reason just after you had reported malpractices at your workplace in good faith. Such a chain of events could prove to be a case of retaliation. In that case, you should know that the law protects you as a whistleblower.
Conclusion
A very important thing to consider while looking to sue for wrongful termination is that you should not sign a severance package or any such agreement until you receive legal counsel. Doing this might jeopardize your chances of getting a compensation package or even more.
Handing a signed severance agreement to your employer also makes your attorney’s job more tedious. It’s common for employers to insist you to sign to blow off every chance for potential litigation. So it is important to consider seeking legal help before trying to do anything else. The termination and harassment have already taken a toll on you. It’s better to let someone fight on your behalf rather than fall prey to misconceptions and myths regarding legal processes.
