Employment Law: Wrongful Termination
Employment in California is presumed to be terminable “at will.” This presumption has been codified in California Labor Code §2922, which states: “An employment, having no specified term, may be terminated at the will of either party on notice to the other. Employment for a specified term means an employment for a period greater than one month.” This means that the employee is under contract to work for a specified period of time. This may be one month, six months or even several years. When the employment relationship has not commenced, as with a job applicant promised but later denied employment, the at-will doctrine does not apply. There are three exceptions to the employer’s right to terminate an employee at will:
- Statutory limitations on the employer’s right to terminate;
- Common-law limitations on the employer’s right to terminate when the termination would violate public policy and
- Contractual limitations on the employer’s right to terminate.
California and Federal laws also prevent discrimination in work places. Discrimination occurs when you’re refused employment, passed over for a promotion or a raise, demoted, or fired because of your “sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation.”
Employers have been known to wrongfully terminate employees on pre-textual grounds. The Law Offices of Ilu J. Ozekhome through years of working with employees and employers alike is in a prime position to analyze and correctly articulate whether any State (California Fair Employment and Housing Act) or Federal (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) laws have been violated in any termination scenario. If you perceive that you have been wrongfully terminated, you owe it to yourself to seek justice. Contact us today to review the circumstances of your termination and determine whether your any of your rights have been violated by your employer.
In California, employers have gotten pretty sophisticated at terminating employees on pretext grounds. Our law office has gotten pretty good at spotting the differences and protecting your rights accordingly.