If you were wrongfully terminated by your employer as a form of retaliation, you will need to provide evidence to support your claim against your employer.
In most states, an employer is not required to give a reason for firing you. However, if you have been wrongfully terminated, and your employer has fired you because you have made a complaint about some illegal activity taking place at your company and/or such activity that has involved your employer, this is called retaliation and it is unlawful under federal law.
What is Retaliation?
Retaliation refers to an employer taking adverse actions (i.e., illegally retaliating) against an employee following that employee either complaining about or reporting (referred to as “protected activity”) what they believe to be harassment or discrimination in the workplace. An employer’s adverse action may materialize in the form of discipline or even termination of the employee. An employer’s adverse action could also be some other action(s) that negatively impacts the employee’s working conditions, and/or harms the employee’s emotional or mental state (e.g., giving them job assignments that are less desirable or decreasing their pay).
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor is the federal agency that protects workers’ rights, including when an employer wrongfully terminates an employee because he or she has done any of the following:
- inquired about their pay, hours of work or other rights;
- asserted their worker rights;
- filed a complaint about work conditions;
- co-operated with a WHD investigation.
An employee is protected from retaliation for reporting issues related to the following:
- youth employment;
- recordkeeping;
- minimum wage and overtime pay;
- lie detector testing;
- family and medical leave;
- agricultural work.
If your employer fired you as retaliation, then it is likely that you will have a wrongful termination claim.
How Do You Prove Wrongful Termination Retaliation?
You will need to prove that your termination was directly due to retaliation from reporting unsafe work conditions or filing a claim against your employer for an illegal act etc. This means you must provide the right evidence that highlights how your wrongful termination was retaliation by your employer. This means you must document and record all acts of retaliation by the employer such as:
- performance reviews undertaken by your employer showing your fitness and skills suit the job;
- emails between the employer and managers stating the reason for your termination;
- memos sent out to key staff managers with the reason for your wrongful termination;
- witness statements showing the reasons for your wrongful termination.
How Does a Wrongful Termination Retaliation Lawyer Help?
The lawyer will help you collect the evidence of retaliation that can help strengthen your wrongful termination case and could increase your chances of winning compensation. They may help find evidence, negotiate a settlement, represent you in court (if needed), and could either get you reinstated in your job or compensation for the damage it has done to you.
One of the best ways to increase your likelihood of winning a wrongful termination claim by being able to prove that your employer fired you illegally. You could do this by providing suitable evidence revealing how you, compared to other employees who are in the same position as you, have been treated differently.
Typically, people who work with an attorney to help them with their, have higher chances of being able to prove they were wrongfully terminated.
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- How to Know If You Were Illegally Fired
- Workplace Retaliation Letter
- Workplace Retaliation – What Are My Rights?
- How Can I File A Lawsuit After Workplace Retaliation?
- How to Prove Retaliation in the Workplace
