
Unlawful Termination or Wrongful Termination refers to the situation when an employer fires an employee on unlawful or unethical or illegal or wrongful grounds. If you have been in any circumstances where you were dismissed by your employer on unlawful grounds, then the first thing that you must do is talk to the unlawful termination attorneys to get the best advice.
Unlawful termination comes under the Fair Work Act (2009) and it is considered when there is an act of discrimination that has taken place at the workplace and the firing of the employee was based on those discriminatory grounds. Being an employee, you are protected under the abovementioned law and you can take action against the employer if you get unlawful termination.
What exactly is Unlawful Termination?
According to Section 722 of the Fair Work Act (2009), your employer has no right to terminate you for the following reasons:
• Complaining against the employer for indulging in illegal practices or violating laws at the workplace.
• Taking a temporary leave from work because of medical reasons such as serious illness or an injury that is not letting you commute to work.
• Taking a paternity or maternity leave
• If you belong to any particular race, religion, sex, nationality, gender or have a physical or mental disability, or are married/unmarried or pregnant.
• If you are a member of a trade union or participate in activities related to the trade union.
Therefore, if you have been dismissed from your job because of these reasons, consider it as an unlawful termination and you can go ahead and file a lawsuit against the employer by consulting one of the best unlawful termination attorneys in your area.
Apart from these, numerous other reasons constitute unlawful termination. For instance, if the employer fires an employee just because he said no to the instruction because they were unethical. Such instructions might include the unsafe working environment physically and mentally, indulging in a felony such as a theft or a tax evasion to name a few. Also, an unlawful termination can occur if the employer himself breaches the company policy while dismissing the employee. This means that while you were getting fired, your employer did not comply with the termination process started by the company policies. With this, you have a solid reason to demand an unlawful termination claim from the employer.
Retaliation
Retaliation is the most common grounds for unlawful termination. If you are put through or witness any illegal activity at the workplace and have tried reporting about it and fired because of that, then you have a solid claim for unlawful termination which is based on retaliation. Employers have no right to dismiss or fire the ‘whistleblowers’ and the employment law makes sure to protect the employees who try to report any illegal activity at the workplace. But if you are filing an unlawful termination lawsuit, then you would need to prove that your termination was purely was an act of retaliation and not for performing poorly at your job.
Discussing workplace issues with fellow-employees
When you are at the job, you are bound to make professional relation and gel-up with the fellow mates to keep the work momentum going. And you are always protected under the National Labor Relations Act. Therefore, if you were fired because you were discussing some workplace issues such as improving the work culture or wages, then that comes under unlawful termination. This is because you were talking about making improvements at the workplace and not doing anything that is illegal or would cause any harm to other employees. If you strongly feel that your employer fired you because of that, you can talk to your attorney regarding a claim.
Therefore, if you feel that your termination was based on any one of the conditions mentioned above then it would be in your best interest to talk to some of the experienced unlawful termination attorneys about it. There are certain deadlines to filing complaints and claims as per the state regulations. Do not go ahead without an attorney. Make sure that you are checking the background and experience of the attorney before hiring. An experienced attorney will explain to you the case and your options available to you.