Trusted Legal Advocacy

Do at-will employment arrangements prevent wrongful termination?

On Behalf of | Jul 26, 2024 | Wrongful Termination

California has some of the most robust employment laws in the United States. California lawmakers frequently expand on the protections enacted by federal lawmakers. California allows workers to request overtime pay in a variety of different scenarios not covered under federal statutes. The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) builds on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to offer more protection for workers who require unpaid leave from their jobs.

Despite those employee-friendly policies, California also has rules that seemingly favor businesses over individual workers. Like the majority of other states, California is an at-will employment state. Does that mean that workers do not have any recourse available in a wrongful termination scenario?

What does at-will employment mean?

An at-will employment arrangement is one that either party can terminate at any point for any legal reason. A worker can quit with no notice and does not have to worry about facing any penalties for doing so. An employer can potentially terminate a worker with no advance notice in a variety of scenarios without risking legal culpability for that decision.

Employers can fire workers for any justifiable reason. They can also fire workers for no specific reason. However, there are still rules limiting the termination of employees in California. Specifically, employers cannot fire someone for an illegal reason.

What constitutes a wrongful termination?

People can group wrongful terminations into two main categories. The first has to do with workplace discrimination. Employers cannot consider protected characteristics when deciding who to hire, who receives the promotion or who the company includes in a mass layoff.

Protected characteristics range from age if someone is over 40 and race to sex and religion. Particularly during staffing reductions, companies should take care to avoid terminating or laying off more workers from one group with a shared characteristic than other types of workers.

The second relates to retaliation. There are certain types of conduct that employees should not be punished for by their employers. Protected activities range from reporting harassment and attempting to unionize to speaking up about unsafe job conditions.

Companies should not retaliate against or punish a worker by terminating them for engaging in protected activities. When someone’s termination comes immediately after making a report of harassment or requesting unpaid leave, that is a warning sign that the decision to terminate them may be a form of retaliation.

Workers terminated wrongfully in California may have the option of pursuing a lawsuit against their employer. Wrongful termination lawsuits can lead to financial compensation, or even a court order allowing a worker to return to their job. Discussing the situation that led to a firing with a skilled legal team can help someone evaluate whether their termination was thoughtful.