Technically, California is an at-will employment state. Businesses can end a working relationship with an employee for no reason or even the most minor infraction. Workers also have the option of leaving their jobs at any point with little notice without risking legal and financial consequences.
That being said, employers still have to avoid discriminating against workers or retaliating against them. In scenarios where companies fire workers for inappropriate reasons, those employees may have the option of pursuing a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Most organizations are smart enough to hide the most obvious signs of discrimination or retaliation. Frequently, companies use progressive discipline and performance improvement plans as a way to hide the reality of a wrongful termination.
Companies create documentation to justify firings
If a business terminates a worker the day after they report sexual harassment or unsafe working conditions, the employee could easily realize that they have experienced wrongful termination. Companies may try to avoid litigation and damage to their reputations by hiding the reason for a termination.
Organizations do so by slowly developing documentation that seems to present a valid reason for a termination. For example, a worker who recently took leave under the California Family Rights Act or who reported misconduct by a supervisor might receive a poor performance review.
Although they feel that their job performance has remained the same, the company suddenly takes issue with how they do their job. The result is a performance improvement plan. The company may claim that the intent is to help the worker meet expectations, but the reality is that the organization may simply want to justify an upcoming termination.
The same is true of progressive disciplinary efforts. Workers who receive multiple write-ups for the same types of violations can lose their jobs over minor dress code issues or occasional tardiness. Especially in scenarios where the company does not enforce the same rules against other employees or has not enforced that rule against that worker previously, the sudden tendency toward pedantic enforcement can be an indicator of an upcoming termination.
Workers who have noticed discriminatory behavior or engaged in protected workplace activities could be at risk of wrongful termination. In some cases, companies may report dissatisfaction with their performance for multiple consecutive months before terminating them. Other times, managers may repeatedly write them up over mild or nonexistent rule violations to justify an upcoming termination.
Connecting performance improvement plans and progressive discipline with the risk of wrongful termination can help workers protect themselves. Those who document interactions with management and learn about their protections under California employment laws can more effectively assert themselves if businesses fire them for illegal reasons.