WRONGFUL TERMINATION LAWYER
The phrase wrongful termination is a buzz word. In California, an employment termination is only wrongful if it is in retaliation because the employee took issue with an illegal practice of the employer. The tort of wrongful termination has also been expanded to include job terminations when an employee is on a protected medical leave (FMLA, disability, or cancer), due to pregnancy, because of race, religion, a leave right for military leave, duty or training, jury service, domestic violence victims, or a protected characertistic such as sexual orientation or identification. False reasons, mistakes of fact, and unfair job terminations by themselves are not wrongful termination in California.
Employees eager to find out if they can sue for wrongful termination are advised to focus on the employer's reason for terminate first. Is the reason in writing? What was said orally? Who said it? What was their position? Is the reason untrue? For instance, did the employee both steal money and complain the employer had underage minors working past midnight in violation of various labor laws? Only after telling an experienced employee attorney the employer's stated reason for termination should the employee talk about their theory on why they were really fired.
(619) 320-3000 TO SPEAK TO A SAN DIEGO EMPLOYEE LAWYER
EXAMPLES OF WRONGFUL TERMINATION
Firing employees to avoid paying wages, or because the employee complained about wages is illegal. Gould v. Maryland, 31 Cal.App.4th 1137, 1148, 37 Cal.Rptr.2d 718, 724 (1995) held an employer’s termination of an employee to avoid paying accrued commissions and vacation pay violated California Labor Code Section 201 and created a wrongful termination case.
Firing an employee because they refused to work in an unsafe workplace
An employee quits after telling the employer repeatedly they are tired of hearing somebody use offensive racial slurs in the workplace
A nurse refuses to work when the staffing ratio is not met
An employee is a witness in a sexual harassment investigation, their hours are immediately cut, they are soon suspended, and then fired
FORCED TO QUIT
Employees can quit and sue if their employer has refused to remediate an intolerable, illegal working condition within a reasonable amount of time. In general, employers should be aware of the intolerable working condition and have an opportunity to correct it. Whether a forced to quit case is viable is an extremely delicate legal issue. Employees are strongly advised to speak to an experienced employee lawyer before quitting. In addition, employees should speak to an experienced job termination lawyer before writing the reasons why they are quitting, or telling their employers.
While the Employment Lawyers Group has succeeded when employees provide reasons for quitting that are other than the intolerable, illegal conditions, it is difficult. Many employees have the urge to thank their employers for the opportunities they provided, or provide reasons that have nothing to do with illegality such as going back to school, childcare, or needing to move on. Employees must understand that legal cases are subject to proof in a court of law. People who do not know the employee will cast serious doubt the employee quit due to the alleged illegal activity, and maybe even wonder if the illegal activity happened in the first place, if the written reasons for quitting completely fail to mention the intolerable, illegal working conditions.
When an employee quits also matters. If an employee decides to quit 6 months after the alleged intolerable conditions occurred this is most likely a negative fact for the case. Likewise, employees who stay on for years after the intolerable working conditions and do not quit cast doubt that the working environment was really that bad. This is often true in sexual harassment cases. Victims of terrible sexual harassment usually want nothing to with the employer. They cannot go back and face the physical workplace, or any of the people around. They might even find it embarassing to see coworkers who saw the sexual harassment. Just deciding to stay at the employer, see the sexual harasser, and the site of trauma is a hard fact for a jury to understand.
Please call (619) 320-3000 if you think you have grounds to quit and sue
Our Firm: No upfront fees or costs
Contingency Fee Representation
All employment cases for employees are taken on a contingency basis. We are only paid a fee when and if we win your case, and we advance all litigation costs. Our goal is to make expert legal representation accessible to every hardworking employee.
Serving San Diego County
We have proudly served all of San Diego County since 1993.
The Employment Lawyers Group has successfully handled
2,000+
Separate California Employment Cases
Media Engagements
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Magazine
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Sample Case Results
Employment Case
$18,402,868
Jury verdict for male visually harassed and subject to crude comments by a female manager
breach of commission contract
$1,150,000
Unpaid commissions of two plaintiffs
unpaid wages
$875,000
For 4 oil field service industry workers whose times worked were not recorded on timesheets and were on-call
Disclaimer: These results are based on the facts of these specific cases and do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case.
Practice Areas
Discrimination
Age, Disability, Family Medical Leave (FMLA/CFRA), Gender, National Origin, Pregnancy, Race, and Sexual Orientation claims.
Unpaid Wages & Overtime
Recovering earnings for Overtime, Bonuses, Commissions, Meal & Rest Breaks, and Prevailing Wage violations.
Sexual Harassment
Compassionate and effective representation for victims of sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims.
Wrongful Termination
Representing employees terminated in violation of public policy, contracts, or California and Federal law.
Leaves & Retaliation
Protecting employees who face adverse actions after reporting illegal activity or taking protected medical leave.
Whistleblowers
Advocating for employees who report fraud, waste, or abuse in their organizations under whistleblower protections.
Our California Locations
Bakersfield
5401 Business Park S, #214,
Bakersfield CA 93309
Los Angeles
Orange County
Riverside
Sacramento
777 Campus Commons Rd, #200,
Sacramento CA 95825
San Bernardino
San Diego
San Francisco
524 Union St, #400,
San Francisco CA 94133
San Jose
Sherman Oaks
Torrance
Ventura
Additional Sites
BostonLaborLaw.com
DcLaborAttorney.com
FresnoEmployeeLawyer.com
JobLawyer.net
MarylandLaborAttorney.com
ModemStud.com
VintageLosAngeles.org
WorkLawyerCA.info
About Firm Founder, Karl Gerber
Firm Founder, Karl Gerber, has been an employment wrongful termination attorney since 1993. He has represented a wide range of employees throughout California.
Mr. Gerber has won 51 of the binding arbitrations and jury trials he first chaired, and a number of his appeals are published. This deep trial experience is the foundation of the firm's strategic approach to litigation.
The employment attorneys employed by the Employment Lawyers Group have worked at the firm well in excess of five years, have also tried many different labor cases, and have all been extensively trained on employment wrongful termination by Karl Gerber.
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