Wrongful Termination Legal Questions

North Carolina is an employment-at-will state which means you can be fired for any reason and there is no liability for the employer unless there is an unlawful motive for the action taken against you. There are generally only two forms of unlawful motives: unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation. Discrimination in employment is unlawful if it is due to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older. Retaliation in employment is unlawful if you engaged in one of a handful of "legally protected" activities and were fired for engaging in that activity. If either of these was the motive for the termination, then you may have a claim for unlawful termination. However, if it is a case that you were fired only because they believed incorrectly that you were intoxicated, there will be no claim due to the employment-at-will doctrine. ... Read More

Tennessee is an employment at will state which means that you can be fired for any reason or no reason. The only protection that you have is that you can not be fired because of your race, religious beliefs, national origin, age or sex. You can be fired for not performing your job. Not reporting a workers compensation injury is not a good idea because you only have one body but you find another job. You can not be fired for reporting a workers compensation injury. However, as you have found out, if you are injured and do not report your injuries thinking that you will be fired if you do report them, you can be fired anyway if you can not do the job because of those injuries.  ... Read More

Tennessee is an employment at will state which means that you can be fired for any reason or no reason. The only protection that you have is that you can not be fired because of your race, religious beliefs, national origin, age or sex. If you feel that you were fired solely because of one of these reasons, then you have to file a complaint with the EEOC first.... Read More

Unfortunately the facts you've provided are rather sparse. What specifically did you complain of to your manager, i.e., why did you believe you were being discriminated against? Was this complaint or any of your complaints in writing? Were there any preemployment written communications indicating that you were being offered a secure position. Finally, did you leave another job to take this one or did you move geographically to take this job? If you would respond more fully to these questions, I would be pleased to review the matter further. You can forward those to smesq1@aol.com  ... Read More

None of this is unlawful on its face because North Carolina is an employment-at-will state which means you can be fired (or hours cut, disciplined, etc.) for any reason and there is no liability for the employer unless there is an unlawful motive for the action taken against you. There are generally only two forms of unlawful motives: unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation. Discrimination in employment is unlawful if it is due to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older. Retaliation in employment is unlawful if you engaged in one of a handful of "legally protected" activities and were fired for engaging in that activity. If either of these was the motive for the termination or the reduced hours, then you may have a claim.  However, if it is just an unfair situation, there is no claim.   ... Read More

This is an employment-at-will state which means you can be fired for any reason and there is no liability for the employer unless there is an unlawful motive for the action taken against you. There are generally only two forms of unlawful motives: unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation. Discrimination in employment is unlawful if it is due to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older. Retaliation in employment is unlawful if you engaged in one of a handful of "legally protected" activities and were fired for engaging in that activity.  Protected activities include filing for, or requesting, workers compensation benefits (but not being released from restrictions per se) or use of FMLA.  If either of these was the motive for the termination, then you may have a claim for unlawful termination.... Read More

The key to success is careful and written documentation of what took place. Your friend must make a clear and specific record with the employer using fellow employees and mall security and cameras if the actions were recorded. Was this captured on camera ? We can review the video and statements of the witnesses. The key is not what happened but what you can prove happened. Ed Dimon... Read More

Hi Jason: Sorry to hear about your situation.  Your question begs a lot of questions.   For instance, with respect to your bad back, was it related to work (e.g., were you injured on the job) or not (e.g., it is an old injury that is not related to your job)? If it is work related, you may have a workers' compensation claim (plus what is known as a Labor Code 132a claim as a result of your termination).  If it is not work related, you may have a disability/percieved disability discrimination claim.  But more information is needed in order to determine if the law was violated. As for the overtime work, it depends if you were an exempt or non-exempt employee.  If you were non-exempt (or misclassified as exempt), and if you worked over 8 hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek, and were not paid at a premium rate of pay, you may be entitled to wages and penalites.  More informatiion is needed with respect to your actual job duties and responsibilities in order to determine your status as exempt or non-exempt. Lastly, if you were terminated, your employer was obligated to pay you immediately upon termination.  If you have not received your final paycheck, you are entitled to your earned wages and penalties. Regards, Mark    ... Read More

North Carolina is an employment-at-will state which means you can be fired for any reason and there is no liability for the employer unless there is an unlawful motive for the action taken against you. There are generally only two forms of unlawful motives: unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation. Discrimination in employment is unlawful if it is due to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older. Retaliation in employment is unlawful if you engaged in one of a handful of "legally protected" activities and were fired for engaging in that activity. If either of these was the motive for the termination, then you may have a claim for unlawful termination. However, I see neither in these facts.  ... Read More

No.  In Tennessee personnel files, and the documents therein, are property of the employer.  The employer is not required to provide copies to the employee.   This is an employment-at-will state which means you can be fired for any reason and there is no liability for the employer unless there is an unlawful motive for the action taken against you. There are generally only two forms of unlawful motives: unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation. Discrimination in employment is unlawful if it is due to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older. Retaliation in employment is unlawful if you engaged in one of a handful of "legally protected" activities and were fired for engaging in that activity. If either of these was the motive for the termination, then you may have a claim for unlawful termination.  If not, then you would have no legal claim other than a claim for potential unemployment benefits. ... Read More

You may terminate your attorney by simply sending him a letter that states you no longer need his services. You did not indicate the date of the termination hearing, but it would probably be helpful if you had an attorney present during the hearing to assist you in the process and be a witness to the statements made about your work performance and the reasons for termination. You may also consider filing an EEOC complaint based on being fired as a result of your physical disability due to your hip replacement. ... Read More