Wrongful Termination Legal Questions

You will be able to find an employment attorney if you have a good claim for wrongful termination. In order to have a claim for wrongful termination, you must be able to show that you were terminated due to unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation.  You can use the Find A Lawyer feature at the top of this page to search for an employment attorney.  Then contact the attorney's office to find out what procedure they use with potential employment clients.... Read More

Yes, you can be fired for zero tolerance.  North Carolina is an employment-at-will state where you can fired at any time for any reason. You can file a wrongful termination claim only if you can show that you were terminated due to unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation. I do not understand all of what you have posted and I believe there are facts missing.  However, if you were mutually "fussing" at each other and you were fired but the other employee was not, you could have a claim if the other person were of a different race or gender.  Also, I do not understand what you mean about oral sex and a bottle, but if you were objecting to sexual harassment, you may have a claim.  I would recommend you consult with an experienced employment attorney if you need further information.... Read More

There is no one statute of limitations for wrongful termination.  It depends on what law you are claiming was violated.  In some situations, claims have to be filed within 30 days and other may have as many as two to four years.  However, the majority of these claims must be filed with a the appropriate state or federal agency within 180 days of the unlawful conduct.... Read More

I recommend that you file for unemployment benefits.  It does not appear that you engaged in any misconduct therefore you should get your benefits.  Based on these facts, you would not have a claim for wrongful termination.  However, if there are other facts that you believe contributed to your termination, then you may want to discuss the termination with an employment attorney.... 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.... 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.   Terminating an employee who is absent from work is not unlawful regardless of whether you have a doctor's note or sick/vacation leave.  The only way this would be a violation of the law is if your sickness was part of a larger issue such as a serious health condition or disability.  If it was either, then you might - not certain, but might -- have rights under one of the two following laws:   The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides covered employees who work for covered employers with up to 12 weeks of leave for a serious health condition.  Not all employers and not all employees are covered by FMLA.  The serious health condition can be the employee's own or of an immediate family member. At a minimum, the employer must have at least 50 employees and the employee must have worked at least 12 months and more than 1250 hours. In general, things such as colds, the flu, upset stomach, dental problems and the like are not serious health problems. If an employee on FMLA is able to return to work in 12 weeks or less, then the employer must return the employee to the same or equivalent position.  Employees are also allow to take FMLA on a intermittent basis (here and there as needed).FMLA makes it unlawful for a covered employer to interfere with an employee's FMLA rights or leave or retaliate against an employee for exercising FMLA rights.   The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against employees or applicants for employment due to a disability.  The ADA also requires an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee or applicant with a disability that will allow the person to perform the essential functions of the job.  Time away from work can be a reasonable accommodation in certain situations.  ... Read More

North Carolina is an employment-at-will state which means an employee can be fired at any time for any reason.  You can be fired for good reason, bad reason or no reason at all and there is simply no legal claim that you can file.  The only time that an employee will have a claim for wrongful firing is when the employee can show that the termiantion was due to unlawful discrimination or unlawful retaliation.  There is nothing in this post that would suggest you were fired due to unlawful discrimination. It is possible that you could have a claim for wrongful discharge based on unlawful retaliation, but I cannot tell from this post.  Unlawful retaliation occurs when an employee is fired due to having engaged in a "protected activity."  There are not many protected acitivities in North Carolina, but do include things such as complaining about unlawful discrimination, certain types of wage complaints, exercising rights under FMLA and workers compensation laws and a few others. However, general complaints to upper management about unethical activity or illegal activity are not protected activities.  I suggest you consult with an experienced employment attorney to more fully discuss the termination to see if you have any options.... Read More

Not sure if you have filed for workers comp but that should be explored. Not enough information just here to see if any law is violated but there is not a "wrongful termination" law to generically rely upon only statutory protections which this may or may not fall under   consult a lawyer and Remember is you did not obtain work comp benefits you have  only 2 years to file a petition         ... Read More

They can pay you alternative, but if you do not make minimum wage in any week they must supplement, and you are still entitled to be paid time and one half your regular rate for overtime, but the calculations will be different winc you are getting flat rates or piecemeal rates.  Any hours over 40 you must get overtime.  Any questions about wage calculations please feel free to email or contact me back with more specific questions.  ... Read More

No way to know.  Your question is not specific enough about the nature of the matter.  Some lawyers work on a contingency fee, which means you pay nothing unelss you win.  But those folks are pretty selective about the cases they take on such fee basis.  It usually won't cost you anyting to visit with a contingency fee attorney, but you won't know until later whether they will take your case.  Contingency fee attorneys in the employment law area are pretty scarce.  Other lawyers charge by the hour.  In any of the major metropolitan areas of Texas, you should expect to pay between $250 and $350 and hour for a qualified experenced attorney.  Some legal problems can be addressed in a single one-hour session.  The cost of other matters, particularly those requring a lawsuit, often cannot be accurately predicted, as half of the lawyer's time will be spent reacting to the other side's activities which your lawyer cannot control or predict.... Read More