Evaluate The Reason For A Termination

Being let go from a job is a huge letdown for most people. Even if you expected that it would occur, there is a good chance that it is still disheartening. In many cases, you can’t do anything about being let go from a job. This isn’t the case if you were terminated for an illegal reason.

One of the first things that will come into the picture is the reason for the termination. California is an at-will employment state, which means that employees can quit for any reason and employers can fire employees for any reason. The exception to this is if the termination is due to a protected reason, such as race, disability, gender or others.

Another point that can come into the picture is whether you have an employment contract or not. If you do have a contract, you need to review it to determine if the termination was against those terms.

Illegal terminations and those that go against a contract might result in legal action against the employer. These cases are difficult for many reasons, but it is important that you carefully consider your options.

Evaluating the exact circumstances surrounding the termination is necessary. You want to ascertain the actual reason you were let go. If you have had good performance reviews and the company doesn’t need to cut costs, there might not have been a reason to let you go. This doesn’t mean that the firing was illegal. Instead, you need to look for signs that you were let go because of a protected reason. This might be the case if you reported misconduct and were fired after that.

Source: FindLaw, “Termination Basics,” accessed Dec. 15, 2017