Los Angeles Wrongful Termination Lawyer

Los Angeles Wrongful Termination Attorney

California is an at-will employment state, meaning employees can be hired and fired for any reason. However, some terminations can be considered wrongful if they are executed for illegal reasons. If you or a family member recently lost your job in Los Angeles, California, for what you believe was an illegal reason, or if you are unsure how at-will employment applies to a recent firing, an experienced Los Angeles wrongful termination lawyer can help.

The Shirazi Law Firm, P.C., has years of experience handling these complex cases, and we can evaluate your case to determine if you have grounds to file a wrongful termination claim against your employer in Los Angeles.

What Is Wrongful Termination

Most people working in Los Angeles and throughout the state are familiar with the term wrongful termination. However, many misconstrue this term and don’t understand the legal framework that surrounds a wrongful termination case. Additionally, many people assume the at-will employment laws of the state act as a shield for employers to avoid wrongful termination cases.

While it’s true that the at-will employment statute allows an employer to fire an employee with or without notice or citing a specific reason, employers can’t fire employees for illegal reasons. If this happens, you need a Los Angeles wrongful termination lawyer on your side.

While the legal world can seem daunting and confusing, our employment lawyers know how to guide you every step of the way, cutting back on confusion and simplifying your experience. Our goal is to empower you as you make the courageous decision to seek justice and monetary compensation for what you have wrongfully lost.

Why You Need a Los Angeles Wrongful Termination Attorney

A wrongful termination claim hinges on the concept of workplace discrimination, which is illegal throughout the United States. When an employer fires an employee due to poor performance or out of necessity because of overhead costs, this is legal as long as the employer does not base their decision on the affected employee’s race, sex, or other protected personal qualities. Unfortunately, employers who knowingly engage in discriminatory hiring and firing practices know this is illegal and take steps to conceal the true motivations behind these actions.

The Shirazi Law Firm, PC, can help you gather the evidence needed to prove your employer’s true motivation behind the decision to fire you. We have successfully handled all types of labor and employment matters for many types of employees.

Our attorney represents employees only, but used to work for some of the nation’s largest and most prominent employment law firms. Our prior experience representing Fortune 500 companies gives us an advantage in dealing with the other side. We understand the tactics employers and their legal counsel use, and we are prepared to counter them.

Understanding The At-Will Employment Law

Most work relationships between employers in the state and their employees function on an at-will basis, meaning the relationship continues “at the will” of both parties, and both parties have the legal option of ending the work relationship if they so choose. Additionally, there is no requirement for either party to provide prior notice or cite a specific reason for ending the working relationship.

While it’s generally considered common courtesy to provide two weeks’ notice if you intend to leave a job on good terms, there is no strict legal requirement to do so. Future employers may look unfavorably on job applicants who left their previous positions without notice, but this aspect of the at-will employment law intends to prevent workers from feeling trapped in jobs they no longer wish to perform.

Grounds for Termination in California

The law in California provides strong protections for employees, and understanding the main categories that can push at-will termination to the realm of wrongful termination can help you identify whether your situation can be legally challenged. Some of the most common legal grounds for a wrongful termination claim in California include:

• Discrimination-based termination. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects workers from being fired based on their race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, being 40 years old or older, disability, medical condition, marital status, or military or veteran status.
• Retaliation-based termination. Employers can’t fire employees for complaining about harassment, requesting protected leave, reporting wage violations, reporting workplace conditions, or refusing to engage in illegal acts.
• Whistleblower termination. California Labor Code 1102.5 protects employees who report suspected unlawful conduct to a supervisor or government agency. In other words, you can’t be fired for speaking up about wrongdoing.
• Termination in violation of public policy. Employers can’t fire workers for doing jury duty or for filing a workers’ compensation claim.
• Breach of contract or implied promises. Written contracts, offer letters, handbooks, or repeated assurances of good cause employment can limit your employer’s right to terminate you.

If your own situation aligns with any of these grounds, the Los Angeles wrongful termination attorneys at Shirazi Law Firm, P.C., can help you evaluate your options and take the appropriate legal action according to California’s wrongful termination laws.

Industry-Specific Wrongful Termination in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is an absolutely massive city, with over 3.8 million people living in it. The surrounding metropolitan area and suburbs are even bigger. Because of the huge and diverse population and the unique industries that find their footing in Los Angeles, there are industry-specific wrongful termination situations that are more common in Los Angeles than anywhere else.

Entertainment Industry

Perhaps the most well-known industry in the Los Angeles area is the entertainment industry. From the Hollywood Walk of Fame to the famous Paramount Studios, the city of Los Angeles is steeped in filmmaking, music, and other entertainment history.

The entertainment industry is a unique one, and the benefits and pitfalls associated with a career in it are unique, as well. Wrongful termination in the entertainment industry may involve specific or unusual circumstances.

For example, the Me-Too movement is a social phenomenon in which many people, mostly women, began discussing sexual harassment they had faced at work or in other areas of public life. The entertainment industry lends itself to objectification by nature, but that does not mean that workers should not be treated with respect and dignity. As a result of the Me-Too movement, entertainment workers faced wrongful termination to preserve employer reputations.

Entertainment workers also sometimes face blacklisting or other retaliation when they file complaints or push back against unfair employment practices. When a worker is blacklisted, the disgruntled employer may contact other potential employers in the area and advise them not to hire the worker in question, which may lead to the inability to work and make a living.

The Healthcare Industry

The city of Los Angeles is home to 88 hospitals. The healthcare industry faces a unique set of challenges in areas as populous as Los Angeles, the most obvious being coping with unreasonable patient loads during high-traffic or high-strain periods of time.

Hospitals are businesses at the end of the day, and they all have the goal of making money. Unfortunately, this sometimes leads hospital staff or administration to make decisions that endanger patients, such as allowing higher patient-to-worker ratios than they should. When employees report these unsafe practices or policy violations, they are sometimes subject to wrongful termination or retaliatory actions.

The Technology Sector

Los Angeles is a hub for new technology startups, always at the cutting edge of innovation and development. New ideas require money to get off the ground, and raising capital usually requires investors. Sometimes, people who run startup companies mislead investors or lie to them about the potential for return on their investment. Other times, they may even provide false financial reports to convince investors that things are going well when they are not.

These actions constitute fraud, and employees who witness these things should report them to the relevant authorities. When employees push back against unethical or illegal practices, it sometimes happens that employers retaliate by terminating the employees outright or by creating an unpleasant or hostile work environment to cause the employees to quit.

Employees who are terminated from technology startups also often run into disputes over stock options or equity vesting, which are commonly offered as compensation before a startup begins to make significant money. When an employee is fired, there may be disagreements as to what money they are owed based on verbal agreements or a written equity agreement that was put into place when the employee was hired.

Proving Wrongful Termination in Los Angeles

It can be daunting for any employee to imagine filing a legal claim against their employer, particularly when they believe they have little to no evidence to prove the truth of the matter and hold the employer appropriately accountable for what they’ve done. In many cases, it often appears as though the employee has no tangible evidence to support their case, and their wrongful termination dispute boils down to their word against the word of their employer.

This can be a distressing situation for any wrongfully terminated employee, particularly when the employer has taken steps to conceal the real motivation behind their firing decision. However, an experienced wrongful termination attorney in Los Angeles knows how to uncover the evidence their client needs to hold an employer accountable for this type of mistreatment. This evidence could include:

• Suspicious timing, like the termination happening shortly after complaints or leave requests
• Explanations from management that are always changing
• Deviations from company policy
• Comparator evidence, where other employees are treated differently
• Pretext indicators, where the employer’s reasoning makes no sense
• Evidence patterns, where employees in the same protected group are also affected
• Statistical trends can also prove helpful

In order to give your wrongful termination lawyer the ammunition they need to prove your case, it’s important to bring employment records, copies of emails and text messages, performance reviews, termination notices, and a detailed timeline of events to your consultation.

The Shirazi Law Firm, P.C., has 15 years of experience handling all types of wrongful termination claims. We understand that it can be traumatizing to not only lose your job but to face the person who previously wronged you. We are prepared to advocate on your behalf, offering you both clarity and encouragement as you face current stress in the pursuit of a peaceful future.

Constructive Discharge in Los Angeles

Sometimes a termination isn’t a formal firing but the result of conditions that make continued employment unbearable. This is called constructive discharge or forced resignation. In these cases, the employer creates a hostile, oppressive, or unfair work environment that would compel a reasonable person to quit their job. Some examples include:

• Significant pay cuts or demotion
• Schedule manipulation or sabotaged shifts
• Unsafe work assignments
• Ignored harassment or discrimination complaints
• Retaliatory write-ups or warnings
• Threats tied to protected activities
• Isolation or exclusion from team resources
• Denial of reasonable accommodation

Proving constructive discharge requires careful documentation, a detailed timeline of events, and evidence showing that you were treated differently from other employees. At Shirazi Law Firm, P.C., our Los Angeles wrongful termination attorneys can gather the evidence and build a strong wrongful termination claim so you can pursue the compensation you’re owed.

Damages in a Los Angeles Wrongful Termination Claim

Since wrongful termination is almost always a result of discrimination, your employment lawyer must file an administrative complaint regarding your wrongful termination before you can file a civil suit against the employer who fired you. Your Los Angeles wrongful termination attorney will be a crucial asset for proving the full scope of your employer’s illegal and unethical behavior and the range of damages you have incurred as a result of their actions.

The most obvious type of compensation claimable in most wrongful termination claims is lost income. You have the right to claim compensation for lost wages, lost benefits, and any out-of-pocket expenses the wrongful termination caused.

Experiencing any type of discrimination in the workplace, particularly when it is severe enough to cost you your job, is a very traumatic and degrading experience. California law allows the plaintiff in a wrongful termination suit to hold their former employer accountable for their emotional distress.

If you can claim pain and suffering compensation to reflect the severity of your experience, this could form a significant portion of your total case award. You can also seek your attorney fees and costs and punitive damages in such wrongful termination claims.

Deadlines and Where Claims Get Filed

California has strict deadlines when it comes to filing employment claims. For discrimination or retaliation claims, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) generally allows you three years to file an intake and could require a Right-to-Sue notice before initiating any court proceedings.

Written contract claims generally have a statute of limitations of four years, while oral contracts allow two years. However, it’s important to note that deadlines can be shorter, depending on the type of claim and the facts of the case, so it’s important to hire a wrongful termination lawyer from Shirazi Law Firm, P.C., as soon as possible.

Common Employer Defenses for Wrongful Termination in Los Angeles

Whenever employees bring wrongful termination claims, employers often provide reasons to justify the firing. Some of these reasons could include:

• Poor job performance
• Misconduct
• General layoffs
• Stating the employee wasn’t a culture fit
• Elimination of the position
• Attendance issues

However, experienced employment lawyers know that the reason given needs to be weighed against possible motives to determine if a termination violates California’s wrongful termination laws. If the employee reported the employer, applied for protected leave, or received sudden negative performance reviews, or if the employer can’t produce documentation to support performance or misconduct issues, the employee could have grounds for a claim.

What to Do After You’re Fired

The first 24 to 72 hours after your termination are important when it comes to protecting your rights and strengthening your wrongful termination claim. Some key steps you should take within the first few days include:

• Don’t sign same-day severance agreements or releases without legal review.
• Keep evidence like emails, texts, Slack messages, calendar invites, and performance reviews.
• Create a detailed timeline of events while your memory is fresh.
• Identify witnesses and other employees who might have gone through the same thing.
• Request copies of key employment documents like offer letters, handbooks, and policies.
• Apply for unemployment benefits.

By taking prompt, organized action, you can make a difference. At Shirazi Law Firm, P.C., we are ready to safeguard your rights and pursue the compensation you deserve.

FAQs

How Much Does a Los Angeles Wrongful Termination Lawyer Cost in California?

The overall price of a wrongful termination lawyer tends to vary due to the unique circumstances each case presents. There are, however, some common indicators of what your final cost may look like, including how long your case lasts, the level of its complexity, and the lawyer you hire. Our goal at the Shirazi Law Firm, PC, is to help you build a case that is worth every second and cent you will spend in the pursuit of justice.

Can I File a Wrongful Termination Claim in California?

Yes, and you should. If you have any reason to suspect that your termination was unfair and illegal, you should hire a wrongful termination lawyer right away and file a claim. Wrongful termination includes any of the following: discrimination, harassment, retaliation, firing you for whistleblowing, and/or ending your employment because you took pregnancy or family medical leave. All of these are considered illegal reasons to fire an employee under California law, and you have the right to pursue justice.

What Kind of Evidence Do I Need to Prove My Wrongful Termination Case in California?

If you have been wrongfully terminated from your place of employment, there are several different forms of documentation that can be used to build your case. Firstly, it is wise to request a copy of any documents you are shown and/or made to sign at the time of your termination. The information, or lack thereof, offered by these documents may provide insight into the reasoning behind your termination. Emails, witness testimonies, and other records can also be helpful.

What Compensation Is Available to Me if My Wrongful Termination Case in California Is Successful?

By filing a wrongful termination claim in the state of California, you are actively pursuing compensation for any lost wages, as well as monetary recompense for emotional trauma and lost work benefits. While your unique case may cover additional elements, this is generally what you can work toward securing when you file your claim.

There is also an added benefit of knowing that you may be helping protect others from experiencing the same injustice you were previously and unfairly dealt.

Los Angeles Wrongful Termination Lawyer

The Shirazi Law Firm, PC, has the professional experience with California employment law that you need on your side to approach your case with confidence and peace of mind. We understand that you likely have several pressing legal questions about what you can expect in your impending case, and we will help you understand all your options for legal recourse after a wrongful termination.

Being fired is already stressful, but when it is because of unjust and illegal reasons, an individual may experience an additional layer of emotional fatigue and pain. Our lawyers are prepared to help you file a claim and build a strong case that empowers you in the pursuit of your desired outcomes. You do not need to shoulder this burden alone.

Contact us today to schedule a free confidential consultation with a Los Angeles wrongful termination attorney and learn more about the legal services we offer.