Definition of Unlawful Termination

The "employment at will" doctrine, the United States' standard employment context, allows either party to terminate the relationship for any or no reason except for certain unlawful situations, according to Expertlaw.com. In addition, employment contracts, including implied contracts, provide employees with protections and dismissal in violation of these protections constitutes unlawful termination.

Law and Public Policy

Even with employment at will, employers cannot dismiss employees for reasons that run afoul of law or public policy.

Discrimination

Under law, employer termination of an employee for reasons involving national original, religion, gender, skin color and certain kinds of age discrimination constitute unlawful termination.

Whistle-Blower

Termination of an employee for reporting employer misconduct to a state or regulatory agency also constitutes unlawful termination.

Policy Matters

It is unlawful to terminate an employee for reasons that flout public policy, such as an employee filing a workers' compensation claim or claiming rights under the Family Medical Leave Act, according to Mypersonnelfile.com.

Contractual

An employer can dismiss an employee hired under terms of a contract only under the specific terms and conditions specified by that contract. Further, an employee manual constitutes an implied contract, meaning failure of the employer to follow any pretermination process in the manual before dismissal constitutes unlawful termination.

References

• Expert Law: Wrongful Termination of At Will Employment
• My Personnel File: Wrongful Employee Termination