How to Investigate a Wrongful Termination

An employment termination can be upsetting, demoralizing, demeaning and even humiliating. But is it illegal? By hiring an employees' rights lawyer and copying all the information in your employee file, you can investigate whether or not your termination was lawful.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Employees' rights lawyer
• Copy of all documents in employee file

1. Investigate a wrongful termination by asking for copies of your employee file. This should include any contracts between you and your company, employee handbooks, performance evaluations, health benefit enrollment paperwork and disciplinary paperwork. Ensure that you have a copy of any termination paperwork that notes who made the decision to fire you and the specific reason for your termination.
2. Check the laws in your state concerning at-will employment and to what degree employers are able to terminate employment without reason. The basis of your investigation should be to separate issues of at-will employment from an outright illegal dismissal.
3. Examine your employee file for inconsistencies or vague language that can be interpreted as a wrongful termination. For instance, you should look for vague and unspecific language in any disciplinary action or performance evaluation, such as a failure to note places, times and descriptions of company policy violations. Investigate all company-issued literature as well, looking for language that could be considered discriminatory.
4. Find specific examples of wrongful termination when you investigate your case. A termination is illegal if it violates any contracts between you and your employer, any union contracts, your First Amendment rights or your ability to participate in jury duty. It is also illegal to fire someone for refusing to break the law in the interest of the company.
5. Hire an employees' rights lawyer once you have concluded your investigation and have determined that you are a victim of a wrongful termination. An experienced lawyer should immediately determine if you have a solid case against your former employer and will be able to advise whether you should file a lawsuit or negotiate for an ample severance package.
6. Treat any offers for enhanced severance packages or financial settlements seriously. If your investigation of the wrongful termination has turned up the right amount of evidence, your company's offer should be fair and have legal precedence. By being greedy, you can bankrupt your former employers and wind up with nothing.

Tips & Warnings

• In most states, a legal decision concerning a wrongful termination favors the employee over the employer, especially if the case is complex.