Protect Your Rights – Don’t Be a Victim!
Most employees work under a doctrine known as employment at will. Employment at will means that you can quit at any time but, in turn, you can also be fired at any time. There are important exceptions to the employment at will doctrine under both state and federal employment law.
Employees can be fired for a variety of reasons. However, employers cannot terminate an employee based on certain protected characteristics. For example, you cannot legally be terminated on the basis of race, sex or age nor can you lose your job for exercising a protected right or duty, such as maternity leave or reporting most forms of unlawful conduct. If, for example, you suspect that your termination occurred solely as a result of your reporting sexual harassment or an unsafe working condition, your employer may be guilty of wrongful termination.
Contact the Akers Law Offices in Charleston at 304-720-1422 or email us for a free consultation about your rights and legal options in a case of retaliatory discharge.
Our Lawyer Will Fight For You!
Our attorney, JB Akers, represents workers in West Virginia who have lost their jobs after exercising their employment rights:
- Filing a claim for workers’ compensation
- Filing a complaint concerning race discrimination, sex discrimination or sexual harassment
- Supporting the claim of another worker by testifying in support of the complaint or cooperating with an investigation
- Reporting unsafe working conditions that violate state or federal safety regulations
- Insisting on your right to pregnancy leave, parenting leave or disability leave under the federal FMLA laws
- Reporting fraudulent, unlawful or criminal activity under a whistleblower statute
Many employers expose themselves to liability for wrongful termination in the above situations simply because they do not know any better. Yet other employers are perfectly aware that they can be successfully sued but are willing to gamble that a phony or pretextual reason based on your alleged poor performance, attendance or some other factor might cover up the retaliatory nature of the firing or if you opposed sexual harassment or advancement by your superior, report such claims to our office. In addition, if you reported such claims to your Human Resources or state agency, and were then retaliated against, your rights must be represented by a knowledgeable and experienced attorney.
It is important to remember that even though your discrimination case is not proven, if you were retaliated against for filing a discrimination case your employer will independently be found guilty of the retaliation as that case may stand on itself.
Whatever the circumstances of your wrongful termination claim, we know how to investigate your case, present the evidence that indicates a malicious or retaliatory motive on your employer’s part, and prove your lost income and the resulting damage to your career.
Your Time To File A Claim Is Limited. Get A Free Consultation Today.
Depending on what specific law supports your claim for retaliation, many of the statutes require that the claims are filed within a certain amount of time. The time might be very short— in some cases, only 180 days.
For dependable advice about your wrongful termination claim, meet with our attorney for free. Call us at 304-720-1422 or complete a form online to schedule your appointment.
