Were you a for-cause or at-will employee?
Sometimes, your employment contract will specifically state that you can be terminated from your job only “for good cause.” Other times, your offer letter or some other writing will assure you of your continued employment. If any of the abovementioned situations apply to you, that means that you are not an at-will employee. Thus, if your employer arbitrarily fired you, you can sue to enforce your rights under your employment contract.
However, most problems arise out of “at-will” employment situations. If you’re an at-will employee, then you are employed for a potentially infinite duration, but either you or your employer is free to terminate the employer-employee relationship at any time, for any reason. Although it’s difficult to challenge your employer’s wrongful discharge if you were an at-will employee, you can still successfully sue with the help of an experienced Dallas wrongful discharge attorney.
Even if you weren’t fired outright by your employer, were you constructively discharged?
Even if your employer did not fire you, you and your Dallas wrongful discharge attorney may still be able to bring suit against your employer. Wrongful discharge encompasses more than just explicit termination by your employer; it also includes the more informal type of firing called constructive discharge. In constructive discharge, the employee is forced to resign from his or her job because the employer has made working conditions so terrible or unbearable that any reasonable employee would also have quit. Your Dallas wrongful discharge attorney must argue, in effect, that you being forced to quit amounted to the same thing as the employer unfairly terminating the employment.
Which of the four grounds for wrongful termination can you raise against your former employer?
Your Dallas wrongful discharge attorney will want to know the specifics of your situation in order to determine the grounds for which you can bring your wrongful termination lawsuit. The four grounds are:
- Breach of an implied or oral employment contract
- Employment discrimination
- Violation of state or federal public policy; and
- Breach of good faith and fair dealing
Using one or more of these grounds, your Dallas wrongful discharge attorney will be able to carefully craft your wrongful termination case against your former employer. It is imperative to get the help of a Dallas wrongful discharge lawyer who has all of the following attributes: detailed knowledge of the state and federal employment laws; the dedication to build a winning case; and the experience to successfully argue your case before the court. Dallas wrongful discharge law office Erick & Thomas has the skills and the passion to fight for you and your rights. For a free initial consultation, simply call 214-691-6200 or fill out the firm on this page.
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