Almost all California employees are "at will" employees, meaning they can be terminated for any reason, so long as it is not an unlawful reason. So, if most employees are at will employees, what separates a termination from a wrongful termination?
California employees can essentially be terminated for any reason, so long as the reason is not an unlawful reason. Here are some of the more common unlawful reasons that would make a termination a wrongful termination:
- An employee may not be terminated for lawfully reporting sexual harassment to a supervisor or to Human Resources;
- Similar to above, an employee cannot be terminated for participating in an investigation of someone else's claims of sexual harassment or unlawful discrimination;
- For exposing certain unlawful wrongdoings by the company or by a higher ranking employee of the company, commonly known as whistle-blowing;
- For submitting a worker's compensation claim from injuries suffered at work;
- For complaining to management or Human Resources about not receiving proper wages, overtime compensation, lunch breaks or rest breaks;
- For filing a complaint with a governmental or administrative agency such as the DFEH or the Labor Board; and
- Lastly, an employee is not at will if that employee has an employment contract designating a specific period of time.
