California has some of the strongest employee protection statutes in the nation. Workers in California have expanded overtime rights and numerous other valuable employment protections not available in most other states.
However, California also has an at-will employment statute. Employees can quit without notice, and employers can terminate workers immediately if they so choose. Does the at-will employment law in California prevent workers from taking legal action if they believe their employers terminated them wrongfully?
Businesses must still uphold the law
At-will employment statutes prevent workers from filing lawsuits over the hardship they may experience after their inclusion in a layoff or a summary termination. Employers can terminate workers for any legal reason or no specific reason, as might be the case in staffing reductions intended to increase profit margins.
Despite at-will employment rules, employers must still comply with state and federal regulations prohibiting retaliation and discrimination against employees. If workers can reasonably assert that their termination occurred due to a protected characteristic, such as a medical disability or their age, they may potentially have grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit based on discrimination.
Similarly, if companies fire workers to punish them for their protected workplace activities, workers could file lawsuits on the grounds of retaliatory termination. When a firing or layoff immediately follows a worker reporting safety issues or requesting leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), they may be able to assert that their employer retaliated against them unlawfully.
Reviewing what happened before a termination can help professionals determine if they are in a position to take action. Wrongful termination lawsuits are possible even in at-will employment states, including California.