Wrongful Termination Lawyer In Kansas City
Being fired from your job can leave you feeling shocked, anxious, sad and angry – especially if you suspect you were wrongfully terminated. Psychiatrists rank job termination among the top ten most stressful life events on the Life Change Index Scale, as job loss can have a devastating impact on a person’s financial well-being and mental health.
The financial impact of being fired unfairly in Kansas City can go far beyond lost wages. You could also lose benefits like retirement accounts or health insurance. You may have trouble finding new employment in the future, and being wrongfully terminated could affect your credit score. Moreover, there is an emotional and psychological impact to wrongful termination, leading to stress, anxiety, the loss of identity, depression and difficulty trusting future employers.
If you feel you were unjustly fired, the skilled wrongful termination lawyers at Holman Schiavone, LLC, can provide the legal guidance you need. After understanding the circumstances behind your firing, we have the knowledge and resources to pursue a claim on your behalf if you were wrongly terminated. We will then work tirelessly to help you recover any lost wages and benefits that you deserve.
What exactly is wrongful termination?
Also known as “wrongful discharge” or “unlawful termination,” wrongful termination refers to an employee’s discharge that occurs due to discrimination, retaliation, or a breach of contract. Wrongful termination can be difficult to prove, particularly if you don’t have a strong working knowledge of employment law. An experienced employment attorney can help you determine whether you were wrongfully terminated and outline a course of action.
What is at-will employment?
In Missouri and Kansas, as in most other states, the at-will employment doctrine is typically used. This means an employer can terminate an employee’s position at any time and for any reason that is not illegal. Likewise, the employee can quit their job at any time. The two sides are only in an employment relationship as long as they want to be.
Notably, wrongful termination is an exception to at-will employment. Just because an employer can fire you does not mean that they can do so for an illegal reason, such as racial discrimination or retaliation for something like reporting workplace safety violations or sexual misconduct in the workplace.
As such, even if you are an at-will employee, you could be wrongfully terminated, which is when it is important to work with wrongful termination lawyers in Kansas City. If your employer has fired you because of legal steps that you took, like reporting sexual harassment, then you may need to work with a retaliation lawyer in Kansas City.
What is the legal definition of discrimination and retaliation?
Discrimination and retaliation are related legal concepts, but, as a Kansas City employment lawyer will attest, they are defined much differently. Discrimination is when someone experiences an unlawful bias based on protected classes, such as age, gender, religion, race, disability or pregnancy. Retaliation is when an employer takes an adverse action against an employee for protected activities – like reporting sexual harassment. You may need a Kansas City wrongful termination attorney if you’ve been fired, but retaliation can also include pay cuts, denied promotions or schedule reductions.
Sources of employment law
Employment law can come from common law in Missouri or Kansas, and it can be defined by state statutes, like the Missouri Human Rights Act and the Kansas Human Rights Commission. It is also defined by federal statutes, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
What are some common reasons why employees are wrongfully terminated?
No two wrongful termination cases are exactly alike, as employers may decide to discharge employees for a variety of reasons. But many wrongful termination cases are rooted in discrimination or occur because an employee exposed an employer’s unethical behavior or policy violations. Here are some of the most common reasons why employees are unjustly fired:
1) Refusing sexual advances by a boss or superior
If a manager makes sexual advances toward an employee who rejects them, the manager may fire the employee out of anger, frustration, or fear that the employee will expose their behavior. Even if the employee did not report the manager’s behavior to human resources director, there still could be grounds for a wrongful termination suit.
2) Discriminatory behavior
The Missouri Human Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of their age, color, race, ancestry, sex, or disability. Despite Missouri’s stringent anti-discrimination laws, there are still employers who fire workers on the basis of these traits. If discrimination is at the heart of an employee’s discharge, it is considered wrongful termination.
3) Filing a hostile work environment claim
Sometimes an employer will fire a worker because the worker has raised hostile or discriminatory workplace allegations. This may be considered a form of retaliation by the employer, which can be harmful to the employer’s chances of securing a favorable outcome in a wrongful discrimination lawsuit.
4) Retaliation for being a whistleblower
Workers who expose their employers for engaging in illegal or unethical behavior are more vulnerable to wrongful termination than the average employee. For example, $4.5 million was recently awarded to a former Missouri shopping center manager who was fired after exposing her employer for misusing charitable donations. The jury determined that the employee was fired in retaliation for whistleblowing.
5) Taking time off work or filing a workers’ comp claim
Firing employees for filing a workers’ comp claim, exercising their rights under the workers’ compensation laws, or for taking time off for illness is unlawful in some situations. According to state law and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employees, in many situations, are permitted to take time off work to care for an ill family member, to vote, or to perform jury duty without worrying that they will be subject to retaliation or termination.
6) Complaining about wages or work hours
State and federal law prohibits employers from firing employees for complaints about unfair/unlawful wages. Employees may also testify in wage-related proceedings without worrying that their employer will retaliate against them by firing them. If you recently filed a complaint about unfair/unlawful wages and were fired shortly thereafter, you may have grounds for a wrongful termination suit.
What should you do if you feel you have been wrongfully terminated?
Handling termination is not easy – particularly if you suspect your termination is related to one of the reasons listed above. In addition to feeling blindsided, you may not know how to respond or what you should do when you receive the news. While there is no official handbook or procedure manual for wrongful termination, the best thing you can do is contact an experienced employment attorney.
What is the single best step to take if you feel you have been wrongfully terminated?
Navigating the complexities of unlawful termination is not an easy process – especially if you are not familiar with state employment and labor laws. The single best thing to do if you suspect you were unlawfully fired is to contact a compassionate and knowledgeable Wrongful Termination Lawyer in Kansas City. A skilled attorney will listen to your story and review the details of your termination to determine whether you have a case. We invite you to contact Holman Schiavone, LLC, online or at 888-493-5074 to schedule a complimentary consultation. As Kansas City’s most trusted team of employment lawyers, we have a proven track record of success fighting for hardworking people who were wrongfully terminated. We look forward to putting our skills to work for you today!