What To Do If You’ve Been Wrongfully Terminated From A Job

Wrongful termination is one of the most upsetting things that can happen in the course of a career. Making it worse is the fact many employers assume they can hire and fire people without consequences, even for blatantly illegal reasons. If you're wondering what to do next, take note of these three things you should address.

Do Not Retaliate

Picking a fight may feel emotionally satisfying, but it's not going to win you any legal points. Try to stay as calm as possible. Seek the counsel of an attorney, too. It's also a good idea to avoid commenting too much on the topic of your termination, especially if it's while speaking with former bosses or fellow employees. You should also avoid making social media posts about the situation. If you have any company property, return it as promptly as possible.

If you work in a unionized environment, contact your union rep, too. Also, be aware that you don't have to use the union's preferred attorney if you don't want to. You have the right to pursue a case separately from the union.

Break Out Your Employment Contract

If you signed any sort of contract or agreement at the start of your employment, now is the time to locate that document. Make several copies, and file away the original in a spot where you'll have an easy time locating it again. Using a scratch copy, highlight any details you think might be relevant to your case. When you start looking for a lawyer, use these highlights to create a set of notes. Working from these notes, you can then ask questions about the issues you're seeing to give the lawyer a starting point.

Collect All Communications

Make sure you've saved all copies of all emails, texts, and private messages you've received about your firing. If there are any phone messages, get copies of these made. When you receive letters, memos, or other paperwork from the company, make copies of those. There's no such thing as being too thorough. Your lawyer will be a lot happier you came to them with too much rather than too little in the way of communications.

Get everything regarding your termination in writing. If they refuse to send you a formal termination letter, send a letter to them asking for a formal explanation regarding why you were terminated, who terminated you, and all the key dates involved.

For more information about your wrongful termination, reach out to a lawyer.


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