Wrongful Termination
Wrongful Termination
The subject of wrongful employment termination is extremely broad and can only be briefly touched upon here. Generally speaking, Alabama law follows the “at-will” employment doctrine. Under this doctrine, an employer generally is free to terminate or demote an employee with or without just cause. However, there are numerous exceptions to this doctrine, many of which are discussed on this website. Some examples include being fired or demoted because of unlawful discrimination, or in retaliation for reporting safety complaints or illegal conduct by the employer. These exceptions permit even an “at-will” employee to bring a legal action against his or her employer for wrongful termination or demotion.
Wrongful Termination
in the Alabama Workplace
Federal law prohibits most employers from terminating employees based on any of the following protected classes:
• Race
• Skin Color
• National Origin
• Gender
• Disability
• Age (as long as the employee is at least 40 years old)
• Pregnancy
• Religion
An employer cannot terminate you for any of these reasons, and if it can be proven that they did so, they would be in violation of the law.
Here are some possible examples of wrongful termination based on discrimination:
• A manager or supervisor has demonstrated a bias against the particular race in which you are part of, and you are terminated for something that others of a different race have done and not lost their job for;
• You are over the age of 40, and you have been subject to disciplinary actions for things that employees who are younger than you have gotten away with doing, and you are eventually fired for it;
• You are terminated shortly after your employer learns that you are pregnant;
• You resigned your position due to proven sexual harassment or a hostile work environment;
• You were terminated for any other non-performance issue, and it can be shown that the underlying reason was because you are a part of one of the above-mentioned protected classes.
Retaliatory Termination
An employer is not allowed to fire an employee after the employee filed a claim for harassment or discrimination, or because an employee reported workplace misconduct, an unsafe work environment, or is participating in an investigation. These circumstances would all be considered “retaliation”. Alabama employers are also prohibited from terminating or taking other negative actions against employees who file a workers’ compensation claim.
Closely related to retaliation is being terminated for reporting illegal activities to government authorities. Employers are prohibited from terminating an employee who reports violations of law to the government under the Whistleblower Protection Act. Employers are also not allowed to create a hostile work environment for employees who become government whistleblowers.
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