If you’ve been fired unexpectedly, or for reasons that feel unfair, it’s easy to start looking up employment attorneys in the heat of the moment to contest your termination. But while rights for employees will protect you in some situations, wrongful termination lawyers won’t be able to help you in every situation, especially if you signed an at-will agreement.
Even the strongest wrongful dismissal cases can be thrown out the moment your employer holds up that little sheet of paper you signed when you were hired. Many employers require potential employees to sign an at-will agreement before they’re hired which declares that an employee can be fired at any time and for any reason (with a few important exceptions).
If you’ve signed an agreement like this, there’s very little that even the best employment attorneys can do to help your case. You may be stuck even if you didn’t sign a form, since an at-will agreement is often considered implicit under law unless your employer makes a statement that they don’t fire employees without cause.
With an at-will agreement, your employer doesn’t need a good cause to fire you. Unfortunately, many employers require at-will agreements as part of the hiring process, so if you don’t sign one, you usually won’t get a job. The only time you really shouldn’t sign one is if an employer has promised you employment for a certain amount of time. If an at-will agreement seems to contradict your job offer, it’s worth bringing up to your employer.
If you didn’t sign an at-will agreement but your employer makes statements that you’ll always have a job or they don’t fire people without good reason, you may have a case for wrongful termination, especially if those claims motivated you to take a job in the first place.
If you feel like you’ve been fired for discriminatory reasons, however, employment attorneys may be able to help you contest your termination.