Wrongful firing
Fired, and the reason doesn't add up
Most jobs are at will: you can be let go for almost any reason, or none. Not for an illegal one.
Illegal reasons include your race, sex, age, disability or religion, a complaint you made, medical or family leave you took, jury duty, or refusing to do something unlawful. The reason on the paperwork is rarely the whole story, so we look at the timing, the emails and who else was let go.
If you were handed a severance agreement, don't sign it yet. Let us read it first.
Timing that makes us look closer
Fired right after medical or family leave
Let go days after a complaint
A reason that keeps changing
Pushed to quit by impossible hours
Fired while pregnant
Laid off alone in a 'restructuring'
The first week
What to do right after you're let go
Don't sign yet
A severance agreement usually gives up your claims for the money in it. There's often a deadline, and often room to ask for more.
Write it down tonight
Dates, names, what was said and who heard it. A timeline in your own words is one of the most useful things you can bring.
Keep what's already yours
Save your own texts, schedules, reviews and pay stubs. Don't take company files you weren't allowed to have.
Apply for unemployment
Being fired doesn't rule it out, and applying doesn't hurt a claim against your employer. File now.
If you were let go
They said I was fired for performance. Is that the end of it?
No. A stated reason is where we start, not where we stop. Good reviews before a complaint and a bad one right after tell their own story.
I quit. Can I still have a case?
Sometimes. If conditions were made so bad that anyone would have left, the law can treat it as a firing. Those cases need careful records.
How much is a firing case worth?
It depends on lost pay, how long it takes to find new work, and what the law allows for the claim. We'll give you an honest range once we've seen the facts, not before.