What's one of the easiest ways to find yourself defending a wrongful discharge lawsuit? Fire an employee under circumstances that violate a fair employment law. Numerous federal, state, and even local laws restrict an employer's right to fire an employee for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons.

 

Many fair employment laws exempt certain businesses. For example, it is not uncommon for such laws to provide exemptions for employers having some minimum number of employees. However, merely because you qualify for a law's exemption does not mean that you're free to fire those employees whom the law was designed to protect without any risk of being sued. Courts can, effectively, extend the law to you under the "public policy" theory. The fact that a law protecting a certain class of employees was adopted generally indicates a public policy in favor of that protection.

• Federal fair employment laws: Federal laws protect employees against various forms of discrimination in the workplace. This protection lasts throughout the entire employment relationship, including the period leading up to and ending with an employee's separation from the business. Thus, for example, you could run afoul of federal law if you fire an employee solely on the basis of the employee's race, color, religious preferences, gender, national origin, disabilities (including substance abuse problems), or age.
• State firing restrictions: Every state has its own laws that make it unlawful for an employer to fire an employee under certain circumstances. Many states have their own discrimination laws that offer employees similar, if not broader, protections as the corresponding federal laws. For example, state laws, unlike their federal counterparts, may protect employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or personal appearance. Furthermore, many state laws apply to employers that corresponding federal laws exempt from their coverage. Other frequently encountered limitations prevent employees from being fired merely because they file claims for workers' compensation benefits, report an employer's illegal activity, serve on jury duty, or refuse to take a lie detector test.