If you’ve been harmed due to the adverse actions of your employer, then you could potentially sue them for compensation to cover your losses. Labor lawyers, employment dispute lawyers, and employment attorneys can help you navigate the legal process to secure compensation — after all, an employment dispute can be challenging and complicated, and you’ll want the assistance of a professional who understands how to navigate these complications effectively.
Read on to learn more.
What counts as a labor law or employment dispute?
There are many types of disputes that fall under the employment or labor law umbrella. These include:
- Wrongful termination
- Hostile work environment
- Sexual harassment
- Harassment
- Discrimination
- Wage theft
- And more
These issues fall under various employment laws that govern the legal relationship between employers and employees.
Here at 1-800-THE-LAW2, many of the labor law & employment dispute lawyers in our network handle these claims and more. We encourage you to call in for a free legal consultation with an experienced attorney in our network who can help you better understand your options.
How much is my wrongful termination lawsuit worth with an employment attorney?
Damages in a wrongful termination lawsuit vary quite a bit from case to case. Damages reflect the particular losses that you suffered due to the employer’s illegal actions. These may include the following:
- Wage loss
- Loss of earning capacity
- Medical expenses
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- And more
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) can influence the calculation of damages in wrongful termination cases, particularly in establishing the right to a minimum wage and overtime pay for non-exempt employees.
For example, suppose that you’re fired from your job during a particularly difficult time in your life. Perhaps you’ve had a death in the family, and you’re struggling with handling your child’s medical condition. The firing is discriminatory in nature — you believe that they fired you because of your race.
After the job, your life spirals. The economy is poor, and it isn’t easy to get a new job. It takes you six months to get a new job. That’s six months of no income while bills pile up. Further, the new job is a downgrade from the last one in terms of pay and responsibility (the previous job was $80,000 per year, the new job is $60,000). You now make $20,000 less a year. Based on wage loss and loss of earning capacity categories alone, you’d have a claim of $100,000-180,000.
With emotional distress damages and others, even more compensation can be tacked on.
How do you argue wrongful termination?
Broadly speaking, employers have a right to terminate your employment at will — put another way, they can fire you at any time and for any reason. There are two major exceptions to this termination right:
- Employers cannot terminate you because of your identity if that identity fits into a protected category (i.e., race, gender, age, religion, national origin, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, etc.).
- Employers cannot terminate you if their reasons for terminating you violate the terms of your employment contract.
Labor and employment law provides the legal basis for these exceptions, ensuring that employers adhere to regulations and contractual obligations.
For example, suppose that your employment contract requires that your employer give you a year to fix performance-related issues before they are allowed to fire you. If they fire you out of the blue one day, without giving you that “performance fix year,” then you could sue them for wrongful termination, and potentially secure compensation for that lost year.
How do you prove retaliation and unfair labor practices in the workplace in Florida?
In Florida, and in other states, employees have a right to sue their employer (and report on employment-related issues) without being retaliated against in the workplace. Retaliation occurs when an employer takes an “adverse employment action” (i.e., firing, passing over for a promotion, demoting, rejecting a raise request, changing employee location, creating a hostile work environment, etc.) against an employee for exercising their rights. Retaliation is considered one of the many unfair labor practices.
For example, if your employer fires you because you reported gender or racial discrimination in the workplace, then you would have an independent claim against them for retaliation. Retaliation claims are independent, yes — and that’s important.
It means that you can not only sue them for the underlying employment issue, but you can bring a second claim (retaliation) on which you can address the issues arising from that particular behavior, giving you access to additional damages and another path to recovery.
Negotiating a settlement with an employer may offer you unique advantages
Employers have a few solid reasons for wanting to avoid trial litigation:
- Negative publicity often accompanies a serious employment dispute, as the general public tends to view companies with suspicion, and puts themselves in the position of the aggrieved employee.
- Business operations can be stalled in some ways if resources (and attention) are diverted towards the lawsuit.
Employment lawyers can help negotiate favorable settlements, ensuring that your legal rights are protected and that you receive fair compensation.
What this means is that you have a great deal of leverage (in most cases) as an aggrieved employee who is dealing with a problematic employer. Let’s run through a quick example to showcase the strategic advantage you have.
Consider a scenario in which you’re wrongfully terminated from your job because of your gender. That would constitute gender discrimination — it’s illegal and you’d be entitled to compensation under the law if you could prove that your employer did, in fact, fire you because of your gender.
Now, suppose that the evidence is there, but you don’t have a “home run” case. With a persuasive argument, perhaps you’d only stand a 50 percent chance of winning the case should it proceed to trial.
Here’s the thing: as soon as you sue the employer, the matter becomes public. Depending on the size and importance of the company, media reports may come out discussing your lawsuit against them. Given media sensationalism and human psychology, it’s likely that people will “assume” that your employer is at fault, even before any legal analysis of the facts of the case at hand.
The negative publicity could irreparably damage the company’s reputation and brand. To avoid this, they may very well choose to negotiate a favorable settlement with you early on. That’s a real strategic advantage, resolved in a way that benefits you, the claimant.
What is labor arbitration?
Most people know about negotiated settlements and courtroom litigation — but there are alternative forms of dispute resolution, as well.
There’s mediation (an informal, free-flow discussion-oriented way of resolving a dispute that is meant to be more collaborative) and arbitration (an in-between of trial and mediation, balancing formality/informality, and with key processes and a head-to-head approach that allows the parties to persuasively argue their side, with evidence, and have a neutral arbitrator assess the situation and make a decision).
Arbitration is intended to move along faster and smoother than trial litigation, which can be quite burdensome. Unlike litigation in state and federal courts, arbitration is generally less formal and can be more expedient. That being said, arbitration almost always benefits the larger party with more resources at their disposal. The “neutral” arbitrator is often biased towards the company due to personal networks, future business incentives, and other factors. But it can be difficult to avoid arbitration if it is built into your employment contract. Fortunately, skilled labor attorneys know how to navigate arbitration effectively, and can help you maximize your chances of success even in an alternative dispute resolution process.
What does a labor lawyer do? Why hire labor lawyers to help with your employment dispute?
Working as an experienced attorney is a good idea in most serious disputes — particularly employment disputes, which tend to feature complicated evidentiary and procedural issues that have to be navigated with precision. Though the law does not require that you hire an attorney for your case, it is highly encouraged. In fact, courts even warn against (and recommend against) representing yourself in the legal proceeding.
The disconnect (in terms of valuing the contributions of an attorney) is often because the general public does not know all the ways in which an attorney can advocate for them over the course of a dispute. Attorneys are not just courtroom advocates. They handle a variety of tasks from start to finish. These tasks include, but are not limited to:
- Identifying, gathering, and preserving relevant evidence
- Communicating on behalf of the client with law enforcement, opposing counsel, witnesses, insurance adjusters, insurance carriers, and various others
- Working with experts and witnesses to develop supportive testimony in favor of your employment claims
- Building persuasive legal arguments on your behalf
- Navigating court hearings and other procedures
- Negotiating a settlement compromise, if possible
- Pushing forward to trial litigation, if necessary
- Managing the publicity-related issues that may arise
- Securing the compensation payout after it has been awarded
- And more
Labor and employment attorneys specialize in handling these tasks, providing full-service counseling and litigation to address issues such as wrongful termination, unfair labor practices, and compliance with labor and employment laws at federal, state, and local levels.
Phew! That’s a lot of responsibility — and having a qualified attorney by your side can help enormously.
For example, consider an insurance company or — more relevantly — HR communications after an employment dispute has started.
HR is interested in hearing what you have to say about issues in the workplace, but they ultimately work for the company’s benefit. If you make any sensitive disclosures that could undermine your employment claims, then they will almost certainly share that information with your employer, who will then be able to use it against you in the legal dispute. By contrast, if you work with an experienced labor lawyer, they’ll communicate with your employer instead, putting pressure on your employer to treat your issues fairly and with the seriousness that it deserves, while also avoiding making sensitive disclosures that could harm your overall damage recovery.
Contact 1-800-THE-LAW2 for a Free Legal Consultation
If you’ve been harmed due to adverse actions by your employer, then you could be entitled to sue and recover substantial damages. That being said, employment disputes are not always straightforward or simple to litigate — in fact, depending on the nature of the claims, they can be rather challenging, especially since the evidence may be vague and murky. Collecting the relevant evidence may require substantial gamesmanship — both from a legal process and personal network perspective.
Our labor and employment practice provides comprehensive legal support, addressing various aspects of employment counseling and litigation.
Contact 1-800-THE-LAW2 for a free legal consultation with an experienced local employment attorney in our network. During this initial consultation, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss your case in more detail and to learn about what sort of strategic options you have available to you. If you decide against moving forward with the attorney, that’s ok — you’re under no obligation to continue with an attorney in our network. You can call in and have a free consultation, and move on without us if you so desire. So there’s really no downside. Call in today to get started!
We look forward to assisting you.
