An experienced retaliation and wrongful termination lawyer

If you believe that you’ve been wrongfully fired from your job or punished for exercising your workplace rights, you need to speak with a retaliation or wrongful termination lawyer. The team of employment lawyers at Gold Star Law has a wealth of experience in handling cases where employers violated their employees’ rights. We will work with you, discussing your experiences to create a road map that will help us get you the resolution you desire.

Wrongful termination

Your employer may tell you that you can be fired at any time for any – or no – reason, however, that may not be true. Generally, employment is on an “at will” basis, but written or oral agreements may state that you can only be fired for “just cause.” In addition to this, you cannot be fired for discriminatory reasons or in retaliation for exercising certain rights.

Employer retaliation

Michigan and federal laws provide protection to employees who report illegal activity.  This can include filing a charge of race discrimination, or sexual harassment with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), reporting a wage and hour violation such as unpaid overtime to the Department of Labor, or reporting a workplace safety violation to OSHA.  If your employer is doing something wrong, you should be able to do something about it. You cannot be punished for exercising your workplace rights and are protected from termination, demotion, harassment, or other retaliation. You are also protected if you participate in certain investigations regarding legal violations.

An Employee who files a report of their employer’s illegal activity with government agencies is sometimes referred to as a whistleblower. However, whistleblower protection laws only protect employees who actually make reports to government agencies, or who threaten to make reports but do not actually do so. If an employee only makes an internal complaint regarding the employer’s illegal activity, without actually going to a government agency or threatening to do so, then that employee would not be protected from retaliation. In addition, the employer must know that the employee has made a protected report and then retaliate against the employee in order for the whistleblower protection laws to apply. If an employee makes an anonymous report and is later terminated it is likely not a violation of whistleblower laws.

Many cases of employer retaliation and wrongful termination must be filed within a short period of time. It is critical that you contact Gold Star Law immediately if you feel that you have been a victim. When you reach out to us, we will provide you with a free, confidential evaluation and consultation. Your communications with us are strictly private: your employer will not be contacted or made aware of your claim.

For additional information, click here to see our 5/23/18 article on whistleblowers, or click here for our 3/8/18 article on wrongful termination.