Legal Question in Employment Law in Alabama

Re: A right to work law?

As with many myths about legal rights and wrongs, the law is far more complicated than the public's perception. There is no "law" which declares that Alabama is an employment at will state. There are simply very few Alabama statutes that protect employees from being fired. But there are a few!! The Alabama courts have refused to create judicial "public policy" exceptions to the legal doctrine of employment at will that other states have. This does not necessarily mean that you can be fired at will, even under purely Alabama law. If you have an employment contract, the terms of that contract control your relationship with your employer. There are also protections in Alabama for a worker to receive any sales commission due him. There are also protections in Alabama against Age Discrimination, against retaliation for filing a worker's compensation claim, and against being absent for jury duty.

Furthermore, there are quite a number of federal statutes that protect worker rights and these are fully enforceable in both state and federal courts in Alabama. These include prohibitions on race, sex, age, disability, and religious discrimination. There are a myriad of other federal statutes that protect individuals in various scenarios, from medicare fraud whistleblowers to returning National Guardsmen/Reservists to bank whistleblowers to securities fraud whistleblowers, and others.

I would recommend that if you have a more detailed question as pertains to your particular situation, you contact an attorney specializing in this area.

Best of Luck!

Sterling L. DeRamus