Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Wrongful Termination?

My Friend has just been fired. I was wondering if you think he may have a Wrongful termination suit. He had worked for the same company for 13 years, he is now 38 years old. He had never been written up during his employment. He was recently promoted and had to train a younger person to do his job.

Every year at the end of the year he gets a bonus. This year his bonus was 1/3 the normal amount. His boss explained that the bonus is smaller because the owner is going to take $500,000 and distribute it among the employees (based on their pay). My Friend was one of the higher paid employees so his share would have been significant.

He would not qualify as a protected class, since he is a 38 year old straight white male, but maybe this would qualify as a wrongful termination, since he had never been warned or written up. And the promise of the share of the bonus made it sound like he would stay employed by the company.

This man is a hard working man, in fact, he worked for 8 months working 7 days a week and only taking 3 days off every 3 weeks or so. It is so unfair.

Please let me know if this is worth pursuing.


Asked on 1/31/06, 6:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert F. Cohen Law Office of Robert F. Cohen

Re: Wrongful Termination?

Your friend may have a claim for unpaid overtime for the 7-day workweeks. Also, your friend might have a claim for breach of implied contract. However, since CA is an at-will state, it's always an uphill battle, especially with the scant evidence you're mentioning. Still, your friend should contact a lawyer for a free consultation.

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Answered on 2/02/06, 1:22 am


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