Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Re: Wrongful Termination

As an at-will employee, an employer may lawfully terminate you for any reason or no reason but not for an illegal reason. If there was no unlawful motive behind your termination and the employer was merely trying to appease a customer, I don't think you can take legal action against the employer.

However, if you can prove that the customer made false allegations of wrongdoing against you, you may have a claim for defamation against the customer. These can be difficult cases and the facts should be investigated before making a decision on whether to take this course of action.

Re: Wrongful Termination

It depends what the "verbal support" you gave was, as well as whether the company gave you any reasons for the termination. While CA is an at-will state, an employer is not allowed to terminate you for an illegal reason. (You can be fired for any reason, as long as the reason is not discriminatory, and is not in "violation of public policy.") Given what you have written you may have a claim that the company wanted you to lie about your employee's performance -- and because you refused to lie, you were fired. You may have a claim for "wrongful termination in violation of public policy," which, in California (as the time limits just changed) can be brought up to two years after the termination. If the company put down in writing that you were fired for some type of misconduct, are ineligible for re-hire, etc. and/or if they told others of the reason you were fired, you would also have a claim for libel/slander against the company. Good luck.

Re: Wrongful Termination

While the termination was not illegal, it is certainly 'unfair' and arguably 'wrongful'. As such, you may be able to have an attorney negotiate a reasonable seperation or severance package for you, based upon the potential of a suit for wrongful termination. It may or may not be a strong case, depending upon the facts, but it could be filed, and thus it could be of value to the employer to deal with you. Contact me if interested in discussing.