Legal Question in Employment Law in Virginia

Re: Wrongful discharge

Discharge or termination in violation of one or more of the categories afforded specific protection under federal antidiscrimination laws such as race, sex, religion, ethnicity, age, etc., would be one example of such wrongful discharge or termination under Virginia law.

Another kind of wrongful termination could involve a situation where an employee was fired in violation of protections he or she enjoyed under a

particular contract of employment or collective bargaining type of agreement(union).

A third example could involve the so-called Bowman public policy exception where an employee was improperly terminated due to his or her assertion

of rights allegedly involved in an issue related to a public policy concern which courts have decided is significant enough in terms of the common good, so to speak, as to warrant special protection for an employee who becomes involved in such a public policy issue from summary dismissal by his or her employer. (This is for the most part quite a rarity as a basis to successfully litigate an allegedly wrongful termination or discharge in the Commonwealth.)

Re: Wrongful discharge

An example of the Bowman public policy exception under Virginia law that would give a terminated employee a viable cause of action for wrongful discharge by his employer would be an employee who protests to the media the dumping of toxic wastes by his employer in unauthorized areas which could be hazardous to the public at large and who then is subsequently terminated by his employer.

The Bowman public plicy exception recognized in Virginia law would give the terminated employee a viable basis to bring suit against his employer for wrongful termination and to recover damages under the circumstances described.