Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Re: Harassment Firing

In Washington State (and 48 other states), employment is at will. The employer can terminate your employment for any reason, so long as it is not an illegal reason. Illegal reasons include discrimination on the basis of membership in a protected class, retaliation for whistlebloweing or retaliation for exercising your legal rights. There are a few others, but none seem to apply here. Unless you have reason to believe that the harassment charge was pretext for termination for some other illegal reason, the termination may have been grossly unfair, but it was legal.

I would urge you to go ahead and file for unemployment benefits. Of course, the money will help, but there is an additional reason. Your employer will likely indicate that you were terminated for cause which will cause your benefits to be denied. When that happens, send a letter indicating you want to appeal. (Do it promptly, because the window to do so is small.) There will be a hearing, and you will have additional opportunity to review the issue before an administrative law judge. The process happens fairly promptly. You would do well to have an attorney with you, but that is not absolutely required.