COULD YOUR FURLOUGH REALLY HAVE BEEN A WRONGFUL TERMINATION?

You may be one of the tens of millions employees that have just found themselves furloughed or terminated from their place of employment and your employer may have claimed it was due to the coronavirus pandemic, but that may not be the case. Before you just accept this reason as the norm for your furlough, stop and think about your situation and the facts revolving around your separation with your employer.

• Did you recently complain or speak out against unfair workplace practices?
• Did you recently request the appropriate pay, unpaid wages or owed commissions?
• Did you feel targeted or had you recently been a victim of discrimination or harassment in the workplace?
• Did your employer only furlough or lay off a certain age group or race?
• Did you receive a severance package?

Often times a company will cite a different reason when terminating or furloughing an employee that has been discriminated or retaliated against. Their goal is likely to give you an alternative reason for why you were let go to avoid you taking any legal action against them. Discrimination in the workplace for things such as your age, race, gender, religious beliefs and disabilities are protected under the law. Additionally, if you have spoken out against a discrimination or an issue such as owed wages, a company is not allowed to retaliate against you by ending your employment. It is also important to note who else was furloughed alongside you. Was it a company-wide mandated furlough, or has the business only furloughed a specific age group such as older employees? If so, you may have been targeted without even realizing it. Finally, employers may provide a monetary compensation as part of a severance package when ending your employment. Even though a severance package is positioned as a positive for an employee, you do give up your rights to sue the company for any potentially wrongdoing when signed. It is important to have an employment attorney review your situation whether you have been offered a severance package or not. Ensuring you know your rights during this time may help guarantee you are obtaining the best possible outcome in your situation. Feel free to contact us here.