If you are an at-will employee, you can typically be fired for almost any reason. However, there are protected classes that still apply, and discrimination against those in these protected classes is illegal. You can’t be fired based on your race, religion, gender, age, national origin, disability status, pregnancy status and more.
However, you may notice that political beliefs are not listed among these protected classes. Under federal law, you don’t have any protections. If your employer disagrees with your political activity—such as if you’re going to rallies for a certain candidate—they may be able to fire you in many states. Federal law does not prohibit this, so employees have to look to state law to determine if it is considered discriminatory or not.
What does California say?
California is one of the few states that actually has protections on the books. Your employer is not allowed to attempt to control your political activity. If they fire you for your political beliefs, it may be considered wrongful termination.
This is why it’s so important to remember that California law often provides greater protections than even federal law. If you have been fired based on your political beliefs or the candidates you support, you may be able to take legal action. It could be a wrongful termination, meaning that you deserve financial compensation for all of your lost wages.
It’s possible that your employer will only check federal law before determining if it’s legal to fire you. If they do, that could lead to them accidentally violating state law—so you need to know what steps you can take at this time.