Wrongful termination lawsuits are typically only an option in highly-specific scenarios. Employees asserting that they lost their jobs for inappropriate or illegal reasons generally need proof that either discrimination or retaliation occurred.
Many wrongful termination lawsuits follow targeted terminations of individual employees. Workers who lose their positions because of protected characteristics or engaging in protected workplace activities may have reasonable cause to assert that their termination was wrongful.
In a layoff scenario where multiple employees lose their jobs simultaneously, is it ever possible for workers to assert that their termination was wrongful?
Layoffs can be retaliatory or discriminatory
Ideally, employers should evaluate job performance or look at seniority when deciding who to include in a mass staffing reduction. Unfortunately, discrimination during mass terminations is somewhat common.
People in management or human resources positions may let their personal biases influence who they select for termination in a layoff. If a company terminates every worker over a certain age or if a large percentage of the terminated employees belong to the same race, those patterns could indicate discrimination.
Similarly, employees may have questions in cases where everyone engaged in a unionization effort or in reporting unsafe job conditions to regulatory authorities lost their jobs. If workers can show that a layoff may have occurred due to retaliation or discrimination, then they may have grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit.
The details of a recent layoff can influence what options recently-terminated workers may have. Holding employers accountable for wrongful termination can compensate workers for the economic setbacks sustained due to unexpected job loss.