Best Wrongful Termination Lawyers in San Bernardino CA
Have you been recently fired from your job? Are you looking for the best wrongful termination attorney in San Bernardino? Look no further. Your search for the best San Bernardino wrongful termination attorney is over. The San Bernardino wrongful termination lawyers at our firm have helped and represented employees and employers in employment litigation and trials for twenty years. We invite you to contact us for a no-cost case evaluation, so that we can see what we can do to help you.
Wrongful Termination Attorneys in San Bernardino Ready to Fight for Your Rights
There are countless different ways in which the termination of one’s employment can be unlawful. Since a claim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy can be based on a variety of public policies, there are many different ways in which a termination can be “wrongful” in the legal sense.
To establish a claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, each of the following must be proved: (1) an employer-employee relationship, (2) employer terminated plaintiff’s employment or took other adverse employment action; (3) the termination of plaintiff’s employment or other adverse action was a violation of public policy (or more accurately, a “nexus” exists between the termination and the employee’s protected activity); (4) The termination was a legal cause of plaintiff’s damage; and (5) The nature and the extent of plaintiff’s damage.
Wrongful Job Termination Resulting from Retaliatory Termination
Firing an employee for reporting an employer’s violation of a statute on a particular subject violates public policy, as such violations are considered breaches of public policy themselves. The employee is not required to provide evidence that the employer actually violated the law; rather, it is sufficient if the employer terminated their employment for reporting their “reasonably based suspicions” of illegal activity. This means that if an employee has a reasonable belief that their employer is engaging in unlawful behavior and reports it, they are protected from retaliation, even if it turns out that no actual violation occurred.
Wrongful Dismissal Resulting from Discriminatory Termination
The policy against discrimination in employment based on prohibited characteristics such as race, nationality, gender, age, and others “inures to the benefit of the public” because any form of “invidious discrimination foments strife and unrest.” This means that preventing discrimination not only benefits individuals directly affected but also promotes societal harmony by avoiding conflicts that discrimination can create. Therefore, if an employer terminates an employee based on the employee’s protected characteristics, then the employee can sue for unlawful termination.
Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Family Medical Leave Laws
Terminating an employee in violation of the employee’s right to take unpaid leave under the California Family Rights Act is actionable as a wrongful firing in violation of public policy. This is because such termination undermines the protection provided by the California Family Rights Act, which is intended to support employees in maintaining a work-life balance and addressing family responsibilities without fear of losing their jobs.
Our Wrongful Termination Attorneys in San Bernardino Offer Free Case Evaluations
The truth of the matter is that there are countless different ways in which a particular termination of employment could be challenged as wrongful job termination, or wrongful dismissal. Instead of trying to determine whether a particular termination triggers any public policies, it is always safer for terminated employees to seek a consultation with a knowledgeable wrongful termination attorney in San Bernardino.
Areas Served:
The litigation and trial attorneys of the Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C. provide services throughout Southern California including but not limited to Adelanto, Agoura Hills, Alhambra, Aliso Viejo, Altadena, Anaheim, Apple Valley, Arcadia, Arleta, Atwater Village, Azuza, Bakersfield, Baldwin Park, Banning, Beaumont, Bell, Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Beverly Hills, Blythe, Boyle Heights, Brea, Brentwood, Buena Park, Burbank, Calabasas, Calimesa, Camarillo, Canoga Park, Canyon Lake, Carson, Cathedral City, Cerritos, Chatsworth, Chino Hills, Chino, Claremont, Coachella, Colton, Compton, Costa Mesa, Corona, Covina, Culver City, Cypress, Dana Point, Desert Hot Springs, Diamond Bar, Downey, Duarte, Eagle Rock, East Hollywood, East Los Angeles, Eastvale, Echo Park, El Monte, El Segundo, El Sereno, Encino, Fontana, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Gardena, Garden Grove, Glassell Park, Glendale, Glendora, Granada Hills, Hacienda Heights, Hawthorne, Hemet, Hesperia, Highland Park, Highland, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Huntington Beach, Huntington Park, Indian Wells, Indio, Inglewood, Irvine, Jurupa Valley, La Canada Flintridge, La-Crescenta Montrose, La Habra, La Mirada, La Palma, La Puente, La Quinta, La Verne, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lakewood, Lake Balboa, Lake Elsinore, Lake Forest, Lancaster, Lawndale, Lincoln Heights, Loma Linda, Long Beach, Los Alamitos, Los Angeles, Los Feliz, Lynwood, Manhattan Beach, Mar Vista, Maywood, Menifee, Mission Hills, Mission Viejo, Monrovia, Montclair, Montebello, Monterey Park, Moorpark, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Newbury Park, Newhall, Newport Beach, Norco, North Hills, North Hollywood, Northridge, Norwalk, Ontario, Orange, Oxnard, Pacific Palisades, Pacoima, Palos Verdes, Palmdale, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Panorama City, Paramount, Pasadena, Perris, Pico Rivera, Placentia, Pomona, Porter Ranch, Rancho Cucamonga, Rancho Mirage, Rancho Santa Margarita, Redondo Beach, Reseda, Rialto, Riverside, Rosemead, Rowland Heights, San Bernardino, San Clemente, San Dimas, San Gabriel, San Fernando, San Jacinto, San Juan Capistrano, San Pedro, Santa Ana, Santa Clarita, Santa Monica, Sawtelle, Seal Beach, Shadow Hills, Sherman Oaks, Silver Lake, Simi Valley, South El Monte, South Gate, South Pasadena, South Whittier, Stanton, Studio City, Sun Valley, Sunland, Sylmar, Tarzana, Temecula, Temple City, Thousand Oaks, Toluca Lake, Torrance, Tujunga, Tustin, Twentynine Palms, Upland, Valencia, Valley Glen, Valley Village, Van Nuys, Ventura, Victorville, Walnut, West Covina, West Hills, West Hollywood, West Puente alley, Westchester, Westminster, Westwood, Whittier, Wildomar, Winnetka, Woodland Hills, Yorba Linda
Featured Wrongful Termination Case:
Bruni v. The Edward Thomas Hosp. Corp., 64 Cal. App. 5th 247 (2021)
A former employee sued the employer hotel alleging violation of a city recall ordinance, which provided laid off employees that had been employed by the employer for six months or more with a right to be rehired, and for wrongful failure to rehire him in violation of public policy. The Superior Court sustained the demurrer for the employer. On appeal the Court of Appeal held that: (1) the employee’s earlier period of employment with employer that ended with voluntary resignation did not count toward six-month minimum period of employment, as required for eligibility under recall ordinance, and (2) the employee failed to state cause of action in claim against employer alleging wrongful failure to rehire him in violation of public policy. The appellate opinion states in part as follows:
Bruni failed to allege facts showing his eligibility for recall under the ordinance. Given Bruni’s inability to allege that the recall ordinance applies to him, it necessarily follows that he cannot state a Tameny claim predicated on an alleged violation of the public policy expressed in the recall ordinance.
Moreover, the Tameny claim fails because a municipal ordinance cannot serve as the predicate for a Tameny tort claim. In Gantt, our Supreme Court recognized that courts in Tameny actions “may not declare public policy without a basis in either constitutional or statutory provisions. A public policy exception carefully tethered to fundamental policies that are delineated in constitutional or statutory provisions strikes the proper balance among the interests of employers, employees and the public. The employer is bound, at a minimum, to know the fundamental public policies of the state and nation as expressed in their constitutions and statutes; so limited, the public policy exception presents no impediment to employers that operate within the bounds of law. Employees are protected against employer actions that contravene fundamental state policy. And society’s interests are served through a more stable job market, in which its most important policies are safeguarded.”
Additionally, the mere nonrenewal of an employment contract—as opposed to the unlawful termination of an employment contract in violation of public policy—is not a basis for a Tameny claim.