Employment Termination

Employment termination can be difficult for the employer and employee involved. As the employer, you may have invested a lot of time and money in your employee. It can be hard to walk away from that investment.

As the employee, you may feel hurt and angry. You may feel like you have not been treated fairly. You also may be worried about immediate financial concerns, like getting your final paycheck or collecting unemployment benefits.

Many people don't stop to think about employment law before the employment relationship ends. But it is important to understand your rights on both sides. Some of the most common legal questions and issues are below.

What is Wrongful Termination?

Massachusetts is an at-will employment state. This means that an employee can be fired with or without a reason unless they have an employment contract. There are some exceptions. If the reason for termination is discrimination, this can be a wrongful termination. If the reason is that the employer us unhappy about certain legally protected activities, this could also be unlawful.

Sometimes, pervasive discrimination or harassment in the workplace can make the working conditions so unreasonable that the target of the behavior feels they have to quit.  Under some circumstances, this amounts to a constructive discharge and can be treated as a wrongful termination even though the resignation was voluntary.

If you are also a shareholder in a closely held company and terminated for no reason, you may also have a claim for breach of fiduciary duty.

Does the Employer Have to do Performance Reviews or Give Warnings?

​There is generally no requirement that you receive warnings before being fired. Your employer may have a policy about performance reviews and progressive discipline. Even so, they are generally free to decide not to follow that policy. The exception is if you have an employment contract that requires notice or warnings.

Anyone who is surprised when an employer fires them is going to question the termination. This is main reason it is a good idea to do performance reviews and provide warnings. It is also helpful for the employer to have a record in case there is a question. But simply firing someone without warning is generally not illegal.

Employment Discrimination

Though an employer can generally terminate an employee at any time for any reason, there are exceptions. One of these is discrimination. State and federal laws prohibit discrimination based on a person’s membership in a protected class. 

"Protected Classes" include gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and more. You can read more about protected classes under federal and Massachusetts discrimination laws. 

An employee can still be fired if they are in a protected class. A company may fire an employee for poor performance even if the employee is a minority. The difference is that for protected employees the employer should be prepared to demonstrate the reason for termination. The employee can still challenge that reason. If the stated reason does not stand up to scrutiny, a court may find discrimination.

If you think you may have been discriminated against, it is important to see an employment lawyer as soon as possible. The statute of limitations for an employment discrimination case in Massachusetts is only 300 days, or approximately 10 months.

Retaliation

The law does not allow an employer to punish an employee for engaging in legally protected activity. Examples of legally protected activity include:

  • Reporting sexual harassment in the workplace.
  • Making a complaint about discrimination.
  • Taking a protected family or medical leave or using earned sick time.
  • ​Making a complaint about overtime or other wage and hour law violations.
  • Exercising a right under the Workers Compensation statute.
  • Doing something required by law, like missing work for jury duty.
  • In some limited situations reporting an employer's violation of the law.
  • Refusing to do something illegal

Protected reports are most often made to the human resources department. They still count as protected if made to a supervisor or manager instead.

If your claim is based on reporting harassment or discrimination, you should act quickly. These claims have a 300 day time limit as well.

Unemployment Benefits

One of the first questions you may have is whether you can collect unemployment benefits. If it was an involuntary termination, usually you can. You will only be denied in this situation if the termination was for serious misconduct. Being fired for poor performance does not bar unemployment.

If you resign, you may not be eligible. In that situation you would have to demonstrate that the decision to quit was due to some fault of the employer. You can read more about unemployment under Massachusetts state laws.

What the Employer Must Do at Termination

There are certain things the employer must do at termination. These include payment of final wages, whether it is an involuntary or voluntary termination.

The employer must also provide information about applying for unemployment. If you provide group health benefits, you also must provide notice about continued coverage under COBRA.

In most situations, an employer is not required to offer a severance agreement, but they often do.  Read more about severance agreements and how to evaluate a severance agreement.

You can also read more about termination requirements and best practices.

How We Can Help

We can help you navigate these issues and get clarity on your rights and obligations in the face of an actual or imminent employment termination.  You can use the button below to schedule a call back from a member of our team, give us a call at  781-784-2322, or fill out our web form  to let us know a little more about your situation.

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