A person in the California workplace can be fired for many reasons, and the employer in question does not actually need to give a reason at all for the termination of employment. This can seem confusing when a worker gets fired and worries that he or she has been fired for a discriminatory or an unfair reason. If the employer does not need to give a reason for the termination, then it might seem true that any reason at all can be grounds for legal termination.
However, this is simply not the case. There are several laws in place in the state of California that protect workers from being fired for unfair reasons. This means that if an employee has a reason to believe that they were fired because of their gender, their perceived or actual sexual preference, disability or other protected characteristic, a legal case can be made. In the same way, a person may be able to make a claim if he or she was fired shortly after an accident in the workplace.
The law on workplace retaliation in California
When a person is injured at work, it can have several negative repercussions for the employer. It can mean that they will have to pay higher insurance premiums for workers’ compensation, and they may get angry because of this and fire the injured worker. This is never legal, because all employees are protected from workplace retaliation.
If you have been fired after a workplace injury in the state of California, it is important that you take action as soon as possible.