wrongful termination
TRANSCRIPT
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
WRONGFUL TERMINATION
- by SURYA PRIYA, ALTACIT GLOBAL
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is an idiom and legal phrase, describing a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer in circumstances where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contract of employment, or a statute provision in employment law.
What is wrongful termination?What is wrongful termination?
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Being terminated for any of the items listed below may constitute wrongful termination.
• Discrimination• Retaliation• Constructive Discharge
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Discrimination
The employer cannot terminate employment because the employee is a certain race, nationality, religion, sex, age, or in some jurisdictions, sexual orientation.
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
The At-will Employment versus Wrongful Discharge paradoxAt-will employees can be fired for “any reason” except:– Public Policy – Implied Contracts– Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
• voluntary and indefinite for both employees and employers
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
• Promise • Statement• Company Policy• Company’s historical
actions
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
In some states, a terminated worker can sue for wrongful discharge under contract law if he can show an implied contract for permanent employment, combined with a termination that lacked proper cause. For example, some courts have held that a provision in an employee handbook providing that termination shall be for cause served to establish an implied contract, allowing a suit for wrongful termination. E.g., Nicosia v. Wakefern Food Corp., 643 A.2d 554 (N.J. 1994).
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
• whistleblower protection rights are designed to: – encourage employees
to halt, report or testify– about employer acts
that are illegal or unhealthy,
– without fear of employer retaliation.
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
If basing the claim on a public law, the plaintiff must show unlawful action such as illegal discrimination or retribution for whistleblowing. In Adams v. George W. Cochran & Co.,597 A.2d 28 (D.C. App. 1991), for example, the D.C. Court of Appeals allowed a wrongful discharge claim to proceed when the employee had been fired for refusing to break the law.
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
• Extraordinary change• Intolerable working
conditions
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Remedies for wrongful dismissal
There are two major remedies for wrongful dismissal - specific performance of the contract (which requires the parties to abide by the contract) or compensation for loss and damage.
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
When an employee sues for wrongful termination, the damages
available depend on the employee's legal claims. • Breach of Contract
If an employee has a contract limiting the employer's right to end the relationship, the employee can sue for breach of contract if the employer fires the employee in violation of the agreement. For example, if an employee has a two-year contract stating that the employee can be fired only for committing a crime, and the employer fires the employee after only one year for poor performance, the employee has a breach of contract claim. When an employer loses a breach of contract lawsuit, it can be ordered to pay what the employee was entitled to under the contract.
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Discrimination
• An employee who wins a discrimination lawsuit is entitled to these damages, for most types of discrimination:
• back pay (for the wages the employee lost)• front pay (damages for wages lost from the date of
the lawsuit judgment until the date the employee is reinstated; if the employee can't be reinstated, these damages might continue until the employee finds new work)
• the cost of health insurance and other benefits the employee would have received if still employed
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
• court costs and attorney fees• injunctive relief (a court order requiring the
employer to take or stop taking certain actions, such as an order to reinstate the employee or stop using discriminatory criteria for deciding whom to lay off)
• compensatory damages (for emotional distress and pain and suffering), and
• punitive damages (to punish the employer for wrongdoing).
CHENNAI3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE#1533, Trichy Road,
Coimbatore, India – 641018.Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Thank you