You have been fired, what can you do about it under Florida law?

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice or to establish an attorney-client relationship.

You have been fired or disciplined without justification. You want to sue for wrongful termination. If you lived in New Jersey, California, or other states, your employer should have a reason to fire you. Not so in Florida. Florida is an at-will state, which means that an employer can fire, demote, hire, promote, and discipline employees for virtually any or no reason. The only way to change that is to urge state legislators to pass more protections for employees.

That does not mean that there are no protections for employees. You should ask yourself the following questions to see if you could be covered by any labor laws:

Did my supervisors make any comments that indicate bias? If your supervisor made racist or sexist jokes, said that he thought you were too old or that your disability was preventing you from doing work, required you to work on religious holidays, or made other comments that could indicate bias, you may have direct evidence of discrimination.

Did they treat me differently from others in the same situation? If you don’t have direct evidence of discrimination, you may be able to show that you were treated differently than those of another race, sex, religion, national origin, age, or other protected status in the same circumstances. Try to think of people who are of a different race / age / sex, etc. and they were treated differently from you. Find out if there are people who have also been victims of similar discrimination.

Why did I really get fired? Most employees have a pretty good idea why they were fired. If you filed a workers’ compensation claim and were fired a week later, it is a good indication that you were fired in retaliation for filing the claim. If you reported Medicare fraud to your supervisor and then the supervisor fires you, you may have a whistleblower claim.

Is my employer saying something false about me? If potential employers tell you that they will hire you if your references are correct, and then the job mysteriously fills up when you call back, your employer may be providing false or harmful information about you. There are professional reference checking companies that will call you and see what an employer says about you. If you can show it to be false, you may be able to sue for defamation.

Am I in a protected category? If you were fired after taking some protected action, you may be able to sue for retaliation. Consider if you recently filed a workers’ compensation claim, served jury duty, served in the military, took family / medical leave, served as a witness in a lawsuit, provided testimony or evidence to the EEOC, refused to participate in an activity illegal, reported illegal activity, or participates in protected free speech.

If you think something illegal has happened, contact an attorney to discuss the possibility that you have a case.

What if I don’t think something illegal happened? Even if nothing illegal happened, many employers will discuss a severance settlement with an employment attorney hired to negotiate with them. As an attorney who has been practicing employment law since 1986, I find that sometimes a smooth transition is the best way for both employer and employee to move in a positive direction. If you are offered a severance package, it is best to have it reviewed by an attorney before signing it. Many employment attorneys will work to negotiate a better package for you.

The best course of action when you are fired, particularly when you believe there was no good cause, is to contact an attorney who handles employment law to discuss your options.