Being fired is a traumatic experience, made even worse if you think your termination was unfair and possibly unlawful. You may be wondering if you have the right to sue your employer for wrongful termination. The answer depends on the motives and circumstances surrounding your firing.

Connecticut is an at-will employment state, which means an employer has the right to fire an employee for any reason, so long as the reason is not illegal, or for no reason at all. To have a viable wrongful termination claim, you must be able to prove that your firing violated state or federal law. This can be a frustrating reality for employees who were let go for unstated or vague reasons.

Among the various unlawful reasons to terminate an employee, a common one is discrimination. It is illegal under state and federal law to fire someone on the basis of certain personal characteristics, including:

• Race
• Color
• National origin
• Age
• Sexual orientation
• Religion
• Gender
• Pregnancy
• Physical or intellectual disability

It is also unlawful for an employer to fire someone in retaliation for exercising legal rights. Thus, you may have a valid wrongful termination claim if you were fired for:

• Taking leave to which you are entitled under the federal FMLA or the state PFMLA
• Exercising your constitutional right to free speech and assembly
• Pursuing a workers’ compensation claim
• Blowing the whistle on illegal activity within your company
• Making a complaint to HR or to a state agency about workplace harassment or discrimination

Proving that you were let go for an illegal reason can be a difficult challenge. Employers never admit that firing someone is an act of discrimination or retaliation. Instead, an unlawful motive needs to be shown through other testimony and circumstantial evidence. For example, you may have been fired shortly after talking to HR about your boss harassing you. Or you may have been terminated after doing the same thing that was done by an employee of another race who was not let go.

If you were working under a contract, the situation is different. Most every employment contract specifies what may constitute grounds for termination. You should have the contract analyzed by a qualified Connecticut employment lawyer. If you’re let go despite having been compliant with your contract, you may have a valid wrongful termination or breach of contract claim.

The lawyers of Gesmonde, Pietrosimone & Sgrignari, L.L.C. have spent decades fighting for the rights of employees. We have successfully handled hundreds of wrongful discharge cases over the years. To talk to one of our attorneys in Hamden or East Haven, please call 203-745-0942 or contact us online anytime.