Maryland Wrongful Discharge Lawyer
Singleton Law Group is one of the premier employment law firms in the state of Maryland. Our Baltimore, Maryland employment lawyers are committed to assuring that employees are treated fairly by their employers and understand their rights.
What is a wrongful discharge?
You would be very surprised to know that most people think that it is illegal to terminate someone’s employment without a good or valid reason. So for example, if your employer fired you for stealing when you did not steal, for telling jokes that aren’t funny or for even wearing the wrong color shoes, people believe that you cannot be fired for those reasons. The truth is that people working without a contract are “employees at will” who can be fired for good reason, bad reason or no reason at all. There are exceptions to this rule for statutory employment laws such as discrimination laws and other employment relates laws or because the termination violates a clear public policy.
A wrongful or abusive discharge occurs when an employee is terminated for a reason that violates “clearly enunciated public policy” and there is no administrative process for seeking a remedy for this unlawful act. The EEOC’s jurisdiction only relates to employers who have more than 15 employees and therefore does not protect someone who is terminated for race or other types of discrimination. In those cases, a person can file a lawsuit for wrongful or abusive discharge as it violates public policy to terminate someone because of their race, even when the employer has less than 15 employees. This is but one example of an “Adler” type of case. If you have concerns or questions, give us a call.
