The majority of employees in Virginia are at will employees. This means is the company can terminate employment or the employee may leave without a penalty. Termination of employment due to discriminating factors is not permitted by law. Discrimination could include race, colour, origin, sex, physical disability and reporting unsafe practices. The laws can become very confusing with the various regulations and requirements that must be met to prove someone was terminated due to discrimination. With Virginia employment law, it is very hard to prove a case against an employer without legal help on your side.
When there are disputes at work with an employer, speaking an experienced employment attorney can give the employee the legal guidance they need. Federal and state employees have a different process to file against their employer than a private sector employee. There are also time limits on when a claim can be made against an employer who wrongfully terminated an employee. If these time limits are not met, the chance to be compensated for the wrongful termination is lost permanently. When things appear to be very serious at work and termination or retaliation appears to be near, contact an attorney.
Although employees may do the correct thing by reporting theft, illegal practices, or any violation of the law, there could be retaliation against the employee. Retaliation could be in the form of demotion, termination and reduction in job responsibilities. Some retaliation may be subtle such as:
• Not including an employee in a meeting they normally attend
• Moving things at the employee’s workspace so they can’t find them
• Removing the employee’s files from a computer or company server without their knowledge
• Generally begin to do things to the employee that had never occurred previously
Issues at work, when an employer is retaliating against an employee, can be very upsetting. It’s important an employee continues to perform the duties they are given so the employer can’t fire the employee on the grounds of insubordination. If an employee is terminated for illegal reasons, contact Dulaney, Lauer & Thomas LLP, they have the experience in Virginia employment law that is needed to rectify any problem.
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