Rosemont Wrongful Termination Attorney

Illinois is an at-will employment state. As such, most workers can be terminated at any time for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all. However, this rule does not mean that workers have no legal rights. In fact, if you are one of the millions of Illinois workers who are in a protected class, there is a very good chance that an employer’s adverse action may have been illegal.

Although workers may draw on important legal guarantees, these rights are just ink on paper unless a Rosemont wrongful termination attorney enforces them in court. At the Law Office of Mitchell Kline, we protect your rights with a passion. Employment law is our sole focus, so we are dedicated to victims like you. We work hard to obtain the compensation you need and the justice you deserve.

Protected Employee Classes

A number of federal laws, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act, set aside some groups of workers, giving them special protections. These protected classes include:

• Age: Typically, the CRA and Age Discrimination Act apply to workers over 40. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal enforcement agency, rarely accepts these cases. A recent Supreme Court decision made these claims more difficult to win. The EEOC may not be up to the challenge, but we are.
• National Origin: Many companies have “English only” policies for their workers. These policies are normally only valid if they apply only to customer-facing employees. Blanket “English only” policies are usually discriminatory.
• Sex: This broad category usually includes gender discrimination as well as all persons on the LGBTQ spectrum.
• Disability: The Americans with Disabilities Act protects persons with physical and mental disabilities which substantially impair their everyday functions in some way. That disability does not have to be entirely genetic or the result of an injury or illness. For example, obesity may be a disability, in some situations.

Religion is another protected class. The law protects religious expression as long as the employee sincerely holds the belief. The religious practice does not have to be popular or widely accepted.

Discrimination and Retaliation Claims

Workers who have discrimination claims can usually take legal action to obtain compensation. Typically, if a person in a protected class experienced any adverse action, such as refusal to hire, firing, demotion, or reassignment, that person probably has a valid claim.

Employers may then argue that they took adverse action because of a neutral reason, such as a poor performance on a skills test or a poor attendance record. Many times, these “neutral” reasons are actually discriminatory. For example, the employer may not give disabled people the proper accommodations in terms of employment screening and everyday work conditions.

Retaliation claims do not require proof of discrimination. For example, if Betty complains about sexual harassment and she is fired a few days later, she may have a retaliation claim. It does not matter if the sexual harassment occurred or not. The employer’s illegal reaction is the focus of a retaliation claim. Because they are easier to establish in court, most EEOC actions involve retaliation.

Partner with a Dedicated Lawyer

Terminated employees may have legal rights in Illinois. For a free consultation with an experienced Rosemont wrongful termination attorney, contact the Law Office of Mitchell A. Kline. After-hours visits are available.

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