Can You Sue Your Employer If You Get Laid Off?

Losing a job can be devastating. Not only do you have to struggle with losing financial security, but you also need to deal with the loss of purpose. It’s even worse if you were laid off for apparently no valid reason. 

What are your options in those circumstances and can you sue your employer if you get laid off?

Let’s learn more.

The biggest challenge

It doesn’t matter if you believe you were unfairly terminated, the question of whether can you sue your employer if you get laid off is not as clear-cut. 

Florida, like most other states, is an at-will state. Basically, just as your employer can freely hire you, promote, or demote you, they can also fire you at their own discretion. This extends to both you and your employer as nothing is stopping you from leaving employment whenever you wish. 

Still, there are a few exceptions to this, primarily workers’ compensation retaliation. With the workers’ compensation system, if you suffer a workplace injury, you’re entitled to medical benefits and a certain percentage of lost wages while recovering.

If an employer terminates you because you were injured at work or filed a workers comp claim, you can file a lawsuit for wrongful termination. 

So, can you sue your employer if you get laid off?

Yes, if they retaliate against you. 

What is retaliation?

According to the Florida legislature, it’s illegal for an employer to terminate or retaliate in other ways against an employee who was injured at work or filed a workers’ comp claim. 

If you can prove this, you have the right to sue your employer in a court of law (your county’s circuit court, to be precise) and recover fair compensation. A jury can award you damages not only in the form of workers’ comp benefits, but also lost wages, emotional pain and suffering, and if the employer acted maliciously, punitive damages.

So, how do you prove this?

It’s not easy. No employer in the world will admit the fact they fired you because of a workplace injury. Yet, there are sometimes clear indications of wrongful termination.

For example, timing matters. If you worked at the company for years but got terminated right after your injury, it’s very suspicious and can be used as evidence.

Furthermore, many employers try to discourage workers from filing workers' compensation. They may outright prohibit it, complain about their insurance rates going up, or mention they don’t have the funds to keep unemployed workers “lazing around”. 

If you manage to substantiate these claims, you have a good chance of demonstrating in court that they fired you because you were injured. 

What is the Americans With Disabilities Act?

In the event you’re unable to work due to a workplace injury and you’re fired, you can also sue your employer under the Americans With Disabilities Act. According to it, an employer is legally obligated to accommodate your disability.

You may think you’re not disabled, but in some cases, a workers’ comp injury qualifies as a disability regardless of whether it’s debilitating or minor, especially when your employer treats you as if you have a disability. In fact, you may be entitled to protections under this act if an employer starts treating you as if you’re disabled. 

Accommodations in this sense include moving you to a lighter-duty job, reassigning you, providing you with time off, or restructuring your existing job. The best thing to do in this scenario is to inform your employer that you need accommodation. That way, they can’t later claim that they didn’t know you were disabled and needed workplace accommodation.

All things considered, on the legal side of things, your employer must comply with the accommodations suggested by your physicians. It’s illegal to have a policy of not allowing an injured worker to return to work unless it’s full duty. Similarly, it’s also illegal for them to terminate you if you requested these adjustments. 

Are you entitled to protections under the Family Medical Leave Act?

If you’re suffering from a serious medical condition or got injured at work, you may be protected by the Family Medical Leave Act. It states that companies with 50 or more employees must provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for serious medical conditions for all employees who were employed for at least 12 months. 

Despite the fact most companies comply with the Family Medical Leave Act, they wrongfully assume they can fire you if you don’t recover in those 12 weeks. Here’s the catch: in most circumstances, your injuries may allow you extra time off work or at least work with accommodation. 

If the employer fires you instead of respecting your rights, then you may be able to bring forth a lawsuit against them. 

What if nothing illegal happened?

Can you sue your employer if you get laid off but there’s nothing illegal about the termination? 

No, but there’s still a good reason to hire an attorney. An employer may be open to discussing a severance agreement if you hire an attorney. After all, it’s in everyone’s best interest to end the relationship amicably and drama-free - and an attorney can help facilitate that particular negotiation process.

If the severance package you were offered seems too low, don’t sign it without consulting an attorney first. This may help you recover more money.

Protect your rights

In case you were injured and your employer is not acting in good faith or has terminated you against your will, you have rights. These matters are often complex, though, and it’s impossible to tell can you sue your employer if you get laid off without first reviewing all the facts.

If you need someone to assist you with your case quickly, reach out to the Law Offices of RITE.

We have multiple decades of experience handling intricate cases such as yours and can figure out the right strategy that will assist you with your financial recovery after a devastating event. 

Call (904) 500-RITE (7483) or send us an email at info@rite4justice.com to schedule a free case review.

Note: 

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not make legal decisions based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.