Generally speaking, employees have rights that employers must respect. Depending on the employment laws applicable in your state, it's essential to be aware of your working rights and know when and how to exercise them. For instance, you must also understand that your company violating any of these guaranteed protections may entitle you to bring legal action against your erring employer.

Keep reading to know when and how to sue your employer for any violation of your employee's rights.

When To File A Case Against Your Employee

According to The Law Office of Omid Nosrati and other reputable law firms, there are certain instances when you can sue your employer because of violating your rights as an employee. These can include:

You're Illegally Terminated

Even if your employment contract can be terminated anytime if you're in an at-will employment state, there are situations when your employer can be found guilty of illegally terminating your employment.

For example, suppose you've been terminated without reason, due to poor performance without proof or warning, or others. In the mentioned instances, it may constitute a ground to file a lawsuit against your employer.

You’ve Become A Victim Of Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment can also happen in the workplace. If your employer engages in inappropriate sexual conduct, you may sue them and ask the court for legal remedies. Also, a claim against your employer can be brought when a high-ranking employee in the office demands sexual favours from you in exchange for keeping your employees and giving you other workplace-related favours.

You've Gotten Injured Due To Your Employer's Negligence

Another situation that’d warrant filing a personal injury case against your employer is when you got into a workplace accident and sustained an injury as a result.
 


Pursuing legal action is usually anchored on the doctrine of negligence. This means you need to prove using clear and convincing evidence that your employer's negligence caused the workplace accident, resulting in your injury.

If you win the injury case, you can obtain compensation for all your economic and non-economic losses such as medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

You're Discriminated Against In The Workplace

If you're a victim of employment discrimination, then you may file a legal action against your employer. But winning a discrimination case may not be easy as you need to provide strong pieces of evidence to support your claim. You have to show proof that you were directly discriminated against based on age, nationality, religion, disability, and other similar factors.

Also, you have to demonstrate a situation when the discriminatory act perpetrated by your employer took place and if it was due to your membership of a protected class. Case in point, if you feel mistreated because of being a female, you may launch appropriate legal action against your employment company.

When You're Employer Retaliates Back To You After A Complaint Filing

It's believed that it’s unlawful for an employer to retaliate against personnel who filed legal action against it. Hence, if the firm committed retaliatory acts like a demotion after you’ve lodged a meritorious complaint, you may pursue a case against them. Nevertheless, like other employment-related lawsuits, you need to provide evidence to prove that retaliation actually took place to win.

The Different Steps In Suing Your Employer

Now that you know when you can file a case against your employer, it's time to familiarize the steps for actually launching a legal complaint against them for you to obtain justice. These can include:

Check Your Contract And Employee Handbook

Before doing anything, it's best to review your employment contract and handbook. Doing so allows you to be aware of specific procedures when you decide to pursue a case against your employer. For example, your employee handbook may require you to first go through a grievance procedure before filing a legal claim in court.

Gather Evidence

If you believe your rights as an employee have been violated, it's essential to collect as much documentation you need as evidence. You can do this by securing copies of your emails and other pieces of recording. Also, if other co-workers happened to witness how your company violated your rights, ask if they can provide witness testimonies to strengthen your case.

Hire A Lawyer

When suing your employer, it's crucial to hire a lawyer to obtain more favourable results. They can help you develop a strong case by citing the legal grounds.

For example, if you're bringing up a discrimination case, you need to seek legal help to ensure you institute the case filing in court for the proper legal grounds.

Bottomline

In most cases, many employers are there to protect and support their workers throughout their tenure with them. Unfortunately, they're also capable of violating an employee’s rights that can have serious negative implications to a person’s wellbeing.

Therefore, if you want to prepare yourself for these situations, keep the abovementioned pieces of information in mind. That way, you'll know when and how you can sue your employer for employment-related lawsuits.

Remember, the more you know, the better you can protect your liberties against your erring employer.