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Warning signs that a layoff was really wrongful termination

On Behalf of | Jan 27, 2025 | Employment Law

Many wrongful termination lawsuits begin with a termination affecting one employee. A worker loses their job and believes that the company either discriminated against them or retaliated against them when it decided to fire them. The terminated worker may be able to take legal action seeking reinstatement to their position or financial compensation for the impact of the termination.

However, wrongful termination isn’t just an issue in individual termination scenarios. Mass staffing reductions, including layoffs, can also constitute wrongful termination in some cases. While companies have the right to reduce their workforce, they must take care not to violate the rights of employees while doing so.

Workers who lose their jobs during a layoff may have reason to suspect that their inclusion in that layoff was wrongful. The following are common warning signs that a termination as part of a layoff was wrongful.

The layoff affects one group more than others

One of the most common reasons that workers pursue wrongful termination claims after layoffs is that the company’s mass termination efforts have an outsized impact on one group of employees. Employers should not consider protected characteristics when deciding who to retain or lay off.

If protected characteristics, including advanced age, race, religion or sex, seem to have influenced who the company retained and who it included in the layoff, then the terminated workers may have reason to suspect that the company discriminated against them. Companies should base layoffs on objective or neutral factors such as seniority or job performance rather than on the protected characteristics of individual workers.

The layoff follows protected activities

Some companies decide to lay off staff members after they discover attempts to unionize. Organizations may terminate numerous employees at once because those workers complained about unsafe working conditions, discussed their wages with one another or engaged in other protected employment activities.

When most or all of the workers who spoke up about safety violations or attended a meeting about unionizing, it may be reasonable to suspect that the company may have retaliated against those workers en masse by conducting the layoffs.

Documenting the factors that may have influenced a wrongful termination can help workers hold their employers accountable. Workers who believe they lost their jobs due to retaliation or discrimination may have grounds to take legal action against their former employers.