Can you explain the legal process and potential liabilities involved in terminating employees?

I am so very sorry to hear about your termination. Unfortunately, "at will" employers can discipline or even terminate employees for zero reason and with zero advance notice. They can increase or decrease wages, work locations, job duties, etc, without consulting you. They are not required to provide notice of problems or training, for that matter. Employers can be total jerks. . There are exceptions: . • The employer cannot violate a law, or ask you to violate a law. For example, if you are were fired because of your race and/or sex and/or sexual orientation, and not just because of your competency level, you have the right to file discrimination complaints with the state (Washington State Human Rights Commission) and federal anti-discrimination agencies. Or, if you have filed a wage and hour complaint or worker’s compensation claim, you can’t be retaliated against. • Some courts have also held that employers can't violate their own policies/terms in employment handbooks. • Employees of most governmental agencies are entitled to a hearing to contest disciplinary measures or termination. Now, I've only written about "at will" employment so far. If you had an employment contract, the employer must follow the contract terms prior to firing you. I hope that this information is helpful to you. I have worked in the field of general employment law, and also employment discrimination, for more years than I can count - even before law school.

Hi, The State of Maryland is an "at-will employment state". So yes, an employer can terminate an employee at anytime. Per the State of Maryland: "In Maryland, employees work "at the will" of their employers. This means, in the absence of an express contract, agreement or policy to the contrary, an employee may be hired or fired for almost any reason -- whether fair or not -- or for no reason at all. There are certain exceptions to this general rule which provide some protection to employees from illegal discrimination based on such categories as race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability or marital status. Examples of other employment at-will exceptions include laws which protect employees from termination or retaliation for filing workers' compensation claims, for attempting to enforce rights to receive overtime or the minimum wage, for asserting rights to work in a safe and healthy workplace, for refusing to commit criminal acts, for reporting for jury duty or military service, or for being subject to a wage attachment for any one indebtedness. Terminating an employee for any of these specific reasons may constitute a violation under the applicable State or federal law." You can learn more by reviewing your employment contract, employee handbook and other documents with a qualified Maryland attorney.

You would be wise to request that an attorney review the proposed employment agreement before you sign. In addition to ensuring that you would have voting rights, there are numerous other terms that should be carefully reviewed, such as non-compete language if and when you leave employment; TRAP language (usually requiring an employee to reimburse the employer if the employee receives training during his or her employment); terms and conditions of employment (such as schedule, work type, and duties); vacation hours; how disputes will be resolved; and, sometimes, future severance.

In Washington, there are no punitive damages. Employment resolutions are usually based on some percentage or multiple of a person's salary. It is your job to reach a settlement that is fair and reasonable for you, not for a litigant against you (that's their job, not yours). If you are having difficulty resolving this dispute, you may want to consider mediation. Before you pay the employee, be sure to have them sign a full and complete release of all current and future liability and claims against you individually, your business, your heirs; etc. Also, if you have business insurance, it's possible you are entitled to a free attorney to represent you in this dispute.

If there are at least 8 employees, you can file a complaint with the Washington State Human Rights Commission; if there are at least 15 employees, you can ALSO file with the EEOC (HRC will do this for you if you ask when you file with them). If you work in certain large cities in WA, you can also file with city or county anti-discrimination agencies. Evaluating your complaint is something that I can't do through this question/answer format, but from what you've said so far, it sounds as though you have a valid complaint - I'm not sure, however, whether you can file in regards to anything that happened more than 180 days ago (but may be able to include that if it's part of a pattern/practice). I don't know whether any of the other WA attorneys signed up with CC have my level of employment and discrimination experience, but you can find such attorneys through NELA.org, a national organization of employment attorneys. I also want to let you know that when you file with a government agency, the agency is neutral; they don't represent you. Also, there are long, long waits, and they will try to push you toward a fast settlement. It is a mandatory prerequisite to file with EEOC prior to filing an employment discrimination case in federal court, but for state court there are no such prerequisites. I'm not taking new work until the end of October and no longer engage in litigation, but would be happy to review the situation with you as part of a Contracts Counsel project in late September as a one-hour or so consultation. Unfortunately, I won't have any real free time until then. Merry A. Kogut keypenlaw@gmail.com