2012
California man awarded over $18 million for wrongful termination
In California and across the country, a worker cannot be unlawfully fired. This means that if a person has been fired by an employer with an ill motive, it is considered to be a wrongful termination.
For example, a person cannot be fired for addressing or making reports of any type of sexual harassment or for raising concerns regarding medical leave. It can be difficult enough for a person to step up and voice a complaint about unfair employment practices. They should not have to worry about then being wrongfully fired for this.
Unfortunately, many workers avoid making formal complaints about unfair or illegal workplace practices because they are in fear of being out of a job. They do not want to risk getting fired for reporting harassment or wage violations. It is important to remember, however, that employees have protection against this type of retaliation.
This proved to be the case for one California man who was fired after filing a lawsuit against his employer for various wage and safety violations. He also encouraged his fellow co-workers to file a lawsuit so that they dangerous and unfair practices would be remedied.
However, just months before he was set to go to trial, his company fired him. He had worked for his employer for 22 years and was then rewarded with blatant mistreatment.
When a jury recently heard about the retaliatory firing and misconduct on the part of the employer, the man was awarded over $2 million in damages, in addition to more than $15 million in punitive damages intended to punish the company for their serious violations of employment law.
Source: Herald Online, “UPS Supervisor Awarded $18,098,487 In Retaliatory Wrongful Termination Case, Reports Furutani & Peters,” Aug. 28, 2012
