Serving Clients in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, Washington D.C. & Throughout the U.S.
Losing a job is always devastating. When you lose your sole source of income and support, you're faced with extraordinary stress and uncertainty. How will you support your family? How will you keep a roof over your head? How will you find another job?
Furthermore, being unemployed makes it much more difficult to find further employment. The consequences from getting fired can reverberate for years.
This is why employment lawyer James Shoemaker is so passionate about helping candidates who have lost their jobs through a wrongful discharge. You have legal protections, and if you've been fired illegally, we can help you pursue justice and compensation.
If you need a lawyer with experience helping those who've suffered a wrongful discharge, please call Mr. Shoemaker today at 757.223.4560. Our firm is located in Virginia, but we welcome employment law cases from across the country.
Examples of Wrongful Discharge
While most Americans are at-will employees, and thus work in an environment where management can terminate employment at any time, this does not mean you are completely at the mercy of your employers. Various local, state and federal laws provide employees like you protection from being unlawfully terminated.
The phrase "wrongful discharge" (also known as "wrongful termination" is a broad term that encompasses a number of different specific cases. These include:
- Discriminatory termination:Â Put simply, an employer cannot fire an employee for certain personal characteristics such as race, gender and age. Laws vary across the country on protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Currently, Virginia law provides no such protections for private sector employment, though LGBT Virginians are protected in the public sector.
- Retaliatory termination: Employers are not allowed to fire an employee simply because he or she engaged in a legally protected activity. Examples of such activities include whistleblowing and complaining about sexual harassment.
- Termination in violation of public policy:Â More generally, employers are not allowed to fire an employee in violation of some significant, statutory public policy. For example, you cannot be fired for failure to violate a law.
Wrongful discharge cases can be tricky. Few employers are foolish enough to obviously fire someone in violation of the law. Successfully pursuing a wrongful termination case requires experience and resources.
We possess both. Mr. Shoemaker has been helping the victims of wrongful discharges for decades, while the firm of Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamonstein has dozens of lawyers and paralegals who can help pursue claims against large, powerful companies.
Read About The Results We've Delivered For Clients...
"An executive was fired after allegedly failing to inform her employer that she would return from Family and Medical Leave Act leave one day after her original anticipated return-to-work date. This executive had used less than half of her FMLA leave allotment, kept her employer fully informed of her status in accordance with its policies and procedures, and was entitled to more than twice the FMLA leave than she actually took. When her employer wrongfully terminated this executive mere hours after human resources erroneously thought she should be back at work, she hired Mr. Shoemaker. After a trial in United States District Court, she was awarded more than $747,000 in damages. This is the largest FMLA verdict ever obtained in Virginia."
Schedule a Consultation with Mr. Shoemaker!
If you've lost your job as a result of a wrongful discharge and you're looking for an experienced lawyer to help you recover the damages you deserve, please call Mr. Shoemaker today at 757.223.4560. You can also click here to send our office an Email Contact Form and book your one-on-one consultation. Our firm is located in Virginia, but we welcome employment law cases from across the country.