Wrongful Termination

Wrongful termination occurs when an employer fires an employee for a reason the law prohibits: discrimination based on a protected characteristic, retaliation for reporting unlawful conduct, punishment for taking protected medical or family leave, or a firing that breaks an employment contract or violates California public policy. It also includes situations where you were never technically "fired" at all. If your employer made working conditions so intolerable that you had no real choice but to resign, you may have a claim for constructive discharge, which California law treats like a firing.

Labor Law PC represents employees only, never employers. From our Santa Monica headquarters, we fight for fired workers across Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, and all of California, in industries from entertainment and healthcare to hospitality, retail, logistics, and tech. Consultations are free and confidential, we speak Spanish (hablamos Español), and you pay no fees unless we win. Call (877) 775-2267 today.

Signs You May Have Been Wrongfully Terminated in California

Not every unfair firing is illegal, but many firings that employers describe as "restructuring" or "performance-based" are unlawful underneath. Common red flags include:

• You were fired shortly after complaining about harassment, discrimination, unpaid wages, unsafe conditions, or other illegal practices.
• You were fired after reporting misconduct to HR, a supervisor, or a government agency, or after refusing to participate in something illegal.
• The timing follows a protected event: you announced a pregnancy, requested or returned from FMLA/CFRA medical leave, asked for a disability accommodation, or filed a workers' compensation claim.
• You belong to a protected group and were treated differently: singled out because of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age (40 and over), disability, medical condition, or other protected characteristics.
• The stated reason does not add up: years of strong reviews followed by a sudden "performance" firing, shifting explanations, or a "layoff" where your duties were promptly handed to someone else.
• Your employment contract or employee handbook promises were ignored: you were terminated in violation of a written contract, or in some cases an implied agreement built through years of service, promotions, and assurances.
• You were pushed out instead of fired: demoted, cut in pay, transferred to impossible conditions, or harassed until you quit.
• You were laid off in a mass layoff with no warning: large California employers generally owe 60 days of advance notice under the state WARN Act before mass layoffs and closures. See our WARN Act violations page.

If one or more of these describes your termination, do not assume you have no case just because California is an "at-will" state. At-will employment has major exceptions, which we explain on our at-will employment page and below.

Why Fired Workers Choose Labor Law PC

• Employees only, always. We never represent employers, so there are no conflicting loyalties. Your side is our only side.
• California-law depth. Our practice is built on FEHA, the Labor Code, CFRA, and California public policy claims, the very laws that make this state better for workers than federal law alone.
• Contingency representation. No upfront fees, no hourly bills, no out-of-pocket costs. We only get paid if we recover for you.
• A record of results. The firm reports a 99% win rate and millions recovered for California workers.
• Led by Danny Yadidsion, a Los Angeles employment and labor attorney, and a team dedicated exclusively to protecting California workers.
• Local and accessible. Headquartered in Santa Monica, serving the entire LA metro, with consultations that are free, confidential, and available in Spanish.

Compensation for Wrongful Termination in California

No lawyer can promise an outcome, and no two cases have the same value. But California law allows wrongfully terminated employees to pursue several categories of damages:

• Lost wages and benefits (back pay): the pay, bonuses, commissions, and benefits you lost from the termination date forward.
• Future lost earnings (front pay): compensation for the ongoing gap while you find comparable work.
• Emotional distress damages: for the anxiety, humiliation, and disruption an unlawful firing causes. FEHA does not cap these damages the way federal Title VII does.
• Punitive damages: available in cases involving malice, oppression, or fraud, designed to punish egregious employer conduct.
• Attorney's fees and costs: recoverable in FEHA and certain Labor Code claims, which increases an employer's incentive to resolve a strong case.
• Statutory penalties: some claims, such as Cal-WARN violations and waiting time penalties for late final paychecks, carry their own penalty schemes.

During your free consultation we will walk through which categories realistically apply to your facts.

Serving Los Angeles and All of California

From our Santa Monica headquarters, Labor Law PC represents wrongfully terminated employees throughout the Los Angeles metro area, including Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, Torrance, Inglewood, and the San Fernando Valley. We also serve workers statewide, with clients in San Diego, Riverside, Anaheim, Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley, plus a Palo Alto office serving the Bay Area.