Can I be fired for that? “At will” employment and the myth of wrongful termination

The term “wrongful termination” is kind of a misnomer. Most employment in Minnesota is considered “at will” which means an employee can be terminated at any time for just about any reason – or even no reason at all.

The catch, however, is that employment cannot be terminated for “illegal” reasons. An illegal reason includes: termination based on a protected class status (i.e., race, gender, religion, disability, age); termination for reporting a violation of law (whistleblowing); termination for filing a work comp case; termination in violation of contractual terms.

It may be “wrong” to terminate employment because you showed up 1 minute late to work, but that does not necessarily make it illegal. However, this same action may be “illegal” if other employees are not get terminated when they do the same thing – and you are the only employee over a certain age, or of a certain race, or with a certain disability, etc.

If you believe you were terminated from your job because of an illegal reason, contact the attorneys at Farrish Johnson Law Office for a free consultation.

If you have questions about this or other legal matters, contact attorney Joseph A. Gangi at 507-625-2525 or at jgangi@farrishlaw.com