Can I sue for wrongful termination if I am a contract employee?
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Can I sue for wrongful termination if I am a contract employee?
I was given no notice before been fired or given a severance package. The reason given for dismissal was for improper training of employees. All 40 employees that work there will testify that they were trained properly by me
Asked on August 22, 2015 under Employment Labor Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
If the contract to which you refer includes limitations on how or why you were terminated, you may only be terminated in accordance with that contract if terminated in violation of it, you could potentially sue for breach of contract.
If the contract does not limited how or why you could be terminated, then you could be terminated at any time, for any reason--even a stated reason that is false or inaccurate e.g. even if you trained everyone right, the employer could still terminate you and claim it was for poor training. Without a contract protecting you from termination under these circumstances, there is essentially no such thing as "wrongful" termination, since you could be terminated for any reason whatsoever, or for no reason other than that the employer wanted to terminate you.
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