Calculating Damages in a Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

There are many reasons people stop working for their current employer in California. It could be that they decided to quit because the company was not a good fit for them or because they received a better opportunity elsewhere. However, it could also be because the company laid them off or fired them. While in many situations being fired is legal, there are many other reasons when a firing could be illegal.

A firing could be considered a wrongful termination if the employee was fired based on discriminatory reasons. This could be because of race, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability, national origin and other reasons. If this was the basis, the employee could file a wrongful termination claim against the employer and could be entitled to compensation as a result. There are a few different types of compensation they could receive, but one type is future pay.

However, it is important that the employee receives the proper compensation with regards to future pay. So, they must go through calculations to determine the amount of future pay they are due. The first step in the calculation is to determine what the employee would have received if they remained with the employer. This amount includes what they were currently earning, but also what they could have earned through promotions and other benefits. Then that amount is off-set by what the employee could earn through different employment. So, if through other employment, the employee would not be able to earn as much then the employer may be required to pay for the difference.

Not every employee that is fired in California has a wrongful termination claim as most employees are at-will employees. However, even at-will employees can file wrongful termination claims if they are fired for discriminatory reasons. These can be very complicated cases and are very fact-specific. Experienced attorneys understand this and know what it takes to protect employees’ rights.