Our Chicago area Illinois employment attorneys are often asked:  Can my boss fire me for that? Many people assume they were wrongfully terminated if their termination was unfair.  But, wrongful termination cases are very limited.

Illinois is an at-will state and, as such, an employee can generally be terminated from their position at any time for any reason, or for no reason at all. While this is the general rule, there are many exceptions that have fallen into the general category of wrongful termination lawsuits.

If an employee is terminated in violation of an employment contract, in retaliation for exercising his or her rights, or because of a protected characteristic—such as race, religion, sex, age, or disability, the employee may have a wrongful termination lawsuit. Finally, employers are prohibited from terminating an employee in retaliation for engaging in protected activity—such as filing a workers compensation claim, reporting an employer’s unlawful conduct, being a whistleblower, and cooperating in a criminal investigation.

If you are wrongfully terminated, it is important that you contact an employment lawyer to avoid waiving the right to bring your lawsuit.  All employment lawsuits have a time limitation in which you must either make an appropriate complaint with a governmental agency (for example the EEOC) or to file a lawsuit.  Some of the deadlines to file wrongful termination claim are very short.