Practice Areas: For Employees

Terminations
In North Carolina, the employment relationship is described as “at-will."  That means that an employer can terminate you for any reason, even an unreasonable one, as long as it’s not one forbidden by law or express agreement.  Unfortunately, employment laws simply do not provide a remedy for every discharge, including some that are terribly unfair.  


Employment Discrimination
Employment discrimination refers to an employment practice that treats some people in the workplace differently based on a membership in certain classes such as age over 40, race, gender, pregnancy status, disability, national origin or religion. Examples of employment practices include: bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, and various types of harassment. However, only an employer with over 15 employees (or 20 employees for age over 40 cases) are covered by these federal laws.


Sexual Harassment
Title VII of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the law that governs most sexual harassment claims. Examples of sexual harassment forbidden by this law include:

• Threats or insinuations that another employee's refusal to submit to sexual advances will adversely affect the employee's employment, evaluation, wages, advancement, assigned duties or any other conditions of employment or career development
• Any unwelcome sexual advances, flirtations or propositions
• Any verbal abuse of a sexual nature, including sexually oriented jokes and comments
• The display of sexually suggestive objects or pictures

Wrongful Discharge
In North Carolina, the discharge of an at-will employee is wrongful if the reason for the termination violates a matter of public policy. For example, an employee cannot be fired for refusing to commit perjury or refusing to keep false log records.


Family and Medical Leave
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 requires that covered employers (50 or more employees) permit employees to take up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid leave for serious health conditions, to care for a close family member with a serious health condition, and for the birth or adoption of a child. A covered employer generally cannot refuse to permit such a qualifying leave. Moreover, a covered employer is generally required to reinstate the employee upon return from leave.


Negligent Hiring and Supervision
This claim applies when an employer negligently hires an applicant for work (or continues to supervise) an employee who presents an unreasonable risk of injury to others. If the employer knew or should have known of the dangerous history of a candidate, and hires the applicant anyway, the employer may be liable for the victim’s injuries (for example, sexual harassment or workplace violence) that were caused by the candidate/employee.


Retaliation
An employer is prohibited from taking adverse actions against any employee or individual for engaging in “protected activity” under the anti-discrimination statutes. Adverse actions include termination, demotion, and refusal to hire. Generally, the law forbids the employer from taking action against employees who have spoken out about discrimination that would have “the effect of deterring individuals from reporting discriminatory conduct.”

North Carolina also prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for other acts like making a worker’s compensation or wage and hour complaint, reporting an OSHA violation to the Department of Labor or participating in the National Guard. Employees must file a complaint with the North Carolina Department of Labor within 180 days of the retaliatory act.


Wage and Hour Disputes
North Carolina has a state law, the Wage and Hour Act, that closely parallels the federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act. These laws generally gives employee protection for minimum wage and overtime payments and payment of other promised wages such as bonuses or earned vacation and holiday pay. These provisions apply at all times and for all employees in North Carolina.


Libel and Defamation
It is generally lawful for an employer to make a statement about an employee, even if untrue, provided that:

1. The statement was not made maliciously; and
2. The statement was made to individuals with a legitimate need to know.

However, under certain circumstances, if an employer intentionally and with malice makes a false statement about an employee; the statements were published (or told) to a third person; and the statements caused injury to the employee’s reputation, the employer may be liable for defamation or libel.


Whistleblower Rights
Federal and state laws protect employees from being punished for reporting certain types of conduct. Prior to blowing the whistle on an employer, it is important to know whether you are protected from retaliatory terminations or other adverse employment consequences as a result of your complaints.


Counseling Departing Employees
Sometimes when an employee is terminated the employer will offer a severance package that offers some compensation in exchange for the employee agreeing not to bring any claims against the employer. This agreement may also include “non-compete” and “trade secret” clauses that will affect a departing employees new business. Our firm can review these documents carefully to determine what claims you are giving up, what exactly you are receiving in return and how restrictive the non-compete and trade secret clauses are in your agreement.