Eventually, almost every company or organization will find themselves with an employee that they need to terminate. However, there are some situations where the reason the company wants to terminate the employee is not a valid reason for termination, and is in fact illegal. To avoid lawsuits, it is important to make sure that your company does not illegally terminate an employee. Both state and federal law forbid employers from using certain reasons to fire an employee, and these prohibitions apply regardless of whether the employee has a contract for employment or not.

The first illegal reason for terminating an employee is Discrimination. Federal law makes it illegal for most employers to fire an employee because of the employee’s race, gender, national origin, disability, religion or age (if the person is older than 40). Federal law also prohibits most employers from firing someone because that person is pregnant, has recently given birth, or has any related medical conditions.  Most states also have anti-discrimination laws that include all of the characteristics listed in the federal laws, and more.

The second illegal reason for terminating an employee is Retaliation. It is always illegal for employers to fire employees for asserting their rights under the state and federal anti-discrimination laws described above.

The third illegal reason for terminating an employee is their Refusal to Submit to a Lie Detector Test. The federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act prohibits most employers from terminating employees for refusing to take a lie detector test. In addition to this, many state laws also set out strong prohibitions against using lie detector tests.

The fourth illegal reason for terminating an employee is in regards to their Alien Status. The federal Immigration Reform and Control Act prohibits most employers from using an employee’s aliens status as a reason for terminating that employee, but only so long as that employee is legally eligible to work in the United States. If they are not legally eligible to work in the United States this does not apply.

The fifth and final illegal reason for terminating an employee is if they complain about OSHA Violations.  The federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) makes it illegal for employers to fire employees for complaining that work conditions fall short of complying with state or federal health and safety rules.  In an instance where a company does find itself with an employee noticing that there are OSHA violations, it would be smart to reward this employee for noticing the issue and it is important to make sure that any OSHA violations are fixed immediately.

Terminating an employee is never an easy task, and it can become much more complicated if they are being terminated for an illegal reason. It is important to be aware of why and why not a company may terminate an employee. For more information on this and other best-practices regarding termination, HR Made Simple users should log in and search Termination Practices.  Also, be sure to check out our blog for the first part in this three part series on best-practices in regards to termination.