Wrongful Termination

Losing your job is stressful under any circumstances. But when you are fired for an illegal reason — because you reported discrimination, refused to break the law, exercised a legal right, or belong to a protected class — the law gives you the right to fight back. Both West Virginia and Ohio are at-will employment states, but at-will does not mean your employer can fire you for any reason. There are important legal boundaries, and crossing them gives rise to a wrongful termination claim. At Klie Law Offices, our employment law attorneys represent workers throughout West Virginia and Ohio who have been illegally fired and help them hold their employers accountable.

We handle wrongful termination cases from our offices in Buckhannon, Clarksburg, Morgantown, Parkersburg, and Canton, Ohio.

Not all wrongful terminations involve the employer directly firing the employee. Constructive discharge occurs when the employer makes working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person would feel compelled to resign. If an employer subjects an employee to severe harassment, strips them of responsibilities, imposes impossible demands, cuts their pay or hours dramatically, or otherwise makes the job unbearable in response to the employee's protected activity, the resulting resignation is treated as a termination for legal purposes. Constructive discharge claims require showing that the conditions were truly intolerable and that the employer either intended to force the resignation or was deliberately indifferent to the conditions.

The remedies available in wrongful termination cases depend on the legal theory under which the claim is brought, but may include back pay from the date of termination to the date of judgment, front pay for future lost earnings when reinstatement is not practical, compensatory damages for emotional distress and mental anguish, punitive damages designed to punish particularly egregious employer conduct, reinstatement to the former position, and attorney's fees and litigation costs. West Virginia's public policy tort and the West Virginia Human Rights Act both allow for significant compensatory and punitive damage awards. Federal claims under Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA have their own damage frameworks, with some subject to statutory caps.

If your employer fails to act on your complaint, you have the right to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the West Virginia Human Rights Commission, or the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. These agencies investigate harassment complaints and can pursue enforcement action against the employer. Filing an agency charge is also typically a prerequisite to filing a private lawsuit under Title VII.

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Wrongful termination claims are subject to strict filing deadlines that vary depending on the legal theory. Title VII and ADA claims require filing an EEOC charge within 300 days of the termination in states with a fair employment practices agency (both West Virginia and Ohio qualify). The West Virginia Human Rights Act has a 365-day filing deadline. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4112 claims must be filed within the applicable statute of limitations. Public policy tort claims are subject to the general personal injury statute of limitations. Missing these deadlines can permanently bar your claim, which is why consulting with an attorney promptly after termination is critical.

If you believe you were terminated for an illegal reason, time is not on your side — strict filing deadlines apply to most wrongful termination claims. Contact Klie Law Offices for a free case evaluation, or schedule an appointment online. We serve clients from our offices in Buckhannon, Clarksburg, Morgantown, and Parkersburg in West Virginia, and Canton in Ohio.