If you’ve been a victim of workplace injuries, it’s a good idea to consult with an experienced attorney as soon as possible in order to learn more about the most common types of lawsuits against employers. Many of these cases can be easily settled out of court, while others will go to trial. There are two types of lawsuits that people can file against their employers:
The most common types of lawsuits against employers for emotional trauma include:
Underpaid workers. Underpayment may occur due to the employers in question not adhering to required safety protocols.
Underpaying employees is especially prevalent in the food service industry where short staffing periods and strict standards of hygiene result in contaminated food, which in turn leads to illnesses and injury. An easy way to enforce compliance with safety protocols is to award compensation for emotional distress.
Emotional distress is just one example of how improperly enforced standards and policies lead to lawsuits.
Another common example of this is defamation of character. Employers are liable for what their employees say in their working environment, so court costs and attorney fees are not uncommon. In the event of a lawsuit, employers are usually found liable and pay legal fees and medical expenses, in addition to other compensation awarded to the injured worker.
Harassment lawsuits related to a specific employee are also quite common in the workplace.
Harassment occurs when an employer uses offensive statements or physical conduct to influence employees to perform an action that negatively impacts another employee. These types of lawsuits, which are often based on racial discrimination or sex discrimination, may result in monetary damages. An example of a wrongful termination case could include a black chef being fired from a white restaurant because of his race, which would lead to damages for the fired individual.
The last type of lawsuit discussed was disability discrimination.
This occurs if an employer creates a standard that leads to discrimination. For example, an employer may require pregnant employees to take vacation days off. It may also be necessary for employees to take certain tests or write examinations. In instances such as these, it is the employer who is found to be guilty of discrimination, not the employee. In cases like these, courts have often found that the defendant employer has not provided equal employment opportunity.
Disabilities discrimination lawsuits arise when a person feels he or she has been discriminated against on the basis of a disability.
This can include things such as: a person with cerebral palsy being hired for a job requiring close attention to detail or motor skills. Another good example is a person who has difficulty walking because of diabetes being offered a job shoveling snow. A lawsuit may be filed on these grounds if the employer is found to have made a policy prohibiting disability discrimination. In some circumstances, however, employers are able to defend themselves by proving they did not discriminate due to the disability of the applicant in question.
As you can see, there are many different types of lawsuits against employers.
The most common complaint of course is wrongful termination, which is also one of the most common reasons for filing a lawsuit. But wrongful termination is not the only situation that can result in a lawsuit. If you are going to be filing a complaint for any type of employment-related complaint, make sure you do your research beforehand and know what type of complaint you intend to bring. It is important that you understand exactly what is expected of you as an employee and if the employer has a policy regarding these types of issues. If you have a strong case based on these facts, you may find that your employer will have to do some serious thinking about their future policies.
