What are my rights if I worked for the state and was recently terminated?
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What are my rights if I worked for the state and was recently terminated?
As a uncovered worker I had no rights to fight my termination and was not given an explination of why I was terminated. I had recently complained to HR about working in a hostile enviroment. Is there anything I can do to see why I was terminated or do anything to fight this?
Asked on January 14, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
If you did not have a contract and were not covered by civil service rules, you were an employee at will and could be terminated at any time, for any reason whatsoever, without notice or explanation--as a general matter.
The exception is, you cannot be fired due to certain protected characteristics, such as age over 40, sex, race, religion, or disabiity. You write that you complained to HR to about "a hostile environment." If the environment was hostile to you because of one of these characteristics, you may have suffered illegal employment discrimination and/or illegal retaliation (employers can't fire people for complaining about harassment based on one of these characteristics) and you may have a legal claim. If you think this is the case, try speaking with an employment law attorney about the situation in detail, or else contacting the federal EEOC.
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