Wrongful Discharge Attorney in Milwaukee Wi.

Wrongful termination cases are difficult. Unlike many other employment cases which are filed with administrative agencies, wrongful discharge cases must be filed in Circuit Court. The court procedures make representing yourself a perilous task. Once an employee files a wrongful termination case, the your employer will hire an attorney. Many employers have the recourses to hire large corporate law firms to defend their actions and to use the court's procedural rules against you.

Carroll Law Firm, SC focuses its entire legal practice on representing employees, professionals and executives. Loyalties will never be divided because the firm does not represent employers. Attorney Douglas J. Carroll, Jr., the founder and managing attorney at Carroll Law Firm, SC has the knowledge and experience to peel back the layers of management-speak and get at the truth. He has the skill and tenacity to effectively fight for justice regardless of the size and recourses of the employer or the law firm they hire.

Milwaukee Wrongful Discharge Attorney

Wrongful discharge is an often misunderstood area of Wisconsin employment law. This is most likely because many people understand the term "Wrongful Discharge" to broadly include all situations where the employee does not believe that he or she deserved to be fired. Unfortunately, in Wisconsin, wrongful discharge is a very narrow exception to the Employment At-Will Doctrine.

Employment At-Will Doctrine

Employment at will means that an employee may quit his or her job at any time, for any reason or no reason at all. Similarly, an employer may discharge an employee at any time for any reason or no reason at all. Wisconsin employment law cases discussing the Employment At-Will Doctrine explicitly state that an employer may even discharge an employee for a reason that is morally wrong.

In a nutshell, employment law focuses on exceptions to the Employment At-Will Doctrine such as discrimination and retaliation.

What is Wrongful Discharge?

In Wisconsin, wrongful discharge is a narrow exception to the Employment At-Will Doctrine which has been created by case law, not the adoption of any statute. The basic principle is that an employer may not discharge an employee in violation of a well-defined public policy as evidenced by existing law.

There are basically two situations which give rise to a wrongful discharge claim:

1. An Employee is discharged for refusing to violate the law or the spirit of the law.

Examples would include a payroll clerk being fired for refusing an instruction to provide a tax free bonus to a superior or a truck driver who refuses an employer's directive to operate a vehicle without a license.

2. An Employee is discharged for complying with an affirmative legal obligation.

An example would be discharging a nurse at a nursing home for reporting abuse or neglect of residents.