On 4/8/06, Ray Saintonge <saintonge(a)telus.net> wrote:
Wrongful dismissal cases are often on a contingency
basis.
Often, but not always; it depends on your actual chances of winning.
A friend of mine worked for a while at a law firm that handled these
cases; most they did NOT take on contingency, but charged. It seems
that enough people are steamed enough at their former employer to pay
to sue them.
For most employees in many US states, wrongful dismissal suits are
hard. Most of us are employees 'at will' - our contracts say we can
be fired at any time and quit at any time, no obligation either way.
With such a contract, you can only sue for wrongful dismissal if you
were fired because of 'protected status' - racial discrimination,
gender discrimination, or other particular cases that are illegal.
Of course, it's possible in almost any dismissal to allege that it was
due to illegal discrimination. Some companies will settle an
aggressively brought case regardless of merit, rather than face the
chances of losing at trial.
-Matt