Even though Mississippi is an at-will employment state, the law protects certain employee rights. For example, your employer cannot terminate you on the basis of your age, race, religion, sex, national origin or disability.
In addition, employers are held to certain rules regarding meal/rest breaks and overtime pay. When an employer fails to offer proper breaks or refuses to pay wages for work, collective action may be one way to seek relief. But it often takes bringing your concerns to an experienced lawyer to uncover and address the violation.
At the Law Office of George B. Ready, we can help you with these issues. We will stand up for your rights whether that includes filing a case with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board (when union workplaces are involved) or state/federal court. Our founding attorney has more than three decades of legal experience and has also served as a circuit court judge. This background is crucial to obtain a successful outcome in employment litigation.
The facts of each individual case will make the difference. For instance, being fired for a medical condition could be grounds for a wrongful termination case. This is because the law prohibits employers from taking adverse action based on disability. Firing a manager near retirement might be related to age discrimination and stereotypes, if it is only done to bring in someone younger.
On the reverse side, an employee who refuses to take drug test generally cannot bring a wrongful termination claim under Mississippi law.
In any of these cases, uncovering discriminatory intent can be a challenge. Many employers are savvy enough to cite other reasons such as performance to support their decision. This makes it important to document a pattern of conduct that may have occurred over a number of years.
These requests for relief are generally filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act and allow many employees to band together to bring a class action. Often, in these cases the claim is too small on an individual basis. Some examples include requiring employees to complete certain work tasks off the clock or refusing rest and meal breaks.
To schedule a meeting with our employment litigation attorney in Hernando, please call our law office at 662-429-7088. You can also reach us via email.
We offer free initial consultations to discuss your concerns and answer your questions.