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Awards & Associations
WRONGFUL TERMINATION
What is wrongful termination in Florida, and can you sue?
Can you be fired without warning? How long do you have to file a wrongful termination lawsuit in Florida? Where do you file a claim of employment discrimination? What are my rights as an employee in Florida?
- Generally speaking, unless you have an employment contract or are part of a union, Florida employees are at-will employees, meaning that they can be terminated for whatever reason and without warning, but like everything in law, there are exceptions. If your wrongful termination claim is based on discrimination, you would likely need to file a complaint with the Federal Government via the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
- Many other employment law claims can be filed directly in court without going to the EEOC. You can sue an employer for wrongful termination in Florida, but compared to other types of claims, generally, you have a short time to start a wrongful termination case. Depending if you work for the government or a private company and even what type of claim you are alleging will determine how long you have to start a case. Still, it can be as short as 90 days, 180 days, 300 days, or as long as three years, do not wait and speak to an employment law attorney as soon as possible to know your rights.
- Discrimination is only one type of wrongful termination case, but employees are also protected from several other employment law violations: (1) retaliation due to injuries at work or valid request for workers' compensation benefits; (2) complaints or refusal to participate in illegal activity at work; (3) retaliation, interference, or wrongful denial of requests for medical leave or work accommodation; (4) failing to engage into the interactive process to negotiate in good faith with employees in determining pregnancy, disability or religious accommodations at work; (5) engaging in concerted activity or working with other employees for better working conditions, for example trying to start a union, more pay, safer work conditions, etc.; (5) employers enforcing restrictive agreements such as non-compete agreements that are illegal or overbroad; and (6) complaints of unpaid or lost wages, including minimum wage, overtime, commissions, tips, earned PTO or vacation time, etc.
- Many factors determine if you have a case or if any law applies to your situation. Still, AN Law Firm, P.A. and attorney Alberto Naranjo can help and have helped many individuals in filing, investigating, mediating, and litigating claims protected by federal, state, or local laws and agencies investigating illegal harassment at work, including but not limited to termination, retaliation, wrongful wage payments, injuries at work, working conditions, or equal pay or treatment at work.
- AN Law Firm, P.A. helps file and litigate any employment laws protected by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), United States Department of Labor (DOL), Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR), Miami Dade Commission on Human Rights (MDCHR), Miami-Dade County Consumer Mediation Center, i.e., Wage Theft Investigation as well as anyAN Law Firm, P.A. regularly files lawsuits related to claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII), Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), Florida Private and Public Sector Whistleblower Act (FWA), violation of 42 U.S. Code § 1983 (“Section 1983”) for violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (“Section 1981”); Under Florida Statute Section 440.205; under the Florida Minimum Wage Act (FL Stat. 448) (the “FMWA”), the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. (the “FLSA”), National Labor Relations Act of 1935; The Occupational Safety and Health Act, etc.
- Wrongful termination is difficult to prove without the expert legal advice of an employment law attorney. Alberto Naranjo has successfully represented numerous clients across the state, securing lost wages and future wages due to wrongful termination after proving employees were terminated in violation of the law. Wrongful termination can be based on several violations, such as on the basis of discrimination against a protected class, workplace discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, illegal retaliation, and more. The Florida Employment law firm AN Law Firm, P.A. can help if you have been wrongfully terminated, retaliated, harassed, unpaid, or have any questions regarding employment law such as non-compete agreements, severance packages, employment separations, lawsuits, mediations, EEOC process or just to know your rights and options.
- Florida Employment Attorney Alberto NNaranjo can help you determine if you have a claim, provide employment law consultations, file and investigate claims with the government, and mediate or litigate your claims.
WHAT IS EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION? What is a “protected class?”
Did you know that some people belong to a “protected class” or group that shares a common trait--race, ethnicity, gender, etc.?
- Proving workplace discrimination occurred is incredibly difficult without the help of an experienced employment law attorney. Examples of a protected category are race, color, age, national origin, religion, sex, gender, pregnancy, or disability.
- Workplace discrimination on the basis of one or more of these protected traits is against the law.
- Workplace discrimination is, regrettably, something we deal with daily. Whether it’s a pregnant woman passed up for a promotion she’s otherwise qualified for or a supervisor’s blatant refusal to provide reasonable accommodations for a newly disabled employee, workplace discrimination manifests in many different ways.
- Together with his dedicated team of legal analysts and investigators, Miami employment lawyer Alberto Naranjo works to seek justice for individuals wronged by their employer(s).
- If you were wrongfully terminated, please schedule a consultation with AN Law Firm, P.A. We want to help.
- Contact an employment lawyer that can help with discrimination workplace.
Unpaid Wages & Overtime
How does salary work? Can an employer withhold or deduct pay? Illegal not to pay overtime?
- You should be paid for all the hours you work, and even if you are paid on salary, you may be entitled to overtime; it all depends on your job duties and the size of the company; being paid on salary does not mean an employer is not required to pay overtime but the size and type of business may, best to speak to an attorney for a free case evaluation.
- Red flags of unlawful wage violations are being paid in cash, an employee being paid as a contractor/1099, no pay stubs being provided to employees, not tracking hours worked, time records being modified, forced to work off the clock, required to do the same work that hourly employees are required to do, you do not supervise employees or a department, you do not hire or hire workers, you have to get approval before making any important company decisions, owner taking tip money or giving tip money to employees not legally part of the tip pool.
- Remember, not every employee is owed overtime; it depends on your job duties, not if you get paid a salary. Some examples of employees not owed overtime would-be executives, board members, department heads, outside sales employees, attorneys, doctors, etc. AN Law Firm, P.A. can help determine if you owe or are owed overtime wages.
- If you are paid on a salary, you should be paid the same amount for each work week, at the same time frame every week, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. The salary should not be reduced for lack of work or if you leave work early or come late. Again, just because you are paid on a salary does not mean you're not owed overtime pay.
- A company can make a deduction to a salary or hourly employee as long as the worker still gets paid the minimum required under the law for, minimum wage and overtime laws. A company can deduct all of an employee's pay, even below the minimum wage, if the deduction is for an overpayment of wages; otherwise, this would be a violation.
- Examples of legal deductions are full days off work that violate a predetermined employment plan, suspensions or penalties for a good faith infraction of safety or major significance, employer-provided housing, etc. But certain deductions, like based on work quality, may then mean a company owes overtime rate.
- Employment law attorney, Alberto Naranjo, will do whatever it takes to recoup your unpaid wages and expose bad employer behavior. If you’re seeking unpaid or lost wages, please talk to us. We want to help.