Wrongful Termination Lawyer Riverside County
Are you looking to file a wrongful termination lawsuit in Riverside County? Contact the Setareh Law Group for a free consultation about your potential claims! While not every case follows the exact same trajectory, read on to learn to typical steps in bringing a claim with our dedicated wrongful termination lawyers.
Step One: Intake
The first step in pursuing a wrongful termination lawsuit in Riverside County is to call Setareh Law Group to initiate the intake process. During your call, our intake specialist will ask you about your potential claims and take down your information and notes on your case. Then, the intake specialist reviews the facts with one of our experienced wrongful termination lawyers. If we think there’s potential, we’ll send you our retainer to sign. Remember, you won’t owe us money unless and until we get an award in your favor! You can always ask our intake specialist if you have any questions about the retainer agreement.
Step Two: Investigation
After the retainer agreement is signed, we begin our investigation into your wrongful termination claims. This entails an in-depth interview with a member of our legal team, as well as document review of any and all relevant documents you have regarding your employment and termination. We also request your former employer send your personnel file to us to review and collect evidence. This process can be time-consuming, but it is an important part of any good lawyer’s job to ensure we have what we need before filing a lawsuit.
Our investigation will help us determine what claims we can bring on your behalf. It is important to understand what a wrongful termination lawsuit requires factually, and our wrongful termination lawyers can help you learn when a termination is legal, and when one violates the law. Not every employee discharge, even when arbitrary or unfair, is considered “wrongful” under the law. Rather, only certain illegal reasons for termination will give rise to a wrongful termination claim. The main illegal reasons for termination in California include discrimination or harassment based on a protected class, and retaliation. Our experienced Riverside County wrongful termination attorneys can help figure out whether your facts give rise to a lawsuit!
Step Three: Litigation
If our lawyers believe you have a case, we’ll then initiate the litigation process by filing a complaint in Riverside County Court. It is important to remember that wrongful termination lawsuits can be time-consuming with trial dates often not set for over a year from the filing of the initial complaint. Once the complaint is filed, the lawsuit has been initiated.
Between the initial filing and the trial date, your Setareh Law Group wrongful termination lawyers and the opposing counsel will communicate, exchange information, engage in law and motion practice, and hold hearings in front of the judge. At the same time, we’ll be engaging in possible settlement negotiations on your behalf. During this process, we’re sure to keep our clients apprised of case status and progress.
Step Four: Settlement
While a settlement is not guaranteed, the vast majority of all cases filed do end up settling. Settlements are efficient ways to resolve wrongful termination lawsuits. A settlement often occurs well in advance of the case’s trial date, shortening the time between your wrongful termination and your payout. Further, they conserve judicial resources and minimize attorney’s fees for both sides because the lawyers no longer have to prepare for or go through trial. Finally, a settlement is a good way to ensure you receive a just payout, rather than leaving it up to a jury. Resolving a Riverside County wrongful termination case through settlement is therefore the next step in the process.
Step Five: Payout
Many clients wonder what money we ask for when filing wrongful termination lawsuits. There is not one number for every type of case because these are very fact-intensive inquiries; however, the general categories of damages we ask for from the Riverside County court are fairly uniform in that damages that arise directly from a wrongful termination are usually: (1) emotional distress damages, and (2) economic damages.
Emotional distress damages are exactly what they sound like: money to pay for the emotional toll the wrongful termination had on you and your life. A jury would determine these damages by taking into consideration the egregiousness of the termination and the lasting impacts it has had on your mental and emotional wellbeing. Because this is so fact-intensive and differs extensively from one set of facts to another, it is nearly impossible to guess the worth of your case early into the litigation process.
The second kind of damages are economic damages which includes lost wages (both past and future). For example, if you made $60,000 annually before your wrongful termination, and you’re able to find a comparable job about 4 months later making $50,000, you may be entitled to those 4 months’ pay, as well as the difference between your annual salaries. Job benefits also fit into this equation, further complicating the calculations and making the final damages award differ.
Finally, we often pursue punitive damages to deter companies from continuing the same patterns of misconduct, as well as our attorney’s fees.
Call Setareh Law Group for Your Free Riverside County Wrongful Termination Consultation Today!
If you believe your Riverside County employer terminated you illegally, give us a call for a free consultation. Our team of expert wrongful termination lawyers will help guide you through the elaborate legal process and ensure we recover all the money your case is worth!