To sue for wrongful termination, you need to point to a specific law your employer broke when firing you, file a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 or 300 days of the firing, and then file your lawsuit in court within 90 days of receiving the EEOC’s Notice of Right to Sue. Most American workers are employed at will, so an employer can fire you for almost any reason. What it cannot do is fire you for an illegal one.
Confirm You Have a Legal Ground to Sue
Being fired unfairly is not the same as being fired unlawfully. A viable claim requires that your termination violated a statute, a public policy, or a binding promise.
Discrimination
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to fire someone because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.1U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects workers with qualifying physical or mental disabilities.2U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The ADA: Your Employment Rights as an Individual With a Disability The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects workers 40 and older. Federal law also reaches terminations based on pregnancy, genetic information, sexual orientation, and transgender status.3U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 3. Who Is Protected From Employment Discrimination? Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, firing an employee instead of providing a reasonable accommodation for pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition can also support a claim.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
Retaliation
You cannot be fired for exercising a legal right or reporting wrongdoing. The Family and Medical Leave Act bars retaliation against workers who take protected family or medical leave.5U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77B: Protection for Individuals Under the FMLA Sarbanes-Oxley protects employees of publicly traded companies who report financial fraud.6U.S. Department of Labor. Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) Other whistleblower statutes cover reports of safety hazards, environmental violations, and consumer product dangers.7U.S. Department of Labor. Whistleblower Protections
Breach of Contract and Public Policy
If your employer made specific promises about job security in a written agreement, a handbook, or repeated verbal assurances, firing you without following those terms may be a breach of contract. Some courts recognize an implied contract based on an employer’s pattern of terminating only for cause. Many states also bar terminations that violate public policy, such as firing someone for filing a workers’ compensation claim or for refusing to break the law.
Check Whether Your Employer Is Covered
Federal anti-discrimination laws don’t reach every workplace. Title VII and the ADA apply only to employers with 15 or more employees working each day for at least 20 weeks in the current or previous calendar year.1U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The ADEA requires 20 or more employees under the same formula. If your employer is smaller, look to your state’s anti-discrimination law: many states set lower thresholds or none at all.
Gather Your Evidence Before You Lose Access
Once you’re out, retrieving records gets much harder. Start pulling together documentation as soon as you suspect the firing was unlawful.
Request your personnel file from HR. Many states require the employer to provide it on written request. Performance reviews, disciplinary write-ups, and signed policy acknowledgments all live there. Consistently positive reviews followed by an abrupt termination for unspecified reasons create a contrast that undercuts the employer’s stated justification.
Save internal emails, text messages, meeting notes, and memos that reflect what led to the firing. Discriminatory remarks, retaliatory comments, or manager discussions of your departure can serve as direct evidence. Write down the names of coworkers who witnessed the treatment and what they saw.
Put everything in chronological order: hire date, promotions, commendations, complaints you made, disciplinary actions, the termination date, and the reason your employer gave. Store copies at home or in a personal cloud account so nothing disappears when your company access is cut off.
File a Charge With the EEOC
For federal discrimination and retaliation claims, you cannot go straight to court. You have to file a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC first, describing what happened and which law you believe was violated.8United States Department of Justice. Civil Resource Manual 34 – Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies Skipping this step gets your case thrown out.
The deadline is 180 days from the date of the discriminatory act. It extends to 300 days if your state or locality has its own anti-discrimination agency that handles the same type of claim, which covers most states.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 2000e-5 – Enforcement Provisions These deadlines are strict. Miss them and the claim is usually gone.
After you file, the EEOC may offer both sides voluntary mediation. It’s free and confidential, typically runs three to four hours, and closes charges in under three months on average, compared with ten months or longer for a full investigation.10U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Mediation Any agreement is enforceable like a contract. If mediation doesn’t happen or doesn’t resolve the charge, the EEOC may investigate or close the case.
The 90-Day Right-to-Sue Clock
When the EEOC finishes, whether by completing its investigation, closing the charge, or declining to pursue it, it issues a Notice of Right to Sue. From the day you receive that notice, you have exactly 90 days to file your lawsuit.11U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Lawsuit Missing this deadline almost always ends the case regardless of how strong the evidence is. Mark the date immediately.
You don’t have to wait. You can request a right-to-sue letter at any point after filing your charge and move to court. Age discrimination follows different rules: you can sue 60 days after filing your ADEA charge without waiting for a right-to-sue letter, but no later than 90 days after being notified the investigation is complete.11U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Lawsuit
File the Complaint in Court
With the right-to-sue letter, you file a formal complaint. Federal statutory claims like Title VII or the ADA generally go to a federal district court, which has jurisdiction over civil rights cases.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1343 – Civil Rights and Elective Franchise Contract claims typically go to state court. The complaint lays out the facts, identifies the laws your employer violated, and states the damages you’re seeking. The clerk stamps the papers, assigns a case number, and opens the case.
The federal civil filing fee is $350 plus a $55 administrative fee, for $405 total.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1914 – District Court Filing and Miscellaneous Fees If you can’t afford it, apply to proceed in forma pauperis by submitting an affidavit of your finances. If the court grants the application, the fee is waived.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1915 – Proceedings In Forma Pauperis
Serve the Employer
After filing, you have to formally deliver a copy of the complaint and a court-issued summons to your former employer. This is called service of process. Anyone at least 18 who isn’t a party can do it, though most people use a professional process server or a U.S. Marshal. Service on a corporate employer usually goes to an officer, a managing agent, or the company’s registered agent. Whoever delivers the papers then files a proof of service with the court.15Cornell Law Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons
Once served, your employer generally has 21 days to respond. If it ignores the lawsuit and doesn’t respond, you can ask the court to enter a default and then seek a default judgment, which may award the damages in your complaint without a trial.16Cornell Law Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default and Default Judgment
Discovery and Court-Ordered Mediation
If the employer answers, the case moves into discovery, a structured exchange of evidence. Each side can demand documents, send written questions called interrogatories, and take depositions where witnesses answer under oath. Expect the employer to request your medical records, job search history, and financial documents. You can obtain internal communications, personnel policies, and records showing how other employees were treated. Discovery often runs several months, and what it uncovers usually decides whether a case settles or goes to trial.
Federal courts must make alternative dispute resolution available, and many districts require the parties to attempt mediation or another settlement process before trial.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC Chapter 44 – Alternative Dispute Resolution This court-ordered mediation is separate from the earlier EEOC session and typically happens after discovery, when both sides better understand the evidence. Many employment cases settle here.
What You Can Recover
Damages depend on which law was violated and how large your employer is.
Back pay covers wages and benefits lost from the firing to the date of judgment. If reinstating you isn’t practical because the position was eliminated or the working relationship is too damaged, the court may award front pay for a reasonable period of future lost earnings.
In federal discrimination cases involving intentional wrongdoing, you may recover compensatory damages for emotional distress and other non-financial harm, plus punitive damages. Federal law caps the combined total by employer size:18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1981a – Damages in Cases of Intentional Discrimination in Employment
- 15 to 100 employees: $50,000
- 101 to 200 employees: $100,000
- 201 to 500 employees: $200,000
- More than 500 employees: $300,000
The caps apply only to compensatory and punitive damages. Back pay, front pay, and attorney’s fees are not capped. Under the ADEA, compensatory and punitive damages aren’t available through this mechanism, but a worker who proves the employer acted willfully, meaning knowingly or with reckless disregard for the law, can recover liquidated damages equal to double the back pay award.
Successful federal discrimination cases can also produce an order that the employer pay your reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs. Reinstatement is available in principle but uncommon in practice, since the relationship is usually too strained by the end of the case.
Your Duty to Look for New Work
Even after an illegal firing, you have to make reasonable efforts to find a new job while the case is pending. This is the duty to mitigate damages. Courts expect you to look for work similar in position, pay, and skill level. You don’t have to take something drastically different from your field. If the employer can show you made no real effort to find comparable work, the court may reduce your back pay by what you reasonably could have earned. Keep records of every application, interview, and offer.
Settling the Case
Most wrongful termination cases end in settlement, not a jury verdict. Settlement can happen at any stage: during the EEOC process, after filing, during discovery, or right before trial. The agreement typically pays you in exchange for a release of claims, giving up your right to sue again over the same firing. Releases are broad by design, and once signed, you generally can’t reopen the claim. If you’re 40 or older, federal law gives you a minimum period to review and revoke a release of age discrimination claims.
Getting an Attorney
Wrongful termination cases involve tight procedural deadlines, shifting burdens of proof, and complicated damage calculations. Most plaintiff-side employment attorneys work on contingency, meaning no upfront cost and a percentage of any recovery, typically 33 to 40 percent. If there’s no recovery, you owe no fee. Many offer free or low-cost initial consultations. Bring your timeline, your documents, and any correspondence about the firing. A good employment lawyer can tell you quickly which legal grounds apply, whether your EEOC deadline is close, and what the case is realistically worth.