On 4/8/06, Ray Saintonge saintonge@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