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If you have been wrongfully terminated from your job — either through retaliation after reporting an instance of sexual harassment or as a result of unfair treatment for some other reason — you may be able to pursue a wrongful termination lawsuit. During this lawsuit, you will want to ask for a variety of financial remedies for damages that you have suffered as a result of the wrongful termination.

Let’s take a look at some of the common damages that come into play in a wrongful termination suit:

• One common claim is to request the reinstatement of your old job. Whether you would be interested in something like this or not would be your decision. Many ex-employees would prefer not to return to a job that didn’t respect them.
• You might also ask to receive back pay, which — in some circumstances — you can multiply by three. This backpay would include income lost as a result of your termination, income lost due to a missed raise or missed promotion that resulted from the termination.
• Fringe benefits lost. These might include the monetary value represented by a company car, company cellphone, company gym membership and other benefits.
• Emotional stress is another category of damages. Many people who are terminated wrongfully will endure a great deal of fear and emotional turmoil that will affect their lives in a negative way.
• You can also ask for your employer to set up better sexual harassment policies to avoid problems like yours in the future.
• Since you’ll probably want to use an employment law attorney to represent you in your wrongful termination claim, you may also want to request attorneys’ fees and other costs in your claim.

Need help evaluating your employment law matter? An employment law attorney can represent you in your claim for damages relating to wrongful termination, sexual harassment and other legal issues that may arise between you and your employer.

Source: FindLaw, “Sexual harassment actions you can take,” accessed Aug. 04, 2017

Both federal and state laws protect Florida employees from being wrongfully terminated for reporting unlawful or unethical behavior at their workplaces. This article will focus on two state laws that protect Florida private sector workers and Florida public sector workers.

As for private sector employees in Florida, if a worker witnesses an act at his or her workplace that violates a regulation or law, he or she may report this action to superiors or law enforcement officials without fear of retaliation and/or losing his or her job. In other words, employees are protected from being terminated or discriminated against for either threatening to disclose or disclosing employer practices that are against the law. Furthermore, private sector employees are protected from such retaliation if they refuse to break the law and/or participate in an investigation. This is in reference to Florida Statute 448.102.

As for both private sector and government employees, they cannot be discharged or subjected to discrimination as a result of disclosing information about violations of local, state or federal law — or for disclosing information concerning gross mismanagement medical fraud, waste, abuse or a gross neglect of a duty assumed by an independent contractor or agency. This is in reference to Florida Statute 112.3187.

In addition to these Florida statutes listed above, workers who have been subjected to retaliation and/or wrongful termination — after disclosing information concerning unlawful or unethical behavior — may cite various federal laws to support their claims for damages. If you lost your job because you were a whistleblower, learn about your rights and flight back in court to protect your job and pursue financial damages.

The Monroe County School Board is facing a sexual harassment lawsuit. According to the suit, a second grader was being repeatedly groped by another student. The harassment went on for years, and school staff never did anything to correct the problem despite the student’s pleas for help.

The lawsuit was filed in May 2017, and despite mediation sessions, the parents of the young victim have not agreed to resolve the issue. The parents say that they cannot afford to pay for more mediations. The parents are now representing themselves in the matter. An attorney representing the School Board said that continuing settlement negotiations without the assistance of a mediator would be a more productive way to seek resolution. Late last month, on June 27, the federal judge presiding over the matter agreed to let the parties negotiate without using a mediator.

According to the lawsuit, a bus driver, teachers and other school employees all ignored the the second-grade girl’s complaints that she was being groped daily by one of her classmates, where she attended school at Marathon’s Stanley Switlik Elementary. The allegations go on to note that the young girl suffered punishment for complaining about the unwanted groping she was being subjected to. The harassment continued for two years, and only came to a stop when she left the school to attend middle school.

There is no excuse for unwanted sexual harassment, no matter where the harassment is happening, no matter who is committing it and no matter how old the victim and abuser are. Those who have been forced to endure this kind of abuse in Florida may be able to pursue financial restitution and justice in court.

Source: flkeysnews.com, “School Board still facing sex harassment lawsuit,” Gwen Filosa, accessed July 21, 2017

In Florida and throughout the United States, federal and state workplace discrimination laws prohibit discrimination against employees who fall under a protected category. Usually, when we think of people who have protected status, we think of minority racial groups, people of foreign origin, women and people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. However, did you know that pregnant women are protected to?

It’s easy to imagine a very common situation – a woman becomes pregnant, and suddenly she’s faced with the fact that she can’t do her job anymore. Maybe the woman’s job involved lifting heavy objects, and as her pregnancy progresses, she can’t do that anymore. The fear of losing her job often leaves the woman wondering whether she should continue her pregnancy or focus solely on her career.

This can be a challenging time but she shouldn’t take a decision in haste. Instead of fretting over her fate, she should weigh all the possible options, such as trying to figure a way out by talking to the employer. The woman, even as her last resort, shouldn’t think of aborting. And, if ever such a vile thought crosses her mind, she should consider talking to experts from a local abortion clinic, who can help her see positivity in her pregnancy again.

Such clinics tend to usually have free consultations if women need one. During a distressing situation, no one can think straight and make the right decisions. They will need utmost support from their loved ones to stay strong. In such cases, it is best to take all advice one can get from an expert, and look into not only an abortion alternative, but also other solutions for the situation.

That being said, when the woman talks to her employer, she would get to know that she does not risk losing her job just because she can’t lift heavy boxes anymore. A pregnant woman’s employer is bound by law to offer her an alternative job if she cannot do her job while her pregnancy progresses. In addition, her employer must reserve her job for her, so that – when she returns to work after taking her leaves for childbirth – she can have the same or equal job that she had before.

In spite of these legal protections, Florida women who become pregnant do not always know their rights. There have been countless cases of women losing their jobs due to pregnancy, without any knowledge that the law supports them in fighting to get their jobs back.

It’s time for pregnant women in Florida to learn their rights, and stand up for them. If you have suffered from pregnancy discrimination, a Florida employment law attorney can help you get your job back and/or seek financial compensation for lost wages and other monetary damages you have suffered as a result of pregnancy discrimination.

Source: EEOC, “Pregnancy Discrimination,” accessed July 11, 2017

You have heard of whistleblowing in the workplace, but have you heard of qui tam? Understanding what it is can help you determine if you have a case and qualify for protection.

Qui tam is a type of whistleblowing that involves government funds. This means that if your employer is misusing federal money or programs, you can file an action against the companyand receive a reward from the government.

Examples of fraudulent activity

The following are some of the ways in which your employer may defraud the government:

• Overcharging Medicare and Medicaid
• Falsifying records, statements and certifications
• Misclassifying taxable products
• Not complying with safety regulations
• Failing to disclose the terms of contracts
• Unlawfully marketing pharmaceutical drugs

If you have evidence of such an activity, then you should speak to an attorney with experience in qui tam cases.

Protection you receive

Qui tam falls under the False Claims Act, which protects and rewards those who report the illegal conduct of businesses working with the government. Your identity as a whistleblower will be secret for a time, and you should receive protection from employer retaliation. For this, you must be the first to file action, and the government cannot already be aware of the fraudulent activity.

If investigations determine there is a crime and enough evidence to pursue a case, then you may be eligible for a monetary award from the penalties the company has to pay. The amount you can receive depends on the helpfulness of your information, the success of the case and whether you were involved in the fraud. It also will include reimbursement for attorney fees, lost wages and other expenses.

Although the statue of limitations for a qui tam lawsuit is longer than most, it is still best to act immediately. Do not tell coworkers about your intentions to file. Seeking legal guidance from an employment attorney can help ensure you go through the process correctly so you can receive a reward.

No Florida employee should ever have to endure an unwelcome or unwanted sexual comment at work. Furthermore, no employee should ever have to endure unwanted touching, flirting, sexual advances or sexual demands while he or she is trying to perform his or her job duties. Nevertheless, if you’ve ever had a job — regardless if you’re a male or female, and regardless if you were the victim or not — there’s no doubt that you’ve witnessed numerous instances of sexual harassment.

Here are some common sexual harassment scenarios that happen every day in Florida workplaces:

— A superior walks into the office of someone he or she manages and starts to massage the person’s shoulders. The person being massaged doesn’t want to be touched, and it makes him or her feel extremely uncomfortable. However, it’s the first time it’s happened, and the victim keeps quiet, secretly hoping that it will never happen again. But it does happen again, and the employee ends up enduring it because he or she is worried that a complaint will make things difficult at work.

— Every time a particular employee walks into the break room, there’s a group of guys making sexual jokes and talking sexually about other employees. The jokes are crude and would not be acceptable in normal company by any stretch of the means. Nevertheless, this kind of talk has become embedded and normalized in the workplace culture, even though it makes many of the employees feel very uncomfortable.

These two scenarios are clear examples of sexual harassment. They are mentioned here because they’re just the kind of sexual harassment that employees might not complain about. Other types of sexual harassment — like being asked or required by a superior to perform a sexual favor — are even more egregious.

No matter what kind of sexual harassment you’re experiencing on the job — whether it’s subtle or overt — the Law Offices of Gary A. Costales, PA, can help you make it stop. We will listen to your story, help you determine if sexual harassment is indeed happening, and advise you of your legal rights and options.