Employees who are fired are often frustrated that employers’ stated reasons for firing the employees are not the real reasons.
“We all know you fired me because I had surgery last month, not because you really believe my form work error was an ‘intentional falsification.’ If that were the case, you would have fired the other two people who made the same error.”
When you sense you were treated unfairly, there is an immense frustration that goes along with that.
Perhaps more frustrating is the fact that it’s often hard to prove you were mistreated, and to disprove the employer’s false statements.
“Judge, the employer fired me right after my surgery. They don’t really believe I ‘intentionally falsified’ documents. Two other employees, Joe Smith and Sally Jones, made the same error and they weren’t fired…. No, I don’t have any documentation showing Joe and Sally’s errors- the employer keeps that, and they say they don’t have it…. No, Joe and Sally won’t testify on my behalf- they still work for the employer, and are scared they will lose their jobs…”
Such are the real world obstacles of pursuing employment litigation against an employer. It’s often hard to prove things. But it’s not impossible… if you stay at it. In fact, if you are in the right, it is inevitable you will find proof if you stay at it.
If you are willing to talk to all the possible witnesses out there, read all the documentation out there (sometimes thousands of pages), and work hard at working around the employer’s misstatements and barriers, you should find strong proof of the type you are looking for.
If the employer is truly acting in bad faith, they will have slipped up. Somehow, somewhere. Typically, in many places and instances.
An employer can cover-up that which is easy to be covered (e.g. discard documentation showing others’ form work errors), but an employer cannot cover up its character, or the long-term record and impressions that its values imprint on its environment over time.
If it is part of an employer’s values to treat people with medical problems unfairly, then those values will inevitably manifest themselves in many places and in many ways. More ways than can be covered or bottled up.
Initially after you are fired, you may not have much proof to go on- not much more than the strong impression that the employer is acting in bad faith.
This brings to mind a quote from William George Jordan:
Into the hands of every individual is given a marvelous power for good or evil-the silent, unconscious, unseen influence of his life. This is simply the constant radiation of what man really is, not what he pretends to be.
At the beginning of your employment dispute, you may not be aware of much, other than the strong sense that the employer “radiates” bad faith.
But if that radiation is disconcerting, you may choose to investigate further. And if you work at it hard enough, what you find may help you in litigation. Help you repair old harms, or prevent new ones.
WI Employee Rights Lawyer: Severance, Wages, Job Termination, Discrimination 
Interesting Statistics About Lawsuits in WI and Elsewhere
Does Wisconsin and the U.S. generally need “tort reform?” Are too many (or an increasing number) of lawsuits being filed, with too many plaintiffs receiving large awards, and too many businesses suffering due to law suits by individuals?
As a plaintiff’s employment attorney, I have shared my own observations and biases in trying to answer questions like these. See, for example, my blog posts “Biggest Risk to Employers? Frivolous Suits? No. The (Expensive) Certainty of Being “Right” and “Corporate Rhetoric, the Decline of Individual Rights, and What You Can Do About It.”
My views aside, the best answers to the questions above are non-biased and objective answers, grounded in statistics and facts. While it is my opinion no one can give answers that are purely objective and non-biased, folks interested in the questions above should check out this resource, which is much more objective than my blog posts: “Civil Justice in Wisconsin: A Fact Book, with Commentary” by Marc Galanter and Susan Steingass, of The University of Wisconsin Law School.
(I heard of this fact book via the excellent blog by Jon Groth, a Wisconsin personal injury attorney).
I’ll quote the Fact book’s conclusion below, which is a summary of some important information covered, although you should read the full fact book (a 23-page Adobe document) for detailed and statistical information that addresses questions like those above. The full fact book is here.
“Conclusion
In many ways, Wisconsin is very much like its neighbors and like the rest of the nation. Overall, resort to the courts is increasing, but most of this increase is in the family and contract areas. Tort filings are decreasing relative to population and in absolute numbers. The portion of cases that reach trial, especially jury trial, is decreasing. When cases do get to trial, median awards are mostly lower than in the recent past.
If we look further to see how Wisconsin is distinctive, we find that even with the limitations of the data, Wisconsin has a modest amount of
litigation in comparison with our neighbors and the rest of the nation. Most non-family civil cases are filed by businesses against individual defendants; where individuals sue businesses, the awards are comparatively modest.
This relatively low resort to the courts is reflected in a lawyer population that is relatively small and slow growing. The costs imposed by the civil justice system are palpable; the benefits that it confers are less apparent – indeed to the extent that they are effective, they fade from view. The same system of justice that protects citizens, protects and facilitates businesses. Businesses use the civil justice system to enforce contracts and collect debts. The security of property rights afforded by the civil law enables them to raise capital, borrow, and extend credit. They enjoy the protections of the tort system in deterring injurious behavior by others. All of this is so routine that it easily escapes our attention. This should remind us that citizens and businesses have a shared interest in an effective civil justice system. We hope that this booklet helps provide the basis for an informed public discussion.”
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Filed under Philosophy - Employee Rights
Tagged as " Marc Galanter, "Civil Justice in Wisconsin: A Fact Book, Employee Rights, Lawsuit Statistics, Lawsuits, Susan Steingass, The University of Wisconsin Law School, Tort Reform, Wisconsin, with Commentary