What Qualifies As Wrongful Termination In Maryland?

Losing your job is never easy, but if you suspect your termination wasn't fair, you have more options than you think. Wrongful termination occurs when an employer violates state or federal employment laws, such as dismissing an employee for discriminatory reasons, retaliating against whistleblowers, or failing to honor employment agreements. Maryland employees are protected by laws that uphold their rights in the workplace, and understanding these laws is the first step toward justice.

If you believe your firing was unjust, the experienced team at Lebau & Neuworth is ready to fight for your rights. Contact us today to have a strong advocate on your side. With a simple and free consultation about your case, you can take the first steps toward holding your employer accountable.

What Is Considered Wrongful Termination in Maryland?

Wrongful termination in Maryland occurs when an employer dismisses an employee in violation of state or federal employment laws. This can include firing someone based on discriminatory factors such as race, gender, age, or religion. Retaliation against employees who report unsafe working conditions, harassment, or other workplace violations is another example of wrongful termination. Employers who breach the terms of a written or implied employment contract also open themselves up to liability for unjustly letting employees go. These actions are not only violations of the law but betray the trust employees place in their employers.

Maryland employees who believe they’ve been wrongfully terminated have the right to seek justice. By consulting with an experienced employment attorney, workers can get clarity about their situation, understand their legal protections, and pursue fair remedies. Legal support empowers employees to hold their employers accountable and helps them rebuild their lives after an unjust dismissal.

Legal Grounds for Wrongful Termination Claims

Understanding the legal grounds for wrongful termination claims is crucial for Maryland employees who suspect their dismissal was unjust. Wrongful termination occurs when an employer violates specific employment laws while firing an employee, depriving them of their rights in the workplace. To identify whether a claim is valid, employees should look for key legal violations that might have occurred during their termination. Maryland, like other states, offers protections under both state and federal laws to ensure workers are treated fairly.

Here are some common legal grounds for wrongful termination claims in Maryland:

Discrimination-based termination tied to race, gender, age, religion, disability, or other protected characteristics.
Retaliation for reporting workplace violations, such as harassment, unsafe conditions, or illegal practices.
Firing in violation of employment contracts, including written, implied, or oral agreements.
Termination for taking protected leave, such as time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or state laws.
Dismissal in violation of public policy, such as firing someone for refusing to commit an illegal act or for serving on a jury.

Understanding the legal grounds for wrongful termination equips Maryland employees with the knowledge to evaluate their situation and determine if their dismissal violated state or federal laws. If the circumstances of your termination appear to align with one or more of these legal violations, it’s a clear signal to consult with an experienced employment attorney who can provide guidance and pursue justice on your behalf.

Maryland-Specific Laws Affecting Wrongful Termination

While federal laws such as the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) set essential baselines, state-specific statutes like the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) go further to protect workers. FEPA not only enforces prohibitions against discrimination based on race, gender, age, or disability but also addresses retaliation more comprehensively, ensuring employees can safely report workplace violations without fear of losing their job.

Additionally, Maryland’s Healthy Working Families Act strengthens these protections by guaranteeing eligible employees access to paid sick leave, a benefit not fully covered under federal law. These state-level laws bridge gaps in federal legislation, reinforcing workers’ rights in critical areas like discrimination, retaliation, and access to protected leave of absence. With these added layers of protection, Maryland employees can feel more confident when challenging unjust terminations and holding their employers accountable for violating their rights.

How to Prove Wrongful Termination in Maryland

Proving wrongful termination in Maryland relies on building a strong, evidence-based case. This process involves collecting documentation that directly supports your claims, such as records or communications showing discrimination, instances of retaliation, or breaches of an employment contract. It’s essential to present a coherent narrative of events that links your termination to unlawful motives or actions by your employer.

By connecting the evidence to legal violations, you can demonstrate that your dismissal was not justified, strengthening your position and creating a compelling case for claims of wrongful termination. Attorneys can help you gather the necessary documentation, build a strong case, and understand the specific laws that apply to your situation. They will guide you step-by-step, from evaluating your claim to presenting evidence in court or during negotiations.

When arguing a wrongful termination claim, judges consider several key factors. Understanding what needs to be demonstrated can strengthen your case. These factors often include:

Evidence of discrimination based on a protected characteristic, such as race, gender, or age.
Proof of retaliation for reporting violations, such as unsafe working conditions or harassment.
Clear documentation of an employment contract and proof that the terms were violated.
Records showing termination after taking legally protected leave, such as family or medical leave.
Any related communications, including emails or performance reviews, that contradict the stated reason for your termination.

It’s not just about losing your paycheck; it can affect your confidence, damage your professional reputation, and make finding a new position more challenging. The financial strain, paired with the frustration of being treated unfairly, can leave you wondering what to do next. Talking to a wrongful termination attorney can help you decide if legal action is right for your situation and guide you through the process.

What to Do If You Believe You Were Wrongfully Terminated

If you believe you’ve been wrongfully terminated, it’s important to remember that your efforts and dedication as an employee don’t go unnoticed, and your rights matter. Maryland has specific protections for workers, and these rules are meant to ensure that employers don’t misuse their power. If you think you were dismissed for an unlawful reason, taking some of these steps can help you stand up for yourself and seek a fair resolution.

Speak with an experienced employment attorney who can evaluate your case, explain your options, and guide you through the legal process.
Review your employer’s policies and your employment contract for any violations.
Document everything that might support your claim, such as emails, texts, performance reviews, or witness statements.
Write down the details of your termination, including what was said, who was involved, and the justification your employer provided.
Contact the Maryland Department of Labor or a relevant agency for guidance.

If you believe you were wrongfully terminated, reaching out to Lebau & Neuworth for a free consultation is an important first step. During the consultation, you’ll have the opportunity to share your experience and learn more about your legal options. Our attorneys can help you determine whether your case qualifies as wrongful termination and provide clarity on the support you may need. Taking advantage of this free resource can help you make informed decisions about how to proceed.

Contact Lebau & Neuworth for Legal Support

Being wrongfully terminated is more than just losing a job; it can feel unfair, confusing, and like a betrayal of the hard work you’ve put in. Depending on your situation, navigating the next steps may seem challenging; that’s where Lebau & Neuworth comes in. Our experienced legal team understands the complexities of employment law and is committed to advocating for workers like you who deserve better. If you believe your rights were violated, contacting Lebau & Neuworth can be the first step toward regaining a sense of stability and fairness. We’re here to listen, help build your case, and fight for the resolution you deserve.

Maryland Established Paid Family Leave Effective in 2025

On April 9, 2022, the Maryland Legislature passed the Time to Care Act of 2022, which created a Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program in Maryland. But the law does not go into effect until January 1, 2025.

To be eligible for paid leave, Maryland employees must have worked at least 680 hours over the 12-month period immediately before the date on which the leave is to begin. Employers covered by the act include any person or governmental authority that employs at least one individual in the State of Maryland.

Paid leave benefits will be available for the following covered reasons:

to care for a child during the first year after the child’s birth or after the placement of the child through foster care, kinship care or adoption,
to care for a family member with a serious health condition,
for the employee’s own serious health condition that results in them being unable to perform the functions of their position,
to care for a service member who is the employee’s next of kin, or
for a qualifying exigency arising out of the deployment of a service member who is a family member of the employee.

Covered employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of paid leave in a year. However, employees may be eligible for up to 24 weeks of paid leave in a year if they qualify for both parental leave (for example, bonding with a new child) or medical leave due to their own serious health condition. Employees can receive up to 90% of their average weekly wages with a maximum weekly amount of $1,000.

Similar to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employees who go out on paid leave are entitled to job protection, meaning employers are required to restore the employee to an equivalent position of employment upon the expiration of the leave. The Time to Care Act also contains an anti-retaliation provision that prevents employers from taking any adverse action against any employee because the employee applied for, inquired about, or received paid leave benefits. Adverse actions include demotions, pay reduction, and termination.

As of now, there is no direct private cause of action. Maryland workers alleging a violation are required to file a written complaint with the Maryland Department of Labor, which then has 90 days to investigate and attempt to resolve the issue informally through mediation. If the Department determines that the employer violated the Act and mediation fails, the Secretary will issue an order, which may provide lost benefits and wages, reinstatement, and a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per employee affected by the violation. Employees must bring any enforcement action within three years from the date the order was issued.

If you believe your worker rights have been violated by your employer, the lawyers at Lebau & Neuworth may be able to help. For more information, contact us at (410) 296-3030 or lebauneuworth.com/contact-us.

District of Columbia Enacts New Paid Family Leave Law

On February 1, 2020, the District of Columbia (D.C.) Department of Employment Services released a new mandatory Paid Family Leave Employee Notice. The notice contains information regarding employee rights and paid-leave benefits provided by the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016.

Under the new law, which goes into effect July 1, 2020, covered employees may take up to a maximum of eight (8) weeks of paid leave per year for any combination of the following reasons:

Parental Leave for bonding with a new child (up to 8 weeks per year);
Family Leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition (up to 6 weeks a year); and/or
Medical Leave for the employee’s serious health condition (up to 2 weeks a year).

Employees taking eligible leave will receive partial wage-replacement benefits from the Office of Paid Family Leave. The paid leave is funded through payroll taxes paid by employers. All employers who do business in D.C. and also pay unemployment insurance are required to pay into the paid leave fund.

The District’s new paid-leave benefits are an important addition to existing family leave laws such as the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

For additional information about the new paid leave law, including a benefit estimator, visit the Department of Employment Services website here.

The attorneys of Lebau & Neuworth are experienced in handling cases involving Paid Leave; if you require assistance with an issue pertaining to paid leave, we may be able to help. Contact Lebau & Neuworth at (410) 296-3030 or lebauneuworth.com/contact-us.

No Magic Words Required For FMLA Leave

If you are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), you are entitled to take an unpaid, job-protected leave from work for several different reasons, including if you suffer from a serious health condition. Even your mental illness or disorder can constitute a “serious health condition,” which makes you eligible for FMLA protection.

An employee does not have to expressly ask for FMLA or even indicate that he or she needs medical leave. In the recent case of Hannah v. Coats, No. 17-1943 (4th Cir. Feb 19, 2019), the employee was diagnosed with depression and disclosed her diagnosis to her supervisors. She did not ask for any accommodations but simply applied for a psychiatrist-recommended, four-week leave. The employer approved her leave and used her annual leave and sick leave to cover her time off.

But when the employee’s contract expired the following year and she did not get any other position for which she applied, she sued for FMLA interference.

The employer argued that the employee had no FMLA claim because she never said she needed FMLA or had a serious health condition. The Court disagreed, stating that once the employer was on notice of the employee’s need to take potentially FMLA-qualifying leave, the employer had the responsibility to inquire further and determine whether the employee qualified for FMLA leave.

Therefore, the Court made it clear that an employee need not specifically invoke the FMLA to benefit from its protections.

The Court also held that, if the employee had known that the FMLA protected her position, she would have only used sick leave for her leave of absence and not annual leave, which caused a benefit loss worth at least $20,000. The employee’s FMLA interference claim was allowed to proceed to trial.

If you are seeking advice, assistance and representation for FMLA-related situations, the attorneys at Lebau & Neuworth may be able to help you. We are experienced in handling all types of employment claims. Please contact Lebau & Neuworth at (410) 296-3030 or lebauneuworth.com/contact-us.

New Sick And Safe Leave Law is Good News for Employees in Montgomery County

A new law that went into effect in October 2016 requires most employers in Montgomery County to provide earned sick and safe leave to employees for work performed in the county. The Earned Sick and Safe Leave Law, which was intended to provide employees with paid and/or unpaid leave or time off to take care of matters such as their own sickness, family illness or domestic violence, was further amended to allow employees to take earned sick and safe leave for parental purposes, as well.

The new amendment, effective November 9, 2016, specifically allows sick and safe leave to be used for the birth of a child, adoption, foster care, or bonding with a child. The law requires employers to provide paid sick and safe leave at the rate of at least one hour for every 30 hours an employee works, up to 56 hours in a calendar year. An employer with fewer than five employees must provide an employee with up to 32 hours of paid sick and safe leave, plus an additional 24 hours of unpaid leave. Also, employers are required to give employees written notice that they are entitled to earned sick and safe leave under the new law.

The law helps to ensure that employees do not need to make a choice between keeping a job and going to work sick or attending to the wellbeing of him or herself and family. Many employees in the county are expected to benefit from this new law, which is also expected to provide necessary support to the lowest-income and most-vulnerable employees.

To see Montgomery County’s fact sheet on Earned Sick and Safe Leave, click here. To read the county’s guidelines on its parental leave, click here.

If you work in the Montgomery County and your employer failed to provide you with paid and/or unpaid leave for the purposes described above, your rights under the new law may have been violated. The attorneys at Lebau & Neuworth are experienced in protecting employee rights, so we may be able to help you. Contact us at (410) 296-3030 or lebauneuworth.com/contact-us.

EEOC Issues New Guidance on Mental Health Conditions

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently posted a new "Workplace Rights" document for employees and job applicants with mental-health conditions.

The document answers eight questions about the rights of employees and job applicants with mental health conditions under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The ADA is the federal law prohibiting discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in employment; it covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments.

The EEOC highlights the following important facts for employees and job applicants:

If you have any mental-health condition that would, if left untreated, "substantially limit" your ability to concentrate, interact with others, communicate, eat, sleep, care for yourself, regulate your thoughts or emotions, or do any other "major life activity," you may be a qualified individual with a disability under the ADA.
It is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee or job applicant because he or she has a mental-health condition. This includes firing, rejecting you for a job or promotion or forcing you to take leave.
Employees with mental-health conditions can request and may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation that would help them do their job. An accommodation may include altered break and work schedules, quiet office space or devices that create a quiet work environment, changes in supervisory methods (e.g., written instructions from a supervisor), specific shift assignments, and permission to work from home.
If a reasonable accommodation would help you do your job, your employer must give you one unless the accommodation involves significant difficulty or expense.
If you cannot do your job because of a mental-health condition, even with an accommodation, you may be entitled to leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, unpaid leave, or reassignment to another position.
Harassment is also not allowed under the ADA and employees with a mental health condition that are being harassed due to that condition should report the harassment to their employer.

Employees and job applicants that have a mental-health condition have the same rights and are entitled to the same protections under the ADA as individuals with physical disabilities. If you think you have been denied a reasonable accommodation or have been discriminated against because of your mental-health condition, the attorneys at Lebau & Neuworth may be able to help. For more information, contact us at (410) 296-3030 or lebauneuworth.com/contact-us.