If my employer has me sign a contractor agreement but fires me 2 weeks later, can I sue?
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If my employer has me sign a contractor agreement but fires me 2 weeks later, can I sue?
I was coerced into signing a contract with my employer of almost a year that said I was a contractor. My employer then fired me after 2 weeks. I was never a W2 employee but was clasified as an employee by the state. I filed for UI benefits and am currently sending in a brief. My supervisor and the superintendant testified under oath that the contract was drawn up for the intention of a job description and a way to keep me more accountable. I was terminated for doing what I was contracted to do in a sense. Is this a breach, fraud or something else?
Asked on November 3, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Colorado
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
What did the contract say? That's where you can find the answer to your question. If it guaranteed you work for a specified period of time (e.g. 6 months) and they fired you in violation of it, you could sue them for "breach of contract" to enforce the contract's terms and get what you are entitled to under it. But if it did not guaranty you a certain amount or length of employment, then under "employment at will," which is the law of this nation except when and to the extent changed by a written contract, you could be terminated at any time. And since you could be legally terminated at any time, you cannot sue if you are terminated--you cannot sue people for doing what they had a legal right to do.
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