My Long Beach employer fired me at-will. Can I still have a claim?

Possibly. At-will employment allows either side to end the job for many lawful reasons, but it is never a defense to an unlawful firing. If your termination was based on a protected characteristic under FEHA, was retaliation for whistleblowing under Labor Code 1102.5, or violated public policy, at-will does not protect the employer.

Do I file with the Civil Rights Department before suing?

For FEHA claims such as discrimination, harassment, or FEHA retaliation, yes. You must first file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department and obtain a right-to-sue notice. Many Labor Code and public-policy claims do not require that step, so the correct process depends on the facts of your case.

How much time do I have to act?

FEHA claims generally allow three years to file a CRD complaint, then one year from the right-to-sue notice to file a lawsuit. Public-policy claims generally carry a two-year deadline. Because the limit depends on the claim, confirm yours early so the clock does not cost you your case.

What can I recover in a Long Beach wrongful termination case?

Depending on the facts, recovery can include back pay for lost wages, front pay for future earnings, and damages for emotional distress. Where the employer acted with malice or oppression, punitive damages may apply, and several statutes allow recovery of attorney fees from the employer.

What will it cost to hire a lawyer?

These cases are often handled on a contingency basis, so the attorney fee is a percentage of any recovery and there is usually no fee unless the case succeeds. Mihran M. Ghazaryan offers consultations in English, Armenian, and Russian to review your situation first.

Long Beach Wrongful Termination Lawyer

Long Beach runs on hard work, from the docks and rail yards to its hospitals, refineries, and university campuses. When a job ends abruptly, the financial and emotional weight lands fast. California is an at-will state, which many employers are quick to remind workers of, but at-will has never given anyone the right to fire you for an illegal reason. A termination tied to discrimination, retaliation, or the exercise of a legal right may give you a claim. Attorney Mihran M. Ghazaryan represents employees, not companies, throughout the Long Beach area. He helps workers understand whether their firing broke the law and what they can do about it. Consultations are available in English, Armenian, and Russian, and wrongful termination cases are frequently handled on a contingency basis.

Wrongful Termination matters in Long Beach

A Port City With Distinct Employment Risks

Long Beach has an economy shaped by one of the busiest container ports in the country, along with logistics and warehousing, oil and energy, aerospace and manufacturing, healthcare systems, higher education, tourism and hospitality, and a growing public sector. These industries often involve shift work, safety-sensitive operations, and physically demanding roles, all of which create specific wrongful termination risks.

Consider how firings tend to arise here. A warehouse worker reports a hazardous loading practice and is terminated soon after. A refinery employee raises a safety violation and is suddenly written up and let go. A hospital aide requests an accommodation for a back injury and finds their hours cut to nothing. Under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), it is unlawful to fire an employee because of race, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, religion, sex, or sexual orientation, and equally unlawful to retaliate against someone for opposing discrimination or for seeking a lawful accommodation.

Safety Complaints and Whistleblower Protection

In industrial and logistics workplaces, retaliation often follows a worker raising a safety or legal concern. California Labor Code section 1102.5 protects employees who report what they reasonably believe is unlawful, whether internally to a supervisor or to a government agency. It is illegal to fire someone for refusing to participate in unlawful conduct, for reporting unsafe conditions, or for taking job-protected leave. When termination follows shortly after such a complaint, the sequence of events can become central evidence in a case.

The Tameny public-policy doctrine offers a separate path. A discharge that violates a fundamental public policy, such as firing someone for filing a workers compensation claim, can support its own claim.

Where Long Beach Cases Are Filed

Long Beach is part of Los Angeles County, and many South County employment matters are heard at the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse in Long Beach, within the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Before filing a FEHA lawsuit, you generally must submit a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) and obtain a right-to-sue notice. Public-policy claims proceed without that administrative step.

What a Claim Can Return

A successful case can recover back pay for wages already lost, front pay for future earnings, and damages for emotional distress. In cases of especially egregious employer conduct, punitive damages may be available, and many statutes allow attorney fees to be shifted to the employer. Because evidence and deadlines both fade, early action matters.

How Mihran M. Ghazaryan helps with wrongful termination

Mihran M. Ghazaryan looks past the reason the employer wrote down to the one that actually drove the firing. He reconstructs the timeline — your reviews before, what changed, who decided, and what was said — preserves the paper trail, and handles the Civil Rights Department step where it applies. He tells you honestly whether 'at-will' is a real defense in your case or a cover, and pursues the back pay, front pay, and emotional-distress damages the law allows.

Types of wrongful termination cases we handle

Retaliation

Fired after reporting harassment, discrimination, unsafe conditions, or wage violations — or after taking protected leave. The timing itself is often powerful evidence.

Discrimination-based firing

Terminations driven by race, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, religion, or national origin, often dressed up as a layoff or a sudden performance problem.

Public-policy and whistleblower terminations

Being fired for refusing to break the law, for jury duty, or for reporting illegal conduct (Labor Code §1102.5).

What you may be able to recover

Every wrongful termination case is different, but California law lets wronged employees pursue several categories of relief. We document each one — pay records, performance reviews, communications — so nothing is left on the table.

Back pay and lost benefits

Wages, commissions, and benefits you lost from the date of the wrongful act — a core remedy in wrongful-termination and discrimination claims.

Front pay

Future earnings you're likely to lose when reinstatement isn't realistic, measured until you can reasonably be expected to find comparable work.

Emotional distress

Compensation for the anxiety, humiliation, and harm to wellbeing that unlawful treatment at work can cause.

Penalties and punitive damages

Statutory penalties for wage violations, and — where an employer acted with malice or oppression — punitive damages meant to deter the conduct.

Attorney's fees and costs

Many California employment statutes shift the employee's reasonable attorney's fees and costs onto an employer that broke the law.

Reinstatement and policy change

Where it fits the case, getting your job back or forcing the employer to correct the practice that harmed you.

How we work

Free, confidential consultation

We listen first and tell you plainly whether you appear to have a claim. The conversation is confidential and there's no fee to have it — and we're careful if you're still employed.

Preserve the record

Offer letters, handbooks, performance reviews, emails and texts, pay stubs, and a dated timeline. The contemporaneous record is what wins an employment case, so we lock it down early.

Administrative exhaustion and the demand

FEHA claims generally require a complaint with the Civil Rights Department and a right-to-sue notice first. We handle that step, then present a documented demand to the employer.

Litigation when necessary

Many matters resolve through negotiation or mediation. When an employer won't be reasonable, we file and prepare the case fully — which is usually what moves the number.

What to do right away

Write a dated timeline of what happened while it's fresh.

Save offer letters, reviews, emails, texts, and pay records to a personal (non-work) account.

Don't sign a severance or release before it's reviewed — the deadline is usually negotiable.

Note who made the decision and what reason they gave, in writing if possible.

Talk to a lawyer before resigning — quitting can change the claim.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.