What happens if you win a wrongful termination suit?
If you win a wrongful termination suit, you'll likely be awarded damages by the jury. There's three types of damages that they award. One is called economic damages.
That's money that the employer would have had to pay you if you continued working there and future economic damages. Then there's non-economic damages, which is money for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and things like that. And the third one is if the employer's conduct was especially bad, you might get punitive damages, which are damages, money awarded to you to punish the employer.
In addition to all of that, you can get awarded attorney's fees. And all of this depends on your case and your special circumstances. A good employment law attorney will help you maximize your recovery in any one of these cases.
Most cases don't end in a verdict at all
The reality is that most wrongful termination cases settle before trial — sometimes early, sometimes on the courthouse steps. A settlement isn't a lesser outcome; it's simply the more common way these cases end, once both sides weigh the risk and cost of going further.
What can affect the size of a recovery
The law generally expects you to make a reasonable effort to find comparable work after a termination, and what you earn (or could reasonably have earned) elsewhere typically offsets what you're owed. Your own employment record matters too — a documented history of solid performance tends to support a stronger claim than a mixed one, even when the firing itself was clearly unlawful.
There's no set formula or standard payout, despite what you may have heard about a certain number of months of salary, because every case depends on your actual wage history, how long the situation went on, and the harm you can document.
Manage expectations, protect your position
Even a strong case takes time, and a verdict can be appealed or negotiated before anything is paid. Keeping records of your job search and any financial harm along the way strengthens your position no matter how the case resolves.
More questions, answered.
Other videos on this topic. Watch one, then tell us what happened.
Can an at will employee be wrongfully terminated?
Watch the answer
What is constructive discharge?
Watch the answer
Can I sue my employer for wrongful termination?
Watch the answer
What is wrongful termination?
Watch the answer
What can I do if I was fired without cause?
Watch the answer
How do I sue for wrongful termination?
Watch the answer
Tell us what happened. We read it free.
Send it in a sentence or two. If there’s a case, we’ll tell you what it is and what to do next. If there isn’t, we’ll tell you that too — straight, and at no cost.
Prefer to talk? Call (424) 255-8376 — a real person answers.