FAQs

"Wrongful Discharge," Unemployment Compensation and Whistleblower

Can employees bring a claim for "wrongful discharge" in Florida?

Generally, no. Florida is an "at-will" state, meaning that an employee can be discharged for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all. As a result, even if an employer discharges an employee for an arbitrary or unfair reason, as long as that reason does not violate a specific statute (i.e. discrimination, whistleblower), the decision does not give rise to any legal claim.

Under what circumstances are employees entitled to receive unemployment compensation?

There are two situations in which employees will be denied unemployment compensation: resignation and discharge for misconduct. An employee may resign and still recover benefits if the resignation is attributable to the employer (i.e. the employer makes a material change to wages, hours or working conditions, thereby prompting the resignation). Misconduct does not mean mere poor performance. Rather, the employer must typically show that the employee willfully failed to perform his or her job, repeatedly failed to follow instructions, or deliberately acted in a manner contrary to the employer's interests.

What is a "whistleblower"?

While the precise definition varies somewhat by statute, the term whistleblower generally refers to an employee who opposes, refuses to participate in, reports, or threatens to report an activity by the employer that violates a law, rule or regulation. Opposition to practices that are unethical, but do not violate any specific law, rule or regulation, generally does not trigger whistleblower protection.

What rights do whistleblowers have?

Several statutes protect whistleblowers from retaliation in the form of adverse employment actions such as demotion, unwanted transfer, reprimands, and discharge.

Are there any other forms of retaliation that are prohibited?

Florida law protects employees from retaliation in a number of circumstances. For example, employers may not retaliate against employees for filing workers compensation claims, attending jury duty, responding to a subpoena to testify in court, or supporting a particular political party or candidate.

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