How Long do I Have to File a Wrongful Termination of Employment Claim in California?

Wrongful Termination in California: Statute of Limitations

Losing your job under unjust circumstances can turn your life upside down. Between the emotional toll and financial stress, taking legal action might feel overwhelming, but waiting too long could cost you your right to seek justice. Understanding the statute of limitations for wrongful termination in California is critical because missing these deadlines means losing your claim entirely, no matter how strong your case might be.

California law sets specific windows for filing wrongful termination claims, and these timeframes vary significantly based on the nature of your case. Whether you’re dealing with discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract, or a violation of public policy, each claim type carries its own deadline, ranging from as little as one year to as long as four years. Knowing which statute applies to your situation can mean the difference between recovering compensation and walking away empty-handed.

At Steven M. Sweat, Personal Injury Lawyers, APC, our employment law team has spent over 25 years fighting for workers throughout California who’ve been wrongfully terminated. This guide breaks down the specific filing deadlines you need to know, explains how different claim types affect your timeline, and outlines what steps you should take to protect your rights before time runs out.

Why the Statute of Limitations Matters After a Firing

The statute of limitations for wrongful termination in California functions as a hard deadline that blocks your ability to file a lawsuit once the time window closes. Courts refuse to hear cases filed after these deadlines expire, regardless of how compelling your evidence might be or how clearly your employer violated the law. You lose your legal remedy permanently when you miss the filing deadline, even if you had a winning case.

Your Claim Can Vanish Overnight

Letting time slip away after an illegal termination hands your employer a complete defense that requires zero effort on their part. The moment your deadline passes, your former employer can file a motion to dismiss based solely on the expired statute of limitations, and judges grant these dismissal requests as a matter of routine. You won’t get to present witnesses, show documents, or explain what happened because the court simply stops the case before it begins. Your opportunity to recover lost wages, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages disappears entirely once the clock runs out.

Missing the filing deadline means your former employer faces no consequences, no matter how egregious their conduct.

Evidence Disappears and Witnesses Forget

Filing quickly protects the strength of your case by preserving critical proof while it’s still available. Witnesses remember details more accurately in the weeks and months immediately following your termination, but their memories fade significantly as years pass. Documentation gets harder to obtain over time because companies routinely purge personnel files, emails, and performance reviews after employees leave. Security footage gets recorded over, coworkers move to different jobs, and managers retire or transfer to other locations. Each passing month weakens your ability to build a strong case, making early action essential not just for meeting legal deadlines but for gathering the evidence you need to win.

California Deadlines by Wrongful Termination Claim Type

The statute of limitations for wrongful termination in California varies dramatically based on the legal theory behind your claim. Different violations trigger different deadlines, and choosing the wrong filing path can cost you years of recovery time or eliminate your claim entirely. Understanding which timeframe applies to your specific situation determines when you need to act and which legal avenue offers the strongest protection for your rights.

Discrimination and Retaliation Claims

Claims filed under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) require you to submit a complaint to the Civil Rights Department within three years of the termination. Once the department issues a right-to-sue notice, you have one additional year to file your lawsuit in court. This timeline covers firings based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or retaliation for reporting workplace violations. Missing the initial three-year window means you lose the right to pursue these claims under state law.

Contract Breach and Public Policy Violations

Wrongful termination cases based on written employment contracts carry a four-year statute of limitations, while oral contract claims must be filed within two years. Public policy violation claims, which protect employees fired for refusing to break the law or exercising legal rights like taking family leave, typically follow a two-year deadline. Your specific circumstances determine which timeframe applies, making early legal consultation critical to protecting your claim.

Filing under the wrong legal theory can cut your available time in half.

How To Protect Your Claim and File on Time

Taking immediate action after your termination gives you the best chance of meeting every deadline and preserving your legal rights. Waiting to see if things improve or hoping your employer will reconsider wastes precious time that you can never recover. The statute of limitations for wrongful termination in California starts running from the date of your termination or the date you discovered the wrongful conduct, and each day that passes brings you closer to losing your claim forever.

Document Everything Immediately

Start gathering evidence the moment you suspect your termination might be illegal. Save all emails, text messages, performance reviews, and written communications related to your employment and firing. Write down specific dates, times, and details of conversations with supervisors or HR representatives while the information remains fresh in your memory. Keep copies of your employment contract, employee handbook, pay stubs, and any documentation showing your job duties or accomplishments.

Creating a detailed timeline within days of your termination protects evidence that might vanish within weeks.

Consult an Attorney Early

Reaching out to an employment lawyer within the first month after your termination gives you maximum protection and strategic options. An attorney can identify which legal theories apply to your case, calculate your specific filing deadlines, and begin investigating before critical evidence disappears. Early legal consultation costs you nothing when you work with firms that offer free case evaluations, and it prevents the devastating mistake of missing a deadline you didn’t know existed.

Exceptions, Tolling, and When the Clock Starts

Understanding when the statute of limitations for wrongful termination in California actually begins can add months or even years to your filing window. The clock doesn’t always start on your last day of work, and certain circumstances can pause or extend your deadline entirely. These exceptions exist to protect employees who couldn’t reasonably have known about the violation or were prevented from taking action by factors beyond their control.

When the Clock Actually Starts Ticking

California courts apply the discovery rule to wrongful termination claims, which means your statute of limitations begins when you knew or reasonably should have known about the wrongful conduct. If your employer concealed discriminatory reasons for your firing, the deadline might not start until you uncovered evidence of the real motive. For example, if you learned six months after termination that your replacement earned significantly more despite having less experience, your filing window could start from that discovery date rather than your termination date.

Situations That Pause or Extend Your Deadline

Tolling stops the statute of limitations clock temporarily during specific circumstances that prevent you from filing. Mental incapacity, being a minor, or your employer’s bankruptcy can all trigger tolling periods. Military deployment also pauses filing deadlines under federal law. Additionally, if your employer fraudulently conceals evidence of wrongful conduct, California courts may extend your deadline to account for the time you spent unaware of the violation.

Tolling provisions can rescue claims that would otherwise expire, but you need to prove why the exception applies.

Federal Deadlines That Can Apply in California

Federal employment discrimination laws create separate filing deadlines that run alongside California’s statute of limitations for wrongful termination in California. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) all require you to exhaust administrative remedies before filing a lawsuit. These federal protections often overlap with state law claims, but federal deadlines are significantly shorter and can trap workers who assume California’s longer timeframes apply across the board.

EEOC Administrative Filing Requirements

You must file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 300 days of your termination to preserve federal discrimination claims in California. This 300-day window applies because California has its own fair employment agency, the Civil Rights Department, which gives you the extended federal deadline. Missing this deadline eliminates your ability to sue under federal law, even though your California FEHA claim might still be timely. The EEOC investigates your charge and issues a right-to-sue letter, which you need before filing in federal court.

Federal deadlines expire nearly a year before California’s three-year FEHA window closes.

Federal Court Deadlines After EEOC Exhaustion

Once the EEOC issues your right-to-sue letter, you have exactly 90 days to file your federal lawsuit. This countdown starts the day you receive the letter, not when the EEOC completes its investigation. The 90-day deadline is absolute and courts refuse to extend it except in rare cases of fraud or mental incapacity. Filing your federal case within this window protects claims you might not be able to pursue under state law alone.

A Quick Way To Move Forward

The statute of limitations for wrongful termination in California exists to push both sides toward timely resolution, but these deadlines protect employers far more than workers when employees wait too long to act. Taking action within weeks of your termination gives you the strongest position to investigate your claim, preserve evidence, and meet every applicable deadline. Every day you delay reduces your leverage and increases the risk that critical proof disappears or witnesses become unavailable.

Steven M. Sweat, Personal Injury Lawyers, APC offers free consultations for California workers who suspect their termination violated state or federal law. Our employment law team can calculate your specific filing deadlines, identify which legal theories protect your rights, and begin building your case immediately. We work on a contingency basis, which means you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. Contact us today to discuss your wrongful termination claim before time runs out.