If you have been fired from your job, and you feel that your termination was not legal, you need to know what to do to move forward with legal action.

#1 Stay Calm

If at all possible, try to stay calm when you are terminated. Do not go on a rant about how this is not fair. Do not rant about everything that you gave the company or how you are going to come after the company.

After getting the news that your position is being terminated, leave the room and cool off. Do not vent to other co-workers. Save your venting for outside of the office.

#2 Write Down Everything You Remember About Your Firing

As soon as you can, write down everything that you can remember, starting with the firing process. Write down exactly what you remember being said to you during your termination. What words were said? What evidence was used to justify your firing? Write down literally every word that you remember being said.

Be sure to document the environment as well. Who was present when you were fired? Did the firing take place in a public context or a private context? What was the tone of voice used during the firing process. Write down as many details as you can.

If you were given any documents or paperwork, be sure to make copies.

#3 Collect Information

If you were not immediately asked to leave the premises, collect as much information as you can about your employment. Grab a copy of any performance evaluations. Save, download, or forward any and all emails and electronic documents that relate to the job you do and your interactions with the owners or management. Keep in mind that you more than likely will not have permanent access to this information, so grab it while you can.

Don't worry about information you cannot access. When you hire an attorney later on, they can subpoena the information. 

#4 Document Everything You Remember

With wrongful termination, it is generally not just about you getting fired. There is often a pattern of wrongful conduct on the part of the employer. Take time to write down as much as you can remember about anything that was off or not above-board about your employment process. Use the information that you collected from your job to help you with this process. Try to keep everything as accurate as possible.

If  you feel that you have been wrongfully terminated from your job, stay calm when you are given the news, write down everything you remember about the firing process and your employment in general, and collect as much evidence as you can of your formal interactions with your employer and with the management team. Then, hire one of the local wrongful termination lawyers to help move your case forward.