Fired in Oakland County? You need a trial-tested employment lawyer who knows the 6th Circuit.

Finding out costs nothing. The 15-minute case evaluation is free, and termination cases are handled on contingency. But move quickly. Michigan’s Whistleblowers’ Protection Act gives you 90 days. An EEOC charge must be filed within 300 days. And the severance agreement in your inbox has a deadline of its own. Call (313) 701-2448.

Where Oakland County employment cases get filed

State-law claims — the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA), the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, and severance and non-compete disputes — file in the Oakland County Circuit Court, Michigan’s 6th Judicial Circuit, at 1200 N. Telegraph Rd, Pontiac. Federal claims — Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the FMLA — file in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at the Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse, 231 W. Lafayette Blvd, Detroit. Federal discrimination charges start at the EEOC’s Detroit Field Office; state civil rights complaints go to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

The choice matters. ELCRA carries a three-year statute of limitations and no cap on emotional-distress damages, and Michigan courts have read parts of it more broadly than Title VII. Federal court gets to summary judgment faster, and federal judges grant it more often. An Oakland County jury draws from Troy, Rochester Hills, Novi, Southfield, and the Bloomfields — people who work in the same offices and hospitals you did, and who know what it usually means when a performance improvement plan appears three weeks after an FMLA request. Often the right move is to plead only state claims and keep the case in Pontiac. Sometimes the federal claim is the stronger one. That decision gets made before filing.

What we handle for Oakland County workers

Start with what happened in the weeks before the firing. I will tell you which statute fits.

You announced a pregnancy and the assignments dried up — a schedule change, a “reorganization” of your accounts, a denial of light duty. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (2023) and ELCRA both apply. See pregnancy discrimination and demoted after pregnancy.

You took FMLA leave and came back to a performance improvement plan, or did not come back at all. The timeline is the case. See FMLA retaliation and evidence for FMLA retaliation.

You asked for a disability accommodation and were told the job “requires” what you asked to change. The ADA and PWDCRA require an interactive process, not a form denial. See ADA accommodation and retaliation and accommodation denied, now fired.

You reported sexual harassment to HR and became the problem employee. Retaliation for reporting is its own claim, and often the stronger one. See sexual harassment and reporting harassment in Michigan.

You were the only Black engineer on the program and the only one cut. See race discrimination and retaliation.

You were paid less than the men with your title. See gender discrimination and retaliation.

The “restructuring” at your supplier or bank only reached people over 50. See age discrimination and RIF or age discrimination?.

You left for a competitor and a cease-and-desist letter arrived within the week. See non-compete defense and the section below.

You reported something to a government agency and were fired soon after. That may be a Whistleblowers’ Protection Act claim, with a 90-day deadline. See the caveat further down this page.

All of these fall under wrongful termination in Michigan. Every one has a clock; the Michigan employment claim deadlines page lays them out.

Non-competes for Oakland County engineers and executives

Auburn Hills, Troy, Farmington Hills, and Novi are dense with automotive engineering talent, and that talent moves between competitors. Michigan enforces non-competes that are reasonable in duration, geography, and line of business (MCL 445.774a), and a court can narrow an overbroad one rather than throw it out. So the cease-and-desist letter is not automatically a bluff — but it is not automatically enforceable either.

The questions that decide these fights are specific. Did you sign it at hire or after, and what did you get for signing? Does it reach your new role, or every job in the industry? Is the real dispute a non-compete, a non-solicit, or an accusation that you took files? Did the employer fire you, which changes how a Pontiac judge reads the equities? I answer the demand letter, and I defend the lawsuit in the Oakland County Business Court if one is filed. See non-compete defense.

What to do in the first 72 hours after you’re fired in Oakland County

• Forward yourself the evidence before you lose access. Most Oakland County employers cut system access the same day. Before that happens, send the emails, Teams messages, reviews, and HR correspondence that show what you did and when the treatment changed to a personal account. Do not take confidential business documents or customer data — that turns your case into their case.
• Write the timeline while it is fresh. Hire date. The date you announced the pregnancy, requested leave, asked for the accommodation, or made the complaint. The date the first write-up appeared. The date you were fired, and who was in the room.
• Request your personnel file in writing. Michigan’s Bullard-Plawecki Employee Right to Know Act requires your employer to let you review and copy it. Send the request by email and keep the sent copy.
• Do not sign the severance agreement yet. The deadline is long enough to get it reviewed.
• Note your witnesses. The coworker who heard the comment. The manager who called the leave “bad timing.” Get personal contact information now.
• File for unemployment. Being fired does not disqualify you, and the employer’s stated reason on that paperwork is often the first version of a story that later changes.
• Then call. The evaluation is more useful on day two than on day sixty.