10 Most Important Deposition Questions to Ask in a Wrongful Termination Case

As any lawyer should know, the deposition is a key part of the “discovery” portion of a civil lawsuit. It is comprised of a question and answer conversation between an attorney who represents one of the parties in a lawsuit and a witness who has information that may be helpful in the suit. Depositions are recorded by a court reporter through transcription and/or videography. A skilled court reporter can greatly improve the potency of a deposition. Having prompt and accurate transcripts of the questions and answers can help any legal team properly assess the value of the deposition, as well as use excerpts during settlement negotiations or trial.

A deposition can go on as long as an lawyers see fit, as the information gained in a deposition may be very valuable in a case. Some deposition sessions last several days.

The questions asked in a deposition are relevant to the case in question, so naturally the questions asked in a wrongful termination case will likely be pertinent to issues affecting the workplace and the employee in question. It may be helpful to approach this type of case with the goal of unveiling the employer’s defense strategy.

Call in The Supervisor

In many cases of wrongful termination, sexual harassment is an issue. In this type of case, the plaintiff’s supervisor (as in the recent case of Roger Ailes at Fox News) is often the harasser. To help support the plaintiff’s case, it would be wise to depose the supervisor and ask questions that test that person’s credibility.

There is a wide range of questions that can be asked of a supervisor in this type of case to help you establish credibility and to get a sense of how the employer might seek to defend themselves.

Key questions that you can ask of a supervisor during a deposition (whether the termination had anything to do with harassment or not) might include:

1. Did you (the supervisor) ever give the plaintiff any warning about a problem in their work performance? If so, when? Was anyone else present at the time of this warning?

2. If the plaintiff was warned, did they protest the grounds of the warning, and did they complain to anyone else?

It is also important to show that the employee was a hard working person who carried out their duties responsibly. Questions you may ask that pertain to this include:

3. Was the employee ever given a good performance evaluation?

4. Were any disciplinary actions ever taken against this employee?

Another issue that likely comes into play in wrongful termination is whether or not the company’s employment policies are clear and well communicated. If not, this may help you weaken the employer’s case. Questions on this issue might include:

5. Is there an employee handbook that clearly states the company’s policies regarding causes for termination?

6. Is any formal training regarding the company policies ever given? When and where?

It may be helpful to ask follow-up questions regarding corporate procedures for wrongful termination cases. These could include:

7. Were corporate procedures regarding discipline of the employee followed?

8. Has any other employee engaged in misconduct similar to this employee, and was that other employee disciplined? When and how?

Finally, another aspect of a wrongful termination suit you may want to focus on is the supervisor’s relationship with the employee. This could be explored and may even show a sense of discrimination towards the employee. Some of your questions might include:

9. Was there a social relationship outside of the workplace between the plaintiff and the supervisor?

10. Did the plaintiff ever indicate that they no longer wanted to have a relationship with the supervisor outside of the workplace?

To help make your case as strong as possible, it is important to ask deposition questions that thoroughly explore the nature of the employee’s work history and their relationship with their supervisor. As a Washington DC workers compensation lawyer knows, it can be crucial to take the time during a deposition to explore all possible avenues in order to build a case that is more likely to win a settlement for the plaintiff if their rights have been abused. This type of protection for employees is one of the foundations of our legal system, and it is your job to help every employee secure their rightful protection under the law.


Thanks to our friends and blog contributors from Cohen & Cohen, P.C. for their added insight into deposition questions to include in a wrongful termination case.

LawStudio Announced in Legaltech News

New Workspace Software LawStudio Developed and Launched by Litigation Support Innovators at Veritext

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Workspace Software LawStudio Developed and Launched by Litigation Support Innovators at Veritext

October 1, 2015 – Veritext, the world’s largest court reporting company, today announced the release of LawStudio – an all-in-one workspace that allows litigation attorneys and support staff to build their case. Documents, exhibits, depositions, videos, images and more are all in one place and are simple to access by all members working on a case. LawStudio is affordably priced at $299 per month for a single license, includes unlimited file storage, allows access from anywhere at any time and requires no IT support to purchase and use.

“We designed LawStudio to be a complete and robust litigation support platform while remaining easily accessible to any legal professional, regardless of their technical abilities or financial situation,” says Nancy Josephs, CEO of Veritext. “By keeping the cost low and the technology simple, we believe we’ve created a truly unique, innovative and useful tool.”

LawStudio’s simple searching, annotation and reporting capabilities, integration with existing software and services and video streaming help legal teams collaborate easily on a case. Robust features include:

  • File and Case Management – Secure data hosting means information is in one place and accessible anywhere, anytime. Files can be added using the “drag and drop” feature, and searching is simple and fast.
  • Software and Service Integration – Transcripts and exhibits are automatically loaded.
  • Annotation Engine – Capture, categorize and catalog every piece of information, including text and images.
  • Robust Reports – Summarize any annotations, have the citations you need to construct a motion or trial document and use the image capture to include the actual image from the document – not just text.
  • Collaboration Platform – Advanced security and sharing controls allow users to set the team. Extensive audit trails show who did what and when.
  • Secure Share – Securely share large files while adding encryptions and link expiration times.
  • Video Streaming – Veritext deposition videos are instantly streamed to users’ accounts, and other videos can be uploaded at any time.
  • Client Connect – Built-in HD web conferencing allows users to virtually meet with and show documents to clients.
  • Swift Redact – Data is protected and permanently removed before sharing.
  • MS Office Integration  Share secure links within an email and upload and send large files right from a message. MS Office documents, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint, can be saved in their LawStudio case folder with one click.

LawStudio offers a free 45-day trial and can be accessed from the company’s website at www.lawstudio.com. Pricing for a single license starts at $299 per month and drops as low as $208 per user per month for firms with more than 21 users with an annual subscription.

About LawStudio

LawStudio is an all-in-one secure workspace for litigation attorneys and support staff that is simple, yet powerful. It brings together the tools needed to manage case information in an online collaborative platform. With simple pricing, unlimited storage and seamless integration with the company’s court reporting services, LawStudio unites software and service expertise into one toolkit so users can focus on the practice of law. More information can be found at www.lawstudio.com.

About Veritext
Veritext is the leader in deposition and litigation support solutions. For law firms and corporations, the company provides national coverage, skilled court reporters, advanced technology and unmatched client service. Our solutions utilize the latest easy-to-use technologies that streamline the deposition process, enhance delivery flexibility and reliably handle the most complex cases. Proprietary video, mobile and remote services combined with unmatched security, including HIPAA and PII compliance, ensure that Veritext clients have the best tools available and the confidence of working with the market leader. More information can be found at www.veritext.com.