Q: Is there any protection for a health care volunteer doing clerical job fired under false accusation?
A: This depends. Virginia is an at-will employment state, meaning that generally you could be fired for no reason, good reason, or bad reason. That said, federal law prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, sex, etc. If you were really fired on one of those grounds, you may have a claim. Otherwise you would more likely be looking at a claim against the person that made the false accusations, such as a defamation claim. Those are a little more complex, and there is only a 1 year statute of limitations. Determining whether you have a claim, however, requires a very fact specific analysis.
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