Employment Law Intake: How to Qualify Wrongful Termination and Discrimination Cases

Every Employment Case Starts With a Phone Call That Most Law Firms Handle Wrong

A caller says they were fired unfairly. Your front desk asks a few surface-level questions, takes a name and number, and promises someone will call back. Two days later, an attorney reviews the message, realizes critical details are missing, and calls the prospect back. No answer. That case is gone.

Employment law intake is one of the most nuanced practice areas your team will handle. Unlike a car accident where liability often comes down to who hit whom, wrongful termination and discrimination cases hinge on timelines, protected class status, documentation, and employer size. Miss one of those on the first call, and you either waste attorney time reviewing a case you cannot take, or you lose a six-figure case because your intake process failed to capture why it matters.

This guide breaks down exactly how to qualify employment law cases on that first call, what questions to ask, what red flags to listen for, and how to avoid the most common mistakes that cost law firms viable cases every week.

Why Employment Law Intake Is Different from Every Other Practice Area

Most law firm intake processes are built for personal injury. Someone was hurt, there is an at-fault party, there is insurance. The qualification framework is relatively straightforward.

Employment law does not work that way. Here is what makes it different:

• Statute of limitations varies wildly. EEOC charges must be filed within 180 or 300 days depending on the state. State-level claims have different windows. A caller who waited “a few months” might already be too late, and whoever picks up the phone needs to know that immediately.
• Employer size determines jurisdiction. Title VII only covers employers with 15 or more employees. The ADA has the same threshold. ADEA kicks in at 20. If the caller worked for a 12-person company, half your federal claims evaporate before the conversation starts.
• Protected class status is not always obvious. The caller might say “I was fired for no reason” without realizing their termination happened two weeks after they filed a workers comp claim. That is retaliation, and it changes the entire case. Your intake person needs to know what follow-up questions to ask.
• Documentation makes or breaks the case. Unlike PI cases where medical records tell the story, employment cases often depend on emails, performance reviews, HR complaints, and witness statements the caller may or may not still have access to.
• Emotional intensity is higher. People calling about a car accident are frustrated. People calling because they were fired, harassed, or discriminated against are often angry, scared, or both. The person on the phone needs to manage that emotion while still capturing case-qualifying information.

If your intake process treats employment calls the same as PI calls, you are either turning away good cases or wasting attorney time on cases that never had merit. The fix is a structured screening framework built specifically for this practice area.

The 10 Questions That Qualify an Employment Law Case on the First Call

These are the questions whoever answers the phone needs to ask, in roughly this order. Each one is designed to surface a specific qualification factor that determines whether the case has legs.

1. “When did this happen, and are you still employed there?”

This is the single most important question in employment law intake. It establishes two things at once: statute of limitations exposure and whether the situation is ongoing.

If the caller was terminated eight months ago, you need to immediately flag the timeline for attorney review. If they are still employed and experiencing ongoing harassment, the urgency shifts from “can we still file” to “how do we protect them while building the case.”

Train your team to capture the specific date, not “a few months ago.” The difference between 179 days and 181 days can be the difference between a viable EEOC charge and a time-barred claim.

2. “How many people work at the company?”

This sounds like a throwaway question, but it determines which federal statutes apply. Your front desk does not need to know the legal thresholds. They just need to capture the number. But here is a quick reference:

• 15+ employees: Title VII (race, color, religion, sex, national origin), ADA (disability), GINA (genetic information)
• 20+ employees: ADEA (age discrimination for workers 40+)
• 50+ employees: FMLA (family and medical leave)
• All employers: Most state anti-discrimination laws (thresholds vary), EPA (Equal Pay Act), Section 1981 (race)

A caller who worked for a company with 10 employees is not automatically disqualified. State laws often cover smaller employers. But your attorney needs this number before they can evaluate the claim.

3. “Why do you believe you were terminated (or treated differently)?”

This is where you listen for protected class language without coaching the caller. You are not asking them to identify a legal theory. You are asking them to tell their story.

Listen for phrases like:

• “They replaced me with someone younger.”
• “It started after I told them I was pregnant.”
• “I was the only [race/gender] on the team.”
• “They fired me right after I complained to HR.”
• “I asked for a reasonable accommodation and they let me go.”

Each of these maps to a specific legal claim. Your intake person does not need to make that connection. They need to write down exactly what the caller says, word for word. An attorney can identify the legal theory later.

4. “Did you report the issue to anyone at the company? HR, a supervisor, anyone?”

Internal complaints create a paper trail and establish that the employer had notice. In harassment cases, this is often a critical element. In retaliation cases, the complaint itself is the protected activity.

Capture: Who they reported to, when, how (verbal or written), and what happened after they reported. Did the company investigate? Did anything change? Did things get worse?

5. “Do you have any documentation? Emails, performance reviews, text messages, an HR complaint?”

Employment cases live and die on documentation. A caller who has screenshots of discriminatory texts from a supervisor is in a fundamentally different position than someone whose entire case rests on verbal interactions with no witnesses.

Do not ask them to describe every document. Just ask if they have anything in writing. Note what they say they have. The attorney will request specifics during the consultation.

One critical follow-up: “Do you still have access to your work email or company systems?” If they were just terminated, they may lose access within hours. Flag this for immediate attorney attention.

6. “Were there any witnesses to what happened?”

Witnesses transform he-said-she-said into corroborated testimony. Ask if anyone else saw or heard the conduct they are describing. Coworkers, other managers, clients, even family members who were told about incidents contemporaneously can matter.

Capture names if the caller is willing to share them. Do not push if they hesitate. Just note that potential witnesses exist.

7. “Have you filed a complaint with the EEOC or any state agency?”

Some callers have already started the process. If they have an active EEOC charge, your timeline and strategy change significantly. If they received a right-to-sue letter, the clock is ticking: they typically have 90 days to file suit after receiving that letter.

If they have a right-to-sue letter in hand, this call just became urgent. Flag it for same-day attorney review.

8. “Did you sign anything when you were hired or when you left? A non-compete, arbitration agreement, or severance package?”

Arbitration clauses can redirect the entire case out of court. Severance agreements may include releases of claims. Non-competes add complexity. Your intake person does not need to interpret these documents, but they need to know they exist.

The most common miss here: callers who signed a severance agreement with a general release of claims and do not realize they may have already waived their right to sue. Flag any signed documents for attorney review.

9. “Were you given a reason for your termination? Was it in writing?”

Employers who provide a written reason create a record that can be compared against the caller’s account. If the employer said “performance issues” but the caller received strong performance reviews for three years before filing an ADA accommodation request, that inconsistency is the foundation of a pretext argument.

Capture the stated reason exactly as the caller describes it. Even “they didn’t give me a reason” is useful information.

10. “Is there anything else you think we should know?”

This open-ended question catches what structured intake misses. Callers often volunteer the most important detail of their case when given space to talk freely. Maybe they mention that three other employees were also fired around the same time (potential pattern). Maybe they mention a company policy that was applied inconsistently. Maybe they mention that they filed for workers compensation right before the termination.

Give them 60 seconds of unstructured time. Write down everything.

The Five Red Flags That Signal a Strong Employment Case

Not every call is a case. But certain signals during intake should trigger immediate attorney review rather than the standard callback queue.

1. Temporal proximity. The adverse action happened within days or weeks of a protected activity (filing a complaint, requesting accommodation, taking FMLA leave, reporting safety violations). The closer the timing, the stronger the inference of retaliation.

2. Comparative treatment. The caller was disciplined or terminated for something that other employees (outside their protected class) were not disciplined for. “I was 5 minutes late and got fired. My coworker is late every week and nothing happens.” That comparison matters.

3. Pattern of behavior. Multiple incidents over time rather than a single event. A hostile work environment claim requires showing that the conduct was severe or pervasive. A pattern helps establish “pervasive.”

4. Written evidence of bias. Any email, text, or recorded statement that shows discriminatory intent. These are rare, but when they exist, they are case-makers. “We need someone younger for this role” in a manager’s email is the kind of evidence that drives early settlements.

5. Employer retaliation after internal complaint. The caller reported harassment or discrimination through the company’s internal process, and the company’s response was to terminate, demote, or isolate the complainant. This is textbook retaliation under Title VII and most state statutes.

The Three Mistakes That Kill Employment Cases at Intake

Mistake 1: Treating Every “I Was Fired” Call as the Same

Not every termination is wrongful. Most employment in the United States is at-will, meaning an employer can fire someone for any reason or no reason, as long as the reason is not illegal. Your intake process needs to distinguish between “I was fired and I’m upset” and “I was fired because of my race, age, disability, or because I engaged in protected activity.”

The distinction is not always obvious on the surface. That is why the 10 questions above matter. A caller who says “I was fired for no reason” might reveal, under structured questioning, that the termination came three days after they told their employer about a pregnancy. That changes everything.

The mistake is not asking enough questions to surface the real reason. Your front desk hears “wrongful termination,” writes it down, and moves on. By the time the attorney calls back, the prospect has already called two other firms that asked better questions and got them on the phone with a lawyer the same day.

Mistake 2: Missing the Statute of Limitations

This is the most expensive intake mistake in employment law. A caller with a strong discrimination claim calls your office 175 days after termination. Your team takes a message. The attorney calls back five days later. Now you are at 180 days, and in a non-deferral state, the EEOC filing deadline just passed.

Every employment intake call should capture the date of the adverse action in the first 60 seconds of the conversation. If the date is within 30 days of any applicable deadline, flag it for same-day attorney review. Not tomorrow. Not “when the attorney is available.” Today.

Build a simple reference into your intake SOP: if the adverse action happened more than 150 days ago, mark the intake as time-sensitive. This gives your attorney a buffer to evaluate and file if needed.

Mistake 3: Not Asking About Arbitration Agreements

An increasing number of employers require employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. According to the Economic Policy Institute, over 60 million American workers are subject to mandatory arbitration clauses. Your caller may be one of them without even knowing it.

If your intake process does not ask about signed agreements, your attorney will not discover the arbitration clause until they have already spent hours evaluating the case. That is wasted time and wasted opportunity cost.

The question is simple: “Did you sign anything when you were hired or when you left?” If the answer is yes or “I’m not sure,” note it. If the caller still has copies, ask them to bring the documents to the consultation.

How to Handle the Emotional Employment Law Caller

Employment calls are personal. The caller lost their income, possibly their health insurance, and often their professional identity. Many feel betrayed, especially if they were loyal employees for years before the termination. Some are angry. Some are in tears. Some are both.

Your intake person cannot be a therapist, but they can follow a simple framework:

Acknowledge first, qualify second. Before launching into the 10 questions, give the caller 30 seconds to express what happened. Then say something like: “That sounds like a difficult situation. Let me ask you a few questions so we can figure out the best way to help you.” This transitions from emotional venting to structured information gathering without dismissing their experience.

Do not make legal promises. “It sounds like you have a great case” is a phrase that should never come out of your intake person’s mouth. Neither should “I don’t think you have a case.” The appropriate response is: “Let me get this information to our attorney so they can review your situation and give you an informed answer.”

Control the pace, not the emotion. If the caller is rambling, do not interrupt aggressively. Wait for a natural pause, then redirect: “I want to make sure I capture everything. Can I ask you about the timeline?” This keeps the call productive without making the caller feel shut down.

The best intake teams treat emotional callers as what they are: potential clients in distress. The firms that handle this well sign more cases. The firms that rush through it or sound indifferent lose cases to competitors who took 90 extra seconds to listen.

Building an Employment Law Intake Checklist Your Team Can Actually Use

The 10 questions above need to live somewhere your team can access during every call. Not in a training manual that sits on a shelf. Not in an email from six months ago. On their screen, every time the phone rings.

Here is what an effective employment law intake checklist captures:

• Caller information: Name, phone, email, best time to reach
• Employment details: Employer name, job title, dates of employment, company size
• Adverse action: What happened (termination, demotion, harassment, retaliation), exact date
• Reason given by employer: Written or verbal, exact language if possible
• Protected class indicators: Any mention of race, gender, age, disability, religion, pregnancy, national origin, sexual orientation
• Protected activity: Any complaint filed (internal or external), accommodation requested, leave taken, whistleblowing
• Documentation: What the caller has, whether they still have access to company systems
• Witnesses: Names and relationship to the situation
• Prior agency filings: EEOC charge, state agency complaint, right-to-sue letter (and date received)
• Signed agreements: Arbitration clause, non-compete, severance with release
• Urgency flags: SOL within 30 days, right-to-sue letter in hand, ongoing harassment, risk of losing evidence

Print it. Laminate it. Put it next to every phone. Or better yet, build it into your intake coaching system so the prompts appear in real time as the call progresses.

What Happens After the Intake Call

Capturing the information is only half the job. What happens next determines whether the case moves forward or falls through the cracks.

Same-day attorney review for time-sensitive cases. Any call flagged for SOL proximity, right-to-sue deadlines, or ongoing harassment should be on an attorney’s desk within hours, not days.

48-hour callback for everything else. Employment law prospects are actively shopping. Data from intake conversion research shows that law firms who respond within 5 minutes of an inquiry see dramatically higher conversion rates. Even if you cannot hit 5 minutes for a full attorney consultation, a warm follow-up call within 48 hours is the minimum.

Document request before consultation. Send the prospect a secure link or email requesting copies of any documents they mentioned during intake. Performance reviews, termination letters, HR complaints, relevant emails. Having these before the attorney consultation means the attorney can give a more informed evaluation in less time.

Conflict check. Employment cases often involve well-known local employers. Run the conflict check before the attorney consultation, not during it. Nothing wastes goodwill faster than getting halfway through a consultation and realizing you already represent the employer.

The Bottom Line on Employment Law Intake

Employment law is a practice area where intake quality directly determines case quality. The facts that matter most, timeline, employer size, protected class status, documentation, and signed agreements, are all discoverable on the first call if your team knows what to ask.

The firms that build a structured employment intake process sign better cases, waste less attorney time on unqualified leads, and catch time-sensitive claims before deadlines pass. The firms that wing it lose cases to competitors every week without ever knowing what they missed.

Your intake team does not need to be employment law experts. They need a checklist, the right questions, and the judgment to flag urgency when they hear it. Everything else is the attorney’s job.

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