Wrongful Termination in Alaska (2026): Laws, Deadlines, How to File

Alaska is an at-will state, but it gives fired workers more to work with than most. The Alaska Human Rights Law (AS 18.80.220) bars firing someone because of race, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, parenthood and other listed traits, and it applies to employers with even one employee. Alaska courts also read an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing into every at-will job (Mitford v. de Lasala, 1983), so a firing can be wrongful when it breaks a statute, a contract, or that covenant.

A fired worker can file with the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights within 300 days or sue directly in superior court within two years. To compare other states, see our guide to wrongful termination laws by state.

Information last verified on October 10, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Alaska law on firing employees: the Alaska Human Rights Law (AS 18.80.200 to 18.80.300) and its court remedy (AS 22.10.020(i)), the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and the public-policy theory recognized by the Alaska Supreme Court, handbook contracts, and Alaska's retaliation statutes, with short notes on the federal laws that also apply. The federal rules in full are on our wrongful termination laws by state guide. It does not cover severance agreements; see Alaska severance pay laws.

Is Alaska an at-will state?

Yes, by default. Alaska has no statute requiring just cause for private-sector firings, but its courts recognize two broad limits on the at-will rule: the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and handbook or oral promises that change the terms of the job. For how the doctrine works day to day, see Alaska at-will employment laws.

The Alaska Supreme Court has framed the claim simply. To win a wrongful termination claim, an employee must prove "(1) that the employee was discharged by [his or her] employer and (2) that the employer breached a contract or committed a tort in connection with the employee's termination" (Okpik v. City of Barrow, 230 P.3d 672 (Alaska 2010), quoted again in State, Office of Children's Services v. Lane, 542 P.3d 1124 (Alaska 2024)).

Grounds for a wrongful termination claim in Alaska

Discrimination under the Alaska Human Rights Law

AS 18.80.220(a)(1) makes it unlawful for an employer to refuse employment, bar a person from employment, or "discriminate against a person in compensation or in a term, condition, or privilege of employment" because of the person's:

• race, religion, color or national origin;
• age, physical or mental disability, sex, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood, where the reasonable demands of the position do not require a distinction on that basis.

The statute's list does not name sexual orientation or gender identity. The Commission's own site says it handles complaints based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression "in some instances," so ask the Commission whether it will take yours. Federal Title VII reaches a firing for being gay or transgender at employers with 15 or more employees (Bostock v. Clayton County, 2020), and within Anchorage the Municipal Code bars employment discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity (AMC 5.20.040), with a complaint to the Anchorage Equal Rights Commission due within 180 days (AMC 5.40.010). AS 18.80.220(a)(5) separately bars sex-based pay discrimination.

Who is covered. An "employer" is anyone, including the state and local governments, "who has one or more employees in the state" (AS 18.80.300(5)). The definition leaves out a club that is exclusively social, or a fraternal, charitable, educational or religious association or corporation, if it is not organized for private profit.

Retaliation. AS 18.80.220(a)(4) bars firing or discriminating against a person who "has opposed any practices forbidden under AS 18.80.200 - 18.80.280 or because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in a proceeding under this chapter."

Federal law adds Title VII and the ADA for employers with 15 or more employees and the federal age law for employers with 20 or more (42 U.S.C. 2000e(b); 42 U.S.C. 12111(5); 29 U.S.C. 630(b)), but Alaska's own law reaches much smaller employers.

The implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing

In Mitford v. de Lasala, 666 P.2d 1000 (Alaska 1983), the Alaska Supreme Court held that the employee's contract "contained an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing," which in that case "would prohibit firing Mitford for the purpose of preventing him from sharing in future profits." The court later summarized the rule in Luedtke v. Nabors Alaska Drilling, Inc., 768 P.2d 1123 (Alaska 1989): "at-will employment contracts in Alaska contain an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing."

In Todeschi v. Sumitomo Metal Mining Pogo, LLC, 394 P.3d 562 (Alaska 2017), the jury was asked whether the employer acted "in a manner that a reasonable person would regard as unfair." The jury found a breach of the covenant and awarded past lost income, even though it rejected the employee's disability and workers' compensation discrimination claims on the same facts.

Public policy, inside the covenant

Alaska treats firings that violate public policy mainly through the covenant. In Knight v. American Guard & Alert, Inc., 714 P.2d 788 (Alaska 1986), the court wrote: "We have never rejected the public policy theory. Indeed, it seems that the public policy approach is largely encompassed within the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing." It reversed the dismissal of the employee's claim.

Luedtke explained where public policy comes from: the state's "constitution and statutes and, when they are silent, in its judicial decisions." The court recognized a public policy protecting employee privacy whose violation "may rise to the level of a breach of the implied covenant," but held that the employer's drug testing did not breach it on that record because employee safety was paramount.

Retaliatory discharge. In Lane (2024), the court repeated that "Retaliatory discharge can create a claim for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing." The employee shows "(1) she engaged in protected activity, (2) her employer subjected her to adverse employment action, and (3) there is a causal connection." The court affirmed the employer's liability in Lane but vacated the damages judgment and sent two damages issues back to the trial court.

Handbooks and promises of job security

In Jones v. Central Peninsula General Hospital, 779 P.2d 783 (Alaska 1989), the court held "that employee policy manuals may modify at-will employment agreements, and that whether a given manual has modified an at-will employment agreement must be determined on the particular facts of each case." Jones also recounted the court's earlier holding in Eales v. Tanana Valley Medical-Surgical Group (1983) that an employer's representation that an employee would not be discharged as long as he performed his duties alters the terms of at-will employment.

Workers' compensation retaliation

AS 23.30.247(a) provides that an employer "may not discriminate in hiring, promotion, or retention policies or practices against an employee who has in good faith filed a claim for or received benefits under this chapter," and that an employer who does so "is liable to the employee for damages to be assessed by the court in a private civil action." Subsection (b) says the section does not create employment rights not otherwise in existence. For the benefits side, see Alaska workers' compensation laws.

Other Alaska retaliation statutes

• Jury service: AS 09.20.037 bars an employer from depriving an employee of employment, or threatening, coercing or penalizing an employee, for receiving or responding to a jury summons, serving as a juror, or attending court for prospective jury service. The employee may sue to recover lost wages and other damages and may seek reinstatement.
• Wage complaints: AS 23.10.135(6) makes it a violation to discharge or discriminate against an employee for filing a complaint or starting a proceeding under Alaska's wage and hour act, or for testifying or being about to testify in one.
• Paid sick leave: AS 23.10.067(5) bars retaliation, discrimination or other adverse action against an employee who uses or tries to use paid sick leave, and bars absence-control policies that count protected sick leave toward discipline. An employer that violates the sick-leave law is liable for "lost wages or damages as may be appropriate and allowable under state law" (AS 23.10.068(b)).
• Workplace safety: AS 18.60.089 bars firing an employee for filing a complaint or starting a proceeding about occupational safety and health standards. The employee must "within 30 days after the violation occurs, file a complaint with the commissioner," and the attorney general may sue for relief including rehiring or reinstatement with back pay.
• State military service: AS 26.05.075 requires a leave of absence for members of the organized militia called to active state service, and a returning member "is entitled to return to the employee's former position, or a comparable position, at the pay, seniority, and benefit level the employee would have had."
• Voting: under AS 15.15.100 a voter without enough time outside work hours may take time off to vote without loss of pay, and an employer that refuses it or deducts the time from wages commits an offense (AS 15.56.100). No private damages remedy is stated.
• Crime victims: AS 12.61.017 bars an employer from penalizing a crime victim for attending court to testify when subpoenaed or asked by the prosecutor, or for reporting the offense to police or taking part in the investigation. A victim who suffers a pecuniary loss may sue for actual damages and punitive damages of three times the actual damages.
• Medicaid fraud actions: AS 09.58.070 protects an employee of a medical assistance provider who is fired or otherwise retaliated against for lawful acts in furtherance of an action under Alaska's medical assistance false claims law (AS 09.58), with the same relief available under AS 39.90.120.
• Nurses: AS 08.68.279 bars firing a nurse for refusing a nursing-care task delegated by a superior if the nurse alleges it was improperly delegated, reports the attempted delegation to the Board of Nursing within 24 hours, and the board finds it was improperly delegated.
• Marijuana: no protection. AS 17.38.220 says nothing in Alaska's marijuana law requires an employer to permit or accommodate marijuana use in the workplace or affects employer policies restricting employees' use. Our research found no statute protecting off-duty use.

Whistleblowing

The Alaska Whistleblower Act protects public employees who report a matter of public concern to a public body or take part in an inquiry held by one (AS 39.90.100(a)), and allows a civil action in which "the court may grant appropriate relief, including punitive damages" (AS 39.90.120(a)). Our research found no general whistleblower statute for private-sector workers; they rely on the covenant and the specific statutes above. For more, see Alaska whistleblower laws.

Constructive discharge in Alaska

Resigning can count as a firing. In Lane (2024), the court said: "To prove constructive discharge, employees must show that reasonable persons in their position would have felt compelled to resign." A constructive discharge satisfies the "discharged" element of a wrongful termination claim.

Wrongful termination deadlines in Alaska

EEOC deadline. The EEOC's San Francisco District Office and Seattle Field Office both say an individual in Alaska has 300 days from the date of alleged harm to file a charge against an employer with 15 or more employees, or 20 or more for age. For smaller employers, both pages say the charge "must be filed with the appropriate state or local agency within the time limits prescribed by state or local laws." Those limits are 300 days for the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights (6 AAC 30.230(b)) and 180 days for the Anchorage Equal Rights Commission (AMC 5.40.010). The Seattle office lists those figures; the San Francisco office's page still shows older figures (180 and 120 days).

Lawsuit deadline. In Beegan v. State, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, 195 P.3d 134 (Alaska 2008), the court said that "claims based on AS 18.80 must be brought within two years of the offending conduct." Beegan also applied equitable tolling where the employee first pursued the Commission, but tolling depends on the facts and is not automatic.

Covenant and public-policy claims. Our research did not find an Alaska decision settling which limitations period applies. Alaska has a three-year period for actions "upon a contract or liability, express or implied" (AS 09.10.053) and a two-year period for injury to rights "not arising on contract" (AS 09.10.070(a)(2)). Courts decide which applies, so get legal advice promptly. The same goes for the retaliation statutes that state no deadline of their own, where the two-year period for an action "upon a liability created by statute" (AS 09.10.070(a)(5)) may also apply.

Where to file in Alaska

• The Commission: the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights takes complaints, which must be written and verified (AS 18.80.100(a)).
• Anchorage Equal Rights Commission: for discrimination within Anchorage, a verified written complaint within 180 days of the act (AMC 5.40.010).
• Superior court, directly: AS 22.10.020(i) says a person injured by an act prohibited under AS 18.80 "may apply to the superior court for relief." No agency step or right-to-sue letter is required, and Beegan held the employee there was entitled to proceed both before the Commission and in court.
• A caution on doing both: the Commission's executive director may dismiss a complaint if the person has started, or notified the Commission of intent to start, a proceeding in another forum on the same facts (AS 18.80.112(b)(4)). In Grundberg v. Alaska State Commission for Human Rights, 333 P.3d 1 (Alaska 2014), the court upheld such a dismissal after a lawsuit was filed on the same facts.
• The EEOC: for federal claims, through the EEOC Public Portal or by phone at 1-800-669-4000 when a deadline is near.
• Workplace safety retaliation: a complaint with the commissioner within 30 days (AS 18.60.089).

What a court or the Commission can award

The Commission. AS 18.80.130(a) says "The commission may not order an award of noneconomic or punitive damages in a case." In employment cases it may order back pay; hiring, reinstatement or upgrading; and front pay for not more than one year if reinstatement is inappropriate, reduced by what the employee could have earned with reasonably diligent efforts. It may also award reasonable attorney fees when it considers that appropriate (AS 18.80.130(e)).

Superior court. The court "may enjoin any act, practice, or policy which is illegal under AS 18.80 and may order any other relief, including the payment of money, that is appropriate" (AS 22.10.020(i)). In Beegan, the court held that an earlier win before the Commission did not bar a claim for noneconomic damages in court, because the remedies available in court differ. Our research found no cap written into AS 18.80 and no decision on whether Alaska's general damages limits in AS 09.17.010 and 09.17.020 apply to these claims.

Other statutes. Workers' compensation retaliation: damages assessed by the court (AS 23.30.247(a)). Jury service: lost wages, other damages and reinstatement (AS 09.20.037). Paid sick leave: lost wages or damages (AS 23.10.068(b)).

Federal law. Title VII and the ADA cap combined compensatory and punitive damages at $50,000 to $300,000 depending on employer size, with back pay outside the cap (42 U.S.C. 1981a(b)(3)); the wrongful termination guide lists the tiers.

Practical steps after a firing in Alaska

Write down the date you were fired, who told you, the reason given, and any complaint, injury, sick-leave use or jury summons involved, and keep copies of the handbook, messages, reviews and the termination notice. The shortest Alaska clock is 30 days for a workplace-safety retaliation complaint, so check that first if it applies. Our research did not locate an Alaska statute requiring a private employer to give a written reason for a firing.

If the employer offers money for a release, read it before signing: a release can give up the claims described here. Our Alaska severance pay laws page covers those agreements, and the wrongful termination guide has more on preparing for a claim.

Recent changes and pending bills

• Paid sick leave (2025): Ballot Measure 1, now codified at AS 23.10.065 to 23.10.069, started sick-leave accrual on July 1, 2025. Employers with 15 or more employees must provide one hour per 30 hours worked, up to 56 hours a year; smaller employers up to 40 hours a year (AS 23.10.066). Its anti-retaliation clause is described above.
• HB 23 (34th Legislature), vetoed: the bill would have renamed the Commission the Alaska State Commission for Civil Rights, narrowed the nonprofit exclusion from the "employer" definition, and added a defense for religious organizations hiring for religious work. The Legislature's bill page shows "VETOED BY GOVERNOR" with a status date of June 18, 2026. None of those changes is law; as of October 10, 2026 the bill page lists no override vote.
• SB 189 and HB 161 (34th Legislature): bills to change the paid sick leave requirements, last shown in committee in spring 2025. Not law.
• Lane (February 9, 2024): the Alaska Supreme Court restated the retaliatory-discharge and constructive-discharge standards quoted above.

Related

• Wrongful termination laws by state
• Alaska at-will employment laws
• Alaska workers' compensation laws
• Alaska whistleblower laws
• Alaska severance pay laws

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Alaska wrongful termination law (the Alaska Human Rights Law, AS 18.80, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and Alaska's retaliation statutes) and the federal laws that apply in Alaska. It is not legal advice. The information was verified on October 10, 2026. For advice about your situation, contact the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights, the EEOC, a legal aid office or a lawyer licensed in Alaska.

Last updated: October 10, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sue for wrongful termination in Alaska?

Alaska is at-will, but a firing can be challenged when it breaks a statute such as the Alaska Human Rights Law, a contract or handbook promise, or the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing that Alaska reads into at-will jobs (Mitford v. de Lasala, 1983).

How long do I have to file a discrimination complaint in Alaska?

The Alaska State Commission for Human Rights says a complaint must be drafted, notarized and filed within 300 days of the discriminatory act. A lawsuit under AS 18.80 must be brought within two years (Beegan v. State, 2008).

Do I have to file with the Alaska Human Rights Commission before suing?

No. AS 22.10.020(i) lets a person go directly to superior court, and no right-to-sue letter is needed. Filing a court case on the same facts can lead the Commission to dismiss your complaint (AS 18.80.112(b)(4)).

Does Alaska discrimination law cover small employers?

Yes. AS 18.80.300(5) defines an employer as anyone with one or more employees in Alaska, except certain nonprofit social, fraternal, charitable, educational or religious organizations.

What is the EEOC deadline in Alaska?

The EEOC's San Francisco and Seattle offices say 300 days from the date of alleged harm for employers with 15 or more employees, or 20 or more for age.

Can the Alaska Human Rights Commission award damages for emotional distress?

No. AS 18.80.130(a) bars the Commission from awarding noneconomic or punitive damages; it can order back pay, reinstatement and up to one year of front pay. A court may order any appropriate relief under AS 22.10.020(i).

Is there a public policy exception in Alaska?

Yes, largely within the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Knight v. American Guard & Alert (1986) said the court has never rejected the public policy theory, and Lane (2024) said retaliatory discharge can breach the covenant.

Can I be fired for using paid sick leave in Alaska?

No. AS 23.10.067(5) bars retaliation or other adverse action against an employee who uses or tries to use paid sick leave, and AS 23.10.068(b) makes the employer liable for lost wages or damages.