Wrongful termination cases are lawsuits in which employees seek damages from employers who fire them without cause. As with most civil court cases, few wrongful termination cases ever reach court. They are usually privately settled between the parties involved. If a case gets to court, over half of all cases are decided in favor of the plaintiff. An employee can claim that his or her termination has violated public policy; these cases fall into two categories: retaliation and discrimination. A retaliation case claims that an employee is fired for reporting the employer's illegal activities, or for serving on a jury. Since many state courts have decided that discrimination violates public policy, this also constitutes wrongful termination. Most wrongful termination court cases involve either retaliation and discrimination, or both, but plaintiffs are less successful in winning them. A plaintiff can also recover emotional distress and punitive damages in these cases.