...Law | Exceptions, Risks, and Direction | Ehren Stellrecht, Sadie Nelson, Jesse McNaught BUS 305-01 | Introduction Employers today take many risks in running their businesses. Whether they are large or small employers, hiring and firing personnel is a fact of business. Termination (and therefore hiring) is increasingly viewed with caution, in part, because of the uncertainty regarding the law surrounding termination of employment. We will examine the law pertaining to employment relationships by exploring the employment-at-will doctrine. We will show how the at-will doctrine has evolved since its inception; then we will discuss whether the United States is generally moving toward just-cause employment. History and Explanation of the At-will Employment Doctrine Horace Wood is attributed with the creation of the at-will doctrine in 1877 in a legal treatise called Master and Servant where he described at-will employment. Some scholars say the United States had no such doctrine in the common law before this time and the use of Wood’s treatise in case law allowed a large step to be taken away from the English idea of employment rights. One oft quoted, early decision describing and favoring the at-will doctrine is in a Tennessee case, Payne v. Western & Atlantic Railroad Co. in which the judge declares “All may dismiss their employees at will, be they many or few, for good cause, for no cause[,] or even for cause morally wrong...
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...generally can be fired for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all; judicial exceptions to the rule seek to prevent wrongful termination. There are three exceptions to the doctrine that are recognized across the 50 states. These exceptions address employment terminations that are in line with the doctrine requirements but are probably not justified [Muhl, 2001]. Public-policy exception Under the public-policy exception to employment at will, an employee is wrongfully discharged when the termination is against an explicit, well-established public policy of the State. For example, in most States, an employer cannot terminate an employee for filing a workers’ compensation claim after being injured on the job, or for refusing to break the law at the request of the employer. The public-policy exception is the most widely accepted exception, recognized in 43 of the 50 States [Muhl, 2001]. Implied-contract exception The second major exception to the employment-at-will doctrine is applied when an implied contract is formed between an employer and employee, even though no express, written instrument regarding the employment relationship exists. Although employment is typically not governed by a contract, an employer may make oral or written representations to employees regarding job security or procedures that will be followed when adverse employment actions are taken. If so, these representations may create a contract for employment. This exception is recognized in 38 of the...
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...Employment at will doctrine states employers can terminate an employee for good cause, for bad cause, or cause morally wrong without fear of legal recourse (Halbert, Ingulli, 2012). Every state in the country operates under this law but with exceptions and that’s where the waters get murky. The multitude of exceptions found state by state produce a variety of interpretations and applications of how the employment at will should be applied (Gibson, Lindley, 2010). The first exception to the employment at will law came when the United States Supreme Court ruled employers could not punish or fire employees for organizing into unions(Halbert, Ingulli, 2012). The unions use collective barging agreements to regulate working conditions for employees. These conditions include that union workers cannot be terminated without just cause (Gibson, Lindley, 2010). The Supreme Court, also included other types of formal employment contracts in this exception ruling as long as the contract does not include an at will clause (Muhl, 2001). The onset of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act made it illegal to terminate an employee on the basis of their race, sex, religion, or national origin (Halbert, Ingulli, 2012). Not until the 1980’s did the bulk of the exceptions take place. The following exceptions are considered to be the main exceptions to the employment at will law as viewed by 50 states. The Public Policy This exception prevents dismissal for reasons that violate a State’s Public Policy...
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...Employment-at-will states that an employer can terminate an employee for any reason; good, bad or indifferent. It also allows the employee to leave the employment of the company at any time and for any reason. Over the years following the adoption of the employment-at-will doctrine, there have been some exceptions applied that employers must follow when it comes to terminating their employees In the 1980s, employees started to lose more when terminated. This was due to the increase in the number of people working for someone else. Upon termination, employees were losing pension, insurance, and any other benefit they were receiving while employed. Employees started to become more and more dissatisfied with the employment-at-will doctrine and started to challenge it by bringing suits to the courts claiming Wrongful Discharge. (Employment at will, 2013) Many of these suits won and the courts created exceptions to the employment-at-will practice. These exceptions now make it difficult for an employer to terminate an employee without the individual trying to sue for damages. These exceptions can be broadly grouped into 4 categories. These are Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “breach of contract by the employer, breach of an implied Covenant of Good Faith and fair dealing, and violation of public policy by the employer.” (Employment at will, para 5) The most well-known exception to the rule is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII states that a person...
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...violation of public policy or breach of a covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and see what the outcome would be. * a. An employee was suspended pending discharge for sleeping and “loafing” on the job. The employer offered to change the penalty to suspension without pay if the plaintiff would sign a “last-chance agreement” under which he waived and released “any claims, suits, or causes of action” against the defendant. The employee refused to sign because he was unwilling to waive his rights to state unemployment benefits or workers' compensation. Under state statute, agreements to waive such rights are invalid. The employee is discharged. [Edelberg v. Leco Corp., 236 Mich. App. 177 (1999).] * b. A nurse is asked by her employer to sign a backdated Medicare form. She refuses and is terminated that day. As a healthcare provider, she is required to complete that particular form. [Callantine v. Staff Builders, Inc., 271 F.3d 1124 (8th Cir. 2001).] Exceptions to the Doctrine of Employment-at-Will States vary in terms of their recognition of the following exceptions to the doctrine of employment-at-will. Some states recognize one or more exceptions while others might recognize none at all. In addition, the definition of these exceptions also may vary from state to state. * • Bad faith, malicious, or retaliatory termination in violation of public policy. * • Termination in breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. * • Termination in breach...
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...employers to dismiss employee only for cause. Some of the reasons given for the retention of the at-will presumption include respect for freedom of contract, employer deference, and the belief that both employers and employees favor an at-will employment relationship over job security. At-will means that an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason excluding some discriminatory reasons, or for no reason without incurring legal liability. Similarly, an employee has right to leave a job at any time for any or no reason with no adverse legal consequences. Paul Karen (Karen, 2013) also states that: At-will also means that an employer can change the terms of the employment relationship with no notice and no consequences. For example, an employer can alter wages, terminate benefits, or reduce paid time off. In its unadulterated form, the U.S. at-will rule leaves employees vulnerable to arbitrary and sudden dismissal, a limited or on-call work schedule depending on the employer’s needs, and unannounced cuts in pay and benefits. The at-will presumption is a default rule that can be modified by contract. For example, a contract may provide for a specific term of employment or allow termination for cause only. Typically, U.S. companies negotiate individual employment agreements only with high-level employees. Collective bargaining agreements usually provide that represented employees may only be terminated for cause. Cause generally includes reasons such as poor...
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...Doctrine Whistleblower Strategy Yasser Benadada Strayer University Professor Holeman Table of Contents Employment at will Doctrine 2 Public-policy exception 2 Implied-contract exception 3 Covenant-of-good-faith and Tort based exceptions 3 Evaluation each of the eight (8) scenarios: 4 Recommend whistleblower policy 7 Fundamental Items to Whistleblower policy 8 References 10 Employment at will Doctrine According to Clarkson, Miller, Jentz & Cross (2004, p.235), employment at will is a common law doctrine under which either party may terminate an employment relationship at any time for any reason, unless a contract specifies otherwise. Today this common law doctrine is widely used and applies in every state except Montana. However, state and federal statutes that govern employment relationships prevent the doctrine from being applied under certain circumstances. As such, employees who are wrongfully discharged may bring legal action against their employer based on violations of employment contract or statutory law. These state and federal statutes collectively are known as the exceptions to the employment at will doctrine that the courts adopted because of the harsh effects on employees. Public-policy exception According to Sentell & Robbins (2008), under the public-policy exception to employment at will, an employee is wrongfully discharged when the termination is against an explicit, well-established public policy of the State. For example...
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...Dominique Lofton The Exceptions: IV- Act of the Shipper case study My case study will be over the act of the shipper that is discussed in chapter 9. It brought up some very interesting information on who is, or will be held liable if any damages, loss, and delay happens to the freight. So when it’s an act of the shipper the carrier will not be held liable. I will give you examples and also discuss when the act of a shipper reduces a carrier liability. Before I get into the exceptions I first must give you the general rule so that you can better understand what the exceptions are for act of the shipper. If there were any damage, delay, or loss because of the negligence or oversight of the shipper, consignee or any other party with a legal right to exercise authority over the freight, the carrier cannot be found liable. The shipper in this instance is the carrier. That is the company that gets goods from point A to point B. It can be a car, bus, van, train, or plane. In legal terms the meaning of shipper says that the carrier is not liable for any losses, damages, or delays as a result of acts or omissions by a person, consignor, consignee and whomever else physically handles the goods in that capacity. When this exception is used most often is when there have been some alleged deficiencies in either the loading by the consignor or the rare situation of unloading by the consignee. Another example of when this exception could be used is when the freight is packaged or other...
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...that need to be considered and would be under the one’s own discretion as to enforcement. The stipulations are what cause this to be a discretionary statute. You have several factors that may or may not allow an employee to be able to receive the benefits upon termination of working for the company whether it is on their own accord or by the company. According to this statute the State of New Mexico lists three specific ways in which an employee can be denied their benefits upon termination of employment. The first instance in which an employee may be denied their benefits is when an employee leaves the employment position voluntarily with good cause. The employee will then not be able to claim unemployment benefits. If an employee has been found to have been performing misconduct which was associated with the individual’s employment, the individual will not have right’s to benefit’s under this statute. The final instance in which an individual will be denied the right’s to benefits is when the individual has failed without a good reason to be available for work or show up to work when scheduled to be so. This statute does have exceptions however and they should be taken into consideration during this research. It should also be noted that not every statute has exceptions. The three exceptions to the statue are as follows. The first exception is that if the individual is pregnant or has potentially terminated a pregnancy. If this is the case the individual...
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...her job responsibilities, but consistently “tells” her boss that she is “a good worker and a genius” and that he does not “appreciate her”. Even after a few months of training and support, she is unable to use the computer tools to be productive and efficient in completing the required tasks. “The employment-at-will doctrine avows that, when an employee does not have a written employment contract and the term of employment is of indefinite duration, the employer can terminate the employee for good cause, bad cause, or no cause” (Muhl, 2012). Jennifer does not meet the requirements and skills she requires to perform the tasks for her job. This would presume that she lied on her application and interviewing process. The firm hired her based on those qualifications and now that she is unable to perform her task, she is no longer an asset to the company. For this reason, she should univocally be laid off from the company with no chance of being re-hired. The employment-at-will doctrine states that an employee is hired based on his/her will and may choose to leave at anytime post-employment. The same applies to the employers in the sense that they can fire her for good cause, bad cause or no cause. The employer does not hold any legal liability as long as no contract was signed upon employment. Out of the 3 exceptions of the will, only one applies in Virginia which is public policy. This exception states that an employer may not terminate the employee if public policy supports...
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........................................p1 Exceptions to Employment-At-Will………..…………………………………….……p2 Case Scenario Evaluations…………………………………………………….……....p3 Recommendations CEO……………………………………………………………….p5 References /Academic Resources……………………………..………………………p7 EMPLOYMENT -AT-WILL DOCTRINE In this paper, I will summarize the employment-at-will doctrine in the United States. I will evaluate the following situations: • Summarize the employment-at-will doctrine and evaluate each of the eight (8) scenarios described by determining: • Whether you can legally fire the employee; include an assessment of any pertinent exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine. • What action you should take to limit liability and impact on operations; specify which ethical theory best supports your decision. • Take a position on whether or not you would recommend to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) that the company adopt a whistleblower policy. Support the position. • Justify at least three (3) fundamental items that should be included in a whistleblower policy. Provide a rationale for your selection of each of the three (3) recommended items. THE AT-WILL PRESUMPTION Employment relationships are presumed to be “at-will” in all U.S. states except Montana. The U.S. is one of a handful of countries where employment is predominantly at-will. Most countries throughout the world allow employers to dismiss employees only for cause. Some reasons given for our retention of...
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...nineteenth century, which gave employers the power to “dismiss their employees at will for good cause, for no cause, or even for cause morally wrong, without being thereby guilty of a legal wrong”(Halber,Ingulli). Although it is clearly stated about the employment-at-will and how employers can fire employees for anything, there are some exceptions to the rule. Three Key Exceptions The first exception to employment-at-will is the public-policy exception. With the public-policy exception, an employee is wrongfully terminated when it is against an explicit, established policy of the State the company is out of. The employer cannot fire an employee if they have a worker’s compensation claim if they were hurt at work. “It is recognized in 43 out of the 50 states. A couple states that do not recognize this are Nebraska, Florida, and New York”. (bls.gov, pg. 5) The public policy exception is the one exception that is mostly regarded in the U.S. The second exception to the employment-at-will is the implied-contract exception. This happens when the it is an implied contract between both parties, even though there is no written contract. The employer may make verbal or written representations to employees regarding the security of their job. Some states that do not follow this are Missouri, Texas, and Florida. The last exception is the covenant of good faith exception. This is one exception that is only recognized in eleven states....
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...doctrine states that the business should have the freedom to discharge or retain employees at will for good cause, for no cause, or even for bad cause, without thereby being guilty of an unlawful act. It is a right which an employee may exercise in the same way, to the same extent, for the same cause or want of cause as the employer. In essence, the doctrine recognizes that the wage owner of his labor services, and the business the full owner of his capital. Each is free to exchange on whatever terms they see fit. Thus, the doctrine of employment at-Will is well established in the American legal system. I recent years, however, this doctrine has been eroding. Many employers now find that the legal environment relative to the right to fire is confusing and ripe with potential liability. In essence, employment at will a term that is music in the ears of most employers is under attack. During the early 19th century, the United States adopted the English rule as part of their common law. By the late 1800’s, however, most jurisdictions had abandoned this principle. Reasoning was that restrictions on terminating employment were inconsistent with the laissez-faire philosophy dominant in the United States. Thus, the “American Rule” became that an employment contract of indefinite duration was terminable at the will of either party, for cause, for no cause, or even for bad cause. Subject to specific statutory restrictions, an employer has the right to discharge an employee at any time...
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...employees the right to terminate terms of their employment “for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all” (Halbert Ingulli, 2012, page 46). There are some restrictions to the at- will doctrine in which an employer may not terminate an employee’s employment. Some of the following restrictions are “employer from terminating employees in violation of well-established public policy of the state”, “filing a workers' compensation claim after an on-the-job injury” and/or “refusal to violate the law at the employer's request” in the article Employment-At-Will Doctrine. The following violations can best be classified under three main exceptions to the At-Will place of employment. They are Public Policy, Discrimination or retaliation, and Implied Contract. We will discuss the three examples of scenarios and one real world situations and see if they fall into one of the three exceptions to At-Will employment. The first example is scenario three, Bill using his company-issued BlackBerry to run his own business on the side. Let’s assume that when Bill was given the blackberry, he signed a company property agreement form stating usage and restrictions. In the company property agreement form, it never states how Bill can use the device but it does state the replacement cost of the device, returning of the device without mentioning violations of misuse of the device. The employer under the agreement would not have just cause for termination based on the company’s agreement therefore Bill...
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