Legal Encounter 1 New Corp hired Pat as manager of real property in Vermont; this position is responsible for activities related to maintaining leased office space. Pat supervised 51 employees and lower-level supervisors, and he dealt with tenants who leased commercial space. Pat relocated from another city 300 miles away, moving his wife and children and selling and buying a home. His wife quit her job to seek employment in Vermont. After Pat had been working for three months, his boss explained that things were not working out and that Pat would be discharged with 30 days of severance pay. Pat was surprised because his employer gave no previous indication of any problem. New Corp’s personnel manual, which had been provided to Pat upon his acceptance of employment, outlined the process for dealing with unsatisfactory employees: Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance/Corrective Action Plan
If the job performance of an employee is unsatisfactory, the employee will be notified of the deficiency and placed on a corrective action plan. If the employee’s performance does not improve to a satisfactory level in the specified period of time, termination will follow. Pat acknowledged that, upon employment, he signed an understanding that the company observed employment at will with respect to discharge, but believed the provision limited New Corp’s freedom to fire him at will. Pat also stated that New Corp’s senior management was noticeably unfriendly after Pat had been vocal at a local school board meeting. In the meeting, Pat insisted that sports funds should be allocated equally among all athletic programs, not just between boys’ football and basketball. His position was unpopular, and although no one at the meeting identified Pat as a New Corp employee, he believed this contributed to the decision to fire him. Answer
The New Corp did not follow the