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Hiring & Firing › Wrongful Termination › At-Will Employment

Hiring & Firing refers to the process of recruiting, interviewing and offering employment and the process of evaluating performance and dismissing employees. Hiring & Firing is a highly regulated area and... more +
Hiring & Firing refers to the process of recruiting, interviewing and offering employment and the process of evaluating performance and dismissing employees. Hiring & Firing is a highly regulated area and can create tremendous liability for employers who fail to properly adhere to acceptable employment practices. Some of the potential pitfalls in this area stem from discriminatory hiring practices, improper performance evaluations, and retaliatory firings.  less -
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

No wrongful discharge claim based on exercise of rights under state Constitution, Tennessee high court says

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on

The Tennessee Supreme Court has recently held that there is no legal claim for wrongful discharge where an employer terminates an employee because the employee exercised a right set forth in the state Constitution. The...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Finds Internal Complaint About Care Recommendations Supports Wrongful Discharge Claim

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North Carolina is an at-will employment state, but recognizes a limited exception from that rule for terminations that violate the state’s public policy. Courts have wrestled for years over the meaning of public policy and...more

Clark Hill PLC

Colorado Court of Appeals Adopts Definition of “Actual Discharge” Applied by Federal Courts in Colorado Employment Law Wrongful...

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In a case of first impression in Colorado, the Colorado Court of Appeals adopts a test for evaluating a claim of actual discharge under Colorado law. In this Colorado employment law case, Plaintiff ex-employee, Ms. Potts,...more

BakerHostetler

New and Proposed New York and New York City Legislation

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The BakerHostetler Labor and Employment Practice Group keeps a close watch on new and upcoming employment and labor laws that could have a significant impact on our New York-based clients. This alert highlights just some of...more

Saiber LLC

New York State Senate Introduces New Wrongful Discharge Law

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On March 6, 2023, the New York State Senate introduced Senate Bill S05459, the Safeguarding Employees and Accountability for Termination (“SEAT”) Act, which, if enacted, will eliminate at-will employment in the State of New...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

The Doctrine of “Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Public Policy” Takes Flight Again in Decision of the Connecticut Supreme Court

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On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the Connecticut Supreme Court announced a significant new decision concerning lawsuits by employees alleging “wrongful discharge in violation of public policy.”  Most employers in Connecticut are...more

Bodman

Employers Beware! Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies and Expands Public-Policy Exception to At-Will Employment Presumption

Bodman on

On July 15, 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court clarified and, arguably, expanded the public-policy exception to the well-established at-will employment presumption in Michigan. Although the case may conclude differently after...more

McAfee & Taft

Home Depot employee’s wrongful discharge claim hammered

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Under some circumstances, Oklahoma law recognizes that terminated employees may pursue a public policy wrongful discharge claim against a former employer. These claims allow a narrow exception to the employment at-will status...more

Jaburg Wilk

What Arizona Employees Need to Know about Pursuing Wrongful Termination Claims

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Arizona is an at-will employment state. This means employers may terminate employees for any reason or no reason at all so long as the reason is not an illegal one. Several state and federal laws prohibit employers from...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Adds New Personnel Records Wrinkle to Public Policy Exception to Termination of At-Will...

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A recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the “SJC”) significantly expanded the Massachusetts common-law public policy exception to termination of at-will employees.  This decision, Meehan v. Med. Info....more

Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Finds that Employees Cannot be Terminated Merely for Filing a Rebuttal to a Personnel Record

Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP on

On December 17, 2021, Meehan v. Medical Information Technology, Inc., the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“SJC”) held that an employee’s filing a rebuttal to information placed in their personnel file that could...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules in Favor of Worker Fired for Rebutting Negative Performance Improvement Plan

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On December 17, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that an employee discharged for submitting a written rebuttal to his employer in response to the placement of negative information in his personnel...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Massachusetts Creates Exception to At-Will Employment for Employees Exercising the “Right of Rebuttal”

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On December 17, 2021, the highest state court in Massachusetts held that an employer may not terminate an employee solely for exercising his right to file a rebuttal to be included in his personnel file....more

Gray Reed

Falling Off the Fence: Can You Fire Those with Different Viewpoints?

Gray Reed on

Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux’s daughter Kathy “Kitten” was working for Approval Literary Agency in Blessing, Texas – that is until last month. Kitten, an associate literary agent with Approval Literary was sacked after her boss...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

New York City Kills At-Will Employment For Fast Food Workers

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

I was recently asked to speak to a Human Resources Management class at a local university about how American employment law is different from employment laws in other countries. While there are many things that distinguish...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Massachusetts Appeals Court Weighs In On Public Policy Exception To General At-Will Employee Termination Clause

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace on

The Massachusetts Appeals Court, in a slip op opinion issued on January 20, 2021, decided that at-will employees can be terminated for submitting rebuttal letters pursuant to G.L.c. 149, §52C (“Section 52C”), and cannot avail...more

Cozen O'Connor

NYC Council Considers Legislation to End At-Will Employment in the Fast Food Industry

Cozen O'Connor on

The New York City Council has proposed additional legislation that would have a major impact on businesses falling within the broad definition of “fast food establishments” and has scheduled a hearing on the bills for...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Supreme Court of Kentucky Rules That Firms May Require Lawyers to Sign Non-Solicitation Agreements That Exempt Legal Work

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A law firm can terminate an at-will lawyer who refuses to sign an agreement prohibiting them from soliciting the firm’s customers or clients following cessation of employment, according to the Supreme Court of Kentucky. In...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Does it Violate Public Policy to Terminate a Drunk Employee? “Absolut”-ly Not

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Seyfarth Synopsis:  Does Pennsylvania’s public policy preclude a nuclear power plant from terminating an employee for being drunk on the job? “No,” the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Indiana Court Declines To Expand At-Will Employment Exception

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Reaffirming Indiana’s “strong” presumption of at-will employment, the Indiana Court of Appeals has declined to expand the public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine to include an employee’s mistaken belief...more

Jaburg Wilk

What Is a “Wrongful Termination” in Arizona?

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Arizona is an “at-will” employment state. This means an employer can terminate you for any reason or no reason, except an unlawful reason. If you are terminated for an unlawful reason, then you may have a claim for wrongful...more

Burr & Forman

SC Supreme Court decides building official's public-policy case

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At-will employment is the normal employer-employee relationship in South Carolina. In 2004, the state legislature passed a law stating that handbooks that took certain reasonable steps did not create a contractual exception...more

Dickinson Wright

Avoiding Illegal Termination of Employees in Nevada

Dickinson Wright on

One of the many challenges for employers is that, occasionally, employees must be terminated. Unfortunately, sometimes those former employees claim to have been terminated illegally, giving rise to the risk of legal and...more

FordHarrison

Virginia Supreme Court Refuses to Expand Bowman Doctrine for Wrongful Termination of an At-Will Employee

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In Bowman v. State Bank of Keysville, the Virginia Supreme Court first recognized an exception to the employment at-will doctrine based upon an employer’s violation of public policy in the discharge of an employee. In...more

Littler

Virginia Supreme Court Denies Expansion of Public Policy Exception for Wrongful Termination Claims

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The Supreme Court of Virginia, in Francis v. National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts & Sciences, Inc., No. 160267 (Feb. 23, 2017), reaffirmed that the public policy exception to Virginia’s employment at-will doctrine...more

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