One way to reduce the possibility of a lawsuit (or look good to a judge if you are sued) is to refrain from cutting off employees from talking during the termination meeting. Take the extra time to let workers tell their side of the story before you fire them.
Recent case: Leandra worked at a Nutrisystem call center until she was fired for allegedly spending work time on personal projects, dropping calls and treating callers rudely.
She sued, claiming the true firing reason was retaliation for an earlier complaint about rude co-workers. Leandra also claimed that she hadn’t dropped any calls. Rather, she said, she had been issued a defective phone that sometimes cut off callers.
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But Nutrisystem was ready. It told the judge that before it made the final discharge decision, it let Leandra explain her actions. At that time, Leandra admitted doing personal work while she was supposed to be handling calls.
Plus, when Leandra informed HR that she hadn’t dropped the calls, the company checked her equipment. It found nothing wrong, so it fired her.
The court said Nutrisystem acted fairly and legally. It fired Leandra for legitimate business reasons. The case was dismissed. (Allen v. Nutrisystem, No. 13-2505, 3rd Cir.)
Final note: Although employers can fire at-will employees for any nondiscriminatory reason (or no reason at all), it helps to always have a fair and reasonable one. That way, employees can’t argue they were singled out because of membership in a protected class.
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