Firing

How to avoid a wrongful-discharge suit

08/15/2018

How can you discharge or discipline an employee without ending up in court? Here are seven key tests of whether there was “just cause” for your action.

OK to fire disabled worker who cannot perform job duties

08/08/2018

Sadly, some employee disabilities just can’t be accommodated, which means the employee can be terminated. Just make sure you can back up your contention that there was nothing that could be done to allow the employee to keep working.

Home Depot could pay for mishandled firing

08/02/2018

Maurice Rucker, a 60-year-old black man, was a long-time employee at a Home Depot store in Albany, N.Y. He doesn’t work there anymore. His response to a customer’s racist rant got him fired.

Resist temptation to rubber-stamp terminations

08/01/2018

Don’t just automatically approve a manager’s recommended discipline. Always conduct an independent investigation to verify that the manager is being fair and reasonable.

The First Amendment, patronage and political firing

07/24/2018

Public employers that fire workers following a controversial election must show that they would have fired the worker anyway.

Public-policy exception means at-will status doesn’t always apply

07/10/2018

A federal court interpreting Pennsylvania law has concluded that firing a worker for calling in a complaint to OSHA provides protection under the public-policy exception.

Gov’t employees enjoy free speech protection

07/10/2018

Government employees have more protection from termination than most private-sector workers do. Example: They have the right to comment on matters of public concern without being discharged for doing so.

Noncompete violation means no unemployment

06/26/2018

When an employee is fired for violating the terms of a noncompete, he won’t receive unemployment compensation because he committed willful act of wrongdoing, which bars benefits. It doesn’t matter if the employee’s supervisor was involved in the breach.

Firing: When and where?

06/21/2018

Firing employees is part of your job. And it’s never easy. But you can make it more bearable by choosing where and when to do the job.

Impartiality required when firing bias complainant

06/14/2018

Trying to fire a worker who has made discrimination claims against her supervisors? Think about assigning an impartial fact-finding decision-maker before you discharge.