DQ 6- 1
trooperwarxhw3
response6-1.docx1.
I enjoyed reading your post and agree with your examples. Even though most states and employee is considered “at-will”, an employee could be wrongfully discharged if they were discriminated against, public policy is violated, if a company policy has guidelines for termination and they were not followed, whistleblowing, if an employee is asked and refused to commit an illegal act, a breach of contract, or even if an employee feels as if they were forced to leave a job because their time there was made unbearable. There are state and federal laws that prohibit wrongful discharge (Doyle, 2019).
Doyle, A. (2019). How to Handle a Wrongful Termination. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-wrongful-termination-2061658
2.
The concept of employment at will means that employment is at the will of either the employee or the employer and that either can terminate the employment for any reason, or no reason at all, unless there is a contract specifying the terms and length of the employment. Other exceptions to employment at will are public policy issues, defamation, retaliatory discharge, and fairness. The exception of public policy for employment at will means that employees can’t be terminated for any reason that is conflicting to public policy such as discharging employees based on disability, age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, pregnancy, union membership, or submitting safety violation complaints with agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). An effort of limiting, isolating, or classifying employees in a way that would deny an individual of any employment opportunities for any of the given reasons would be in conflict with public policy. An employer’s right to terminate is not definite and is limited by the principles of public policy and implied terms of agreement between employee and employer. Typical responses for disciplinary actions include verbal or written counseling, suspension, or termination. Disciplinary actions or corrective action plans are designed to produce a more effective and productive employee. Anytime a decision to terminate an employee is used it should be reviewed by management or human resources so that there are no issues of wrongful discharge (Pozgar, 2016).
Pozgar, G.D. & Santucci, N.M. (2016). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration (12th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
3.
"The common law employment-at-will provides that employment is at the will of either the employer or the employee, where the employer or employee may terminate employment for any or no reason, unless there is a contract in place that specifies the terms and duration of employment" (Pozgar & Santucci, 2016, p. 492). Today, there are much fewer cases of employees being terminated at the discretion of the employer and without cause. This is part of the more forward thinking aspects of society and business, as well as the structures of businesses and corporations, which have changed dramatically in the past several decades.
"The public policy exception to the employment-at-will doctrine provides that employees may not be terminated for reasons that are contrary to public policy" (Pozgar & Santucci, 2016, p. 492). One of these public policies and resulting wrongful discharge occurs if an employee is terminated based on sex, race, pregnancy, religion, disability, age, national origin, and others (Pozgar & Santucci, 2016, p. 492). Another public policy that protects against wrongful termination is if an employee acts as a whisteblower, appropriately filing a complaint or taking appropriate action against another employer that has committed a wrongdoing. Part of the public policy, as under the False Claims Acts, also protects employees that refuse to participate in fraud. A third public policy states that employees are legally required to receive and take rest and lunch breaks (Pozgar & Santucci, 2016, p. 494). Termination for an employee taking said breaks is wrong. A fourth public policy protection is protection from reporting any patient abuse by other employees. Additionally, an employer is protected for "acting in good faith", not necessarily proving that mistreatment occurred (Pozgar & Santucci, 2016, p. 494). In healthcare, employees are required to report suspected abuse, and this extends to other employees that have committed abuse.
All of these public policy violations can result in wrongful termination. Any employee discharge needs to carefully reviewed so as to not break public policy. This requires detailed documentation of counseling, suspension, etc. (Pozgar & Santucci, 2016, p. 494). Several members of the management team should be involved to ensure any termination is legally approrpriate. There have been many documented court cases of wrongful termination, some resulting in punitive damages.
Pozgar, G. D., & Santucci, N. M. (2016). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration (12th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
