Employment at Will

Assignment 1: Employment-At-Will Doctrine

Major

Dr. Lynn

Law and Ethics in the Business Environment

July 28, 2013

Introduction

Getting ready for an Initial Public Offering is a stressful time for any upper level position such as CEO or COO of a company. The part that makes it even worse is when employees are performing acts that are not positive for the company and are against the employment-at-will doctrine. This doctrine will help guide employees against wrongful acts and outline the consequences if these acts are done. On top of this, a whistleblower policy is important so employees feel at ease to report any illegal acts when witnessed. All in all, the employment-at-will and whistleblower policy work in conjunction to help a company grow and prosper. The following paper will go into detail of these two documents.

Employment-at-will

An employment-at-will doctrine is a powerful document that details that the employer or employee may terminate the contract of employment at any time for any reason permitted by law with or without cause and with or without notice. It was used in the 19th century as a legal rule to dismiss employees for good cause, no cause, or for a cause that is morally wrong (Halbert, 2012). It was said by Justice Harlan that “the right of an employee to quit the services of the employer, for whatever reason, is the same as the right of the employer, for whatever reason, to dispense with the services of such employee” (Halbert, 2012). This puts into perspective that both employers and employees should have the same rights when it comes to termination.

Given the eight different scenarios described, each one has a unique outcome as it pertains to the employment-at-will document, as well as the ethical theory that would validate the liability and termination decision. Out of these situations, there are some with a clearer cut answer and some that have a little more depth to them. There are three main exceptions to the...