Legal Encounters

Legal Encounters

LAW/531

September 13, 2010

Mike Kelley

Legal Encounters

Part One

Pat Grey is citing the Newcorp Personnel Manual presented upon employment as the basis for his wrongful termination of employment. Grey contends that he was wrongfully discharged because the provision within the Personnel Manual limited Newcorp’s freedom to terminate his employment at-will. Grey also claims Newcorp gave him no indication of job performance issues and according to the Personnel Manual Newcorp would notify him if job performance issues occurred and then place him on a Corrective Action Plan (CAP). Grey understood that if satisfactory improvement did not occur after the CAP, he then would be discharged. Finally, Grey was participating in a non-company related meeting in which he claims a Newcorp senior manager disagreed with Grey’s statements and was then noticeably unfriendly. Grey believes that this particular incident contributed to his termination with Newcorp.

Grey has implied several legal issues for support of his claim:

• Wrongful discharge because of limited freedom to discharge at-will.

• Breach of contract because of the provision within the personnel manual in regard to unsatisfactory performance/corrective action plan.

• Retaliation based on a negative incident at an off-site non-company meeting.

I have reviewed the information within the claims Grey has made against Newcorp and have provided an assessment. Vermont is an at-will state and therefore Newcorp retains the right to terminate employment as long as it doesn’t violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. There is an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine. Many jurisdictions recognize employee manuals as exceptions to at-will employment and if the manual states reason for termination, the courts will likely find the language binds the employer (Wilson, 2006). Vermont is one of the states that honor the implied...