Newcorp Liability Analysis

Executive Summary

This analysis will assess three legal encounters as experienced by NewCorp Inc. The legal principles associated with each encounter will also be discussed. Substantive answers for resolution of each encounter will be provided, along with the rights and liabilities for both NewCorp Inc. and its employees.

NewCorp Liability Analysis

Legal Encounter 1

Facts and Assumptions

NewCorp Inc. hired Pat as a real property manager in the state of Vermont. When NewCorp offered Pat the job, he accepted and moved his wife and children 300 miles away. Pat’s wife quit her job to seek employment in Vermont.

After three months, Pat was told that “things were not working out” and that he would be discharged with 30 days severance pay. Pat received no previous indication that his performance was less than satisfactory and was shocked by his termination. Pat signed an acknowledgement of employment at will but expected a disciplinary process to be followed based on information in the company’s personnel manual. The personnel manual Pat received upon employment states:

Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance/Corrective Action Plan

If the job performance of an employee is unsatisfactory, the employee will be notified of the deficiency and placed on a corrective action plan. If the employee’s performance does not improve to a satisfactory level in the specified period of time, termination will follow (Messinger, 2010).

Pat also believes his release may be related to a recent school board meeting where he expressed the unpopular opinion that sports funds should be equally allocated among all athletic programs. His relationship with NewCorp was not expressed during this meeting.

Rights and Liabilities

Vermont is an at-will employment state whereas employees may be terminated for any reason so long as it’s not illegal (Lawyers.com website, 2010). The fact remains that Pat believed that the company observed employment at will with exceptions because...