Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment

Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment

University of Phoenix

Business Law/531

May 17, 2010

Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment

Wrongful termination of employment can be an expensive risk company’s take when firing an individual without merit. The scenarios with NewCorp will demonstrate the importance for managers to understand their company’s liability in determining the appropriateness of firing an individual, and the regulatory and compliance requirements that need to be followed. The three scenarios with NewCorp will cover possible wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and safety in the workplace in terms of the risks and opportunities for the company and its employees. This discussion will cover those risks and opportunities, the regulatory and compliance requirements backed by legal principles in the readings for each scenario. Legal Encounter 1

The scenario in this case details how Pat was hired for a job with NewCorp and uprooted his family to move to Vermont. After three months on the job, Pat was told his position was not working out and he would be terminated with 30 days of severance pay. Pat was employed “at- will” and his understanding of this meant he could be fired at anytime, but with written notice of unsatisfactory performance and a corrective action plan as detailed in the employee manual signed at his time of accepting the job. The employee handbook could be argued as an implied contract between employer and employee and NewCorp did not meet their expectations by giving him any notice of poor performance or any corrective action plan. Jennings (2006) states “Many courts have implied the existence of a contract because of the presence of promises, procedures, and policies in an employee personnel manual” (p. 727). The liability and risk issue is that NewCorp could be liable to Pat because the handbook states “If the job performance of an employee is...