Summarize the employment-at-will doctrine discussed in the text and then evaluate three (3) of the six (6) scenarios described by determining: a. Whether you can legally fire the employee; include an assessment of any pertinent exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine. b. The primary actions(s) that you should take to limit liability and impact on operations; specify the ethical theory that best supports your decision. According to the text the employment-at-will doctrine is a legal rule that developed in the nineteenth century, giving employers unfettered power to “dismiss their employees at will for good cause, for no cause, or even for cause morally wrong, without being thereby guilty of a legal wrong. Its legal …show more content…
In essence he is committing an act of stealing funds from the company when they have to pay for his personal phone calls. He was given the blackberry for company business, not his personal gain. Therefore, when he started using it for his own business he began stealing. Stealing is punishable in the criminal courts if the company chooses to press charges. Therefore, being fired should be the least of his worries. The company has grounds to fire him and proof of his wrong doing with telephone records. The second scenario is “After being disciplined for criticizing a customer in an email (sent from his personal email account on a company compute), Joe threatens to sue the company for invasion of privacy. In this case the company was right in disciplining Joe, because he not only used the company’s computer to possible damage a relationship with a customer, but he tried to cover it up by using his personal email address. The whole problem with this is that he used the company computer to access his personal email, which opens his personal email up to be monitored when utilizing the company’s network/wifi. Also, with his law suit, it has been proven that when utilizing the company owned material, you are subject to surveillance. A good example is in the text with Michael A. Smyth v. The Pillsbury Company. The judge found that the company had a write to access the email because during surveillance, there was proof of wrong doing that could potentially
Evaluate the situation in which Mason and Shepherd find themselves with respect to their existing employers. What legal and ethical issues do you see and how would you advise them to proceed?
The goal of communications is to make ethics a live, ongoing conversation. If ethics is something that is constantly addressed, referenced frequently in company meetings, and in personal conversations among managers and employees, then people are more aware and more willing to defend the company’s policies when they see or hear of problems. Employees will hold other employees responsible and accountable for living the company’s values.
An “at will” employee is an employee who agreed to a contract in which they can be fired at any time, for almost any reason. The law generally presumes that employees are employed at will unless they can prove otherwise.
7. Which is a strategy to use to help generate multiple options to solve a problem?
5 _____ refers to an employment relationship between an employer and an employee, under which either party can terminate the relationship without notice for any reason not prohibited by law.
employer would be at risk in an invasion of privacy lawsuit. A final issue is that of consistency.
1. What is the legal issue in this case? Linda Dillon appealed her case against her employer, Champion Jogbra, on the grounds of wrongful termination. The company’s progressive policy for disciplinary action was not applied. Therefore, Dillon makes her claim that her at will status was modified according to the employee handbook and practices. Employee’s handbook should be written clearly and reviewed by legal experts (Walsh, 2010). Champion Jogbra countered that Dillon was an at-will employee and she could be terminated at any time. Dillon also, argues against that the
9.Choose three (3) work-life conflicts that the HR Director should consider within the selected organization. Then, outline a policy geared toward resolving each conflict through the use of related employment laws. Justify your response.
The employment at will doctrine has always been a difficult matter to comprehend and America is the only country that practices it. Other countries such as Japan, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Sweden and France all have mandatory provisions that make it a requirement that employers must have a good reason for any termination of an employee. In the United States from the beginning of 1980s, the doctrine came under immense challenge as the employees felt dissatisfied with the doctrine. This is because they felt that they were more often discharged unfairly despite years of hard work in a company. This led to three exceptions being made to the doctrine that saw the number of employment fall between 2% to 5% that year. These exceptions are; 1. Where there is a breach of contract by an employer, 2. Where there is a breach of a covenant of Good faith and fair dealing, 3. Where the employer violates a public policy, which is part of a government policy (Sentell & Robbins 2008).
Like much of the United States’ common law, employee and employer rights within the United States can trace its roots back to England. According to the Statute of Laborers, a general hiring of labor for an unfixed term was presumed to be for a year, and a “master” could not “put away his servant” except for “reasonable cause.” Employment at-will’s origin in the United States have been hotly debated by legal scholars and there is still not a consensus as to where employment at-will doctrine actually developed. Traditionalists suggest that
3. In both the Swann and Leone cases the employers did not give the employee and option to explain or appeal their decisions. Should they have?
Employment At-Will gives the employer the right to terminate employment at any time for any reason, except an illegal one. In turn an employee can leave their job for any reason without any adverse legal affects. The purpose of this paper is to examine Employment At-Will and the advantages and disadvantages to both the employer and employee. It will analyze various workplace scenarios and determine the cause and effect. It will also examine the state of Georgia’s At-Will policy and a recent case involving it.
Working in human resources, I am exposed daily to situations and questions that involve the legal issues related to employment. Although I have some familiarity with employment law, legal issues in employment is an area that changes daily. The Legal Issues in Employment class has provided me with insight and exposure to areas of employment law that I had minimal understanding.
Courts above the years, have carved out exemptions to the Employment-at-will (EAW) assumption to lessen its sometimes inconsiderate outcomes (Karen, 2005). The 3 foremost exceptions of common law are implied contract, public policy, and implied convention of good faith. The presumption of at-will is strong, on the other hand, and it can be hard for an employee to establish that his circumstances fall in one of the exemptions. Additionally, not all of the exceptions are distinguished by all jurisdictions.
Issues arising from the traditional view of relationships between employers and employees, also known as At-will employment.