Abrupt dismissal stuns employee

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Dear Joan:
Earlier this year I worked in the marketing department of a local industry. The CEO came up with an innovative project which I was to spearhead. I was taken off my regular job and placed exclusively on the project - until it got off the ground and I would manage both the regular job and project.

Following test marketing, the project was scrapped. When I asked about returning to my original position, I was informed my replacement was doing an adequate job and wished luck in obtaining a position elsewhere.

I had been with the company a number of years and was continually praised by the CEO for my work. While I knew the project might be canceled, I was stunned to be out the door. I had no contract for employment.

Does the CEO have, at the very least, a moral obligation to give me my former position back?

Answer:
It may be that the CEO didn't level with you about your performance and used the project to get you out of the company, or that he is using you as the scapegoat for his failed idea, or that he is looking for places to cut back on staff and you were disposable.

Whatever the reason, he has sent a very dangerous signal to the employees still working for him: Never risk trying anything innovative because if it fails, you too could be out the door.

Whether the CEO has a moral obligation to you is a tricky question. In fact, it may be best answered with some of the latest legal challenges to the employment-at-will doctrine.

"Employment-at-will" is a doctrine that has its origin in English common law. It means that an employer may terminate the employee at will and employees can quit at will. Employers use their right to terminate employees at will to gain maximum flexibility in work force size to meet production demands and stay competitive.

During the past 15 years, however, some state courts have become much more willing to make exceptions to this doctrine. These exceptions are designed to protect employees from unfair termination.

Exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine can be classified three ways: public policy, implied contract, good faith and fair dealing. States have differed in the number and type of exceptions they have recognized.

·        Public Policy exceptions are the most commonly adopted by states and prohibit things such as: firing an employee for refusing to commit perjury for the employer; for jury duty; for "whistle blowing"; (reporting illegal conduct by the employer); or for refusing to take a polygraph test.

·        The second most common exception is implied contract. This means the employer has made an implied promise - either written or verbal - that the employee had job security.

For example, a manager might promise that the employee will not be terminated as long as performance is satisfactory, or without good reason, or without the opportunity to present a defense before the termination decision is made. Frequently, these promises are found in employee handbooks. "Once the employee proves explicit or implicit promises of job security have been made, the employer is generally prohibited from terminating the employee," says William Holley and Roger Walters, authors of "An Employment-At-Will Vulnerability Audit" in the Personnel Journal (April 1987).

·        The final and least accepted exception is good faith and fair dealing. This means that although an employee is informed that he or she may be terminated at any time and no public policy or implied contract exceptions apply, the employer may still be held to a standard of conduct requiring employees to be treated fairly and in good faith in the termination process. As of 1987, only three states accepted this as legal grounds for suing an employer for wrongful discharge.

To find out more about employment-at-will, consult the following articles; "An Employment-At-Will Vulnerability Audit" (Personnel Journal, April 1987), "The Revenge of the Fired" (Newsweek, February 1987), "Fire at Will" (Personnel Journal, June 1985), "What to Do If You Think You Are About to be Fired... and How to Survive if it Happens" (Working Woman, May 1988), or a good attorney.

The decision is yours. You may want to call the CEO, if you haven't already, and ask him why you were terminated and if you can be rehired. You certainly want to know what kind of reference he is going to give you.

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