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At-Will Employment Hiring & Firing Employment Litigation

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Puerto Rico Supreme Court Reaffirms Importance of Just Cause for Employee Terminations

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The Puerto Rico Supreme Court recently issued a decision reaffirming the importance of just cause for employment terminations in Puerto Rico. Méndez Ruiz v. Techno Plastics Industries, Inc., No. 2025 TSPR 68 (June 26, 2025)....more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

No wrongful discharge claim based on exercise of rights under state Constitution, Tennessee high court says

The Tennessee Supreme Court has recently held that there is no legal claim for wrongful discharge where an employer terminates an employee because the employee exercised a right set forth in the state Constitution. The...more

Dickinson Wright

The Michigan Supreme Court Expands Public Policy Causes of Action for Retaliatory Discharge

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Under Michigan’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (“MiOSHA”), employers may not “discharge an employee or in any manner discriminate against an employee because the employee filed a complaint” regarding the employer’s...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Finds Internal Complaint About Care Recommendations Supports Wrongful Discharge Claim

North Carolina is an at-will employment state, but recognizes a limited exception from that rule for terminations that violate the state’s public policy. Courts have wrestled for years over the meaning of public policy and...more

Clark Hill PLC

Colorado Court of Appeals Adopts Definition of “Actual Discharge” Applied by Federal Courts in Colorado Employment Law Wrongful...

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In a case of first impression in Colorado, the Colorado Court of Appeals adopts a test for evaluating a claim of actual discharge under Colorado law. In this Colorado employment law case, Plaintiff ex-employee, Ms. Potts,...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

The Doctrine of “Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Public Policy” Takes Flight Again in Decision of the Connecticut Supreme Court

On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the Connecticut Supreme Court announced a significant new decision concerning lawsuits by employees alleging “wrongful discharge in violation of public policy.”  Most employers in Connecticut are...more

Cranfill Sumner LLP

Business Court Holds that Employees’ Continued Work for Reduced Salaries Waived Claims for Breach of Employment Contracts

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In Gallaher, et al. v. Ciszek, et al., 2022 NCBC 67, Chief Business Court Judge Louis A. Bledsoe, III, recently held that three neonatologists who continued to work after their employer unilaterally reduced their...more

Bodman

Employers Beware! Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies and Expands Public-Policy Exception to At-Will Employment Presumption

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On July 15, 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court clarified and, arguably, expanded the public-policy exception to the well-established at-will employment presumption in Michigan. Although the case may conclude differently after...more

Genova Burns LLC

Digital Walls Surrounding Speech on Social Media Crumble: NJ Appellate Division Upholds Employee Termination for Racist Facebook...

Genova Burns LLC on

On May 20, 2022, in McVey v AtlantiCare Medical System, the New Jersey Appellate Division Panel affirmed the dismissal of an employee’s case holding that her termination was not in violation of the protections afforded to...more

McAfee & Taft

Home Depot employee’s wrongful discharge claim hammered

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Under some circumstances, Oklahoma law recognizes that terminated employees may pursue a public policy wrongful discharge claim against a former employer. These claims allow a narrow exception to the employment at-will status...more

Jaburg Wilk

What Arizona Employees Need to Know about Pursuing Wrongful Termination Claims

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Arizona is an at-will employment state. This means employers may terminate employees for any reason or no reason at all so long as the reason is not an illegal one. Several state and federal laws prohibit employers from...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Adds New Personnel Records Wrinkle to Public Policy Exception to Termination of At-Will...

A recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the “SJC”) significantly expanded the Massachusetts common-law public policy exception to termination of at-will employees.  This decision, Meehan v. Med. Info....more

FordHarrison

Recent South Carolina Supreme Court Decisions May Increase Legal Risks in Employee Terminations

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The South Carolina Supreme Court issued two decisions late in 2021 that may impact employers’ and co-workers’ potential liability in litigation arising from an employee’s discharge....more

Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Finds that Employees Cannot be Terminated Merely for Filing a Rebuttal to a Personnel Record

On December 17, 2021, Meehan v. Medical Information Technology, Inc., the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“SJC”) held that an employee’s filing a rebuttal to information placed in their personnel file that could...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules in Favor of Worker Fired for Rebutting Negative Performance Improvement Plan

On December 17, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that an employee discharged for submitting a written rebuttal to his employer in response to the placement of negative information in his personnel...more

Fisher Phillips

Unhappy New Year? South Carolina Employers Face New Lawsuit Worries After Supreme Court Decision

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Employees in South Carolina who report workplace misconduct may soon find themselves personally named as defendants in employment lawsuits following a recent noteworthy decision from the South Carolina Supreme Court. Managers...more

Cozen O'Connor

Employment Law Now IV-64- The Great Debate Part 1: Employee Lawyer vs. Employer Lawyer

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This is Part 1 of a 2-Part episode that pits an employee-side (plaintiff) lawyer against an employer-side (defendant) lawyer to debate various HR and employment law issues, including such questions as the future of at-will...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Close Was Not Close Enough: First Circuit Denies Executive’s Implied Covenant Claim For Unpaid Equity Compensation Related To A...

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Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 27, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that, under Massachusetts law, a terminated employee asserting a claim for being deprived of lost compensation in breach...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Supreme Court of Kentucky Rules That Firms May Require Lawyers to Sign Non-Solicitation Agreements That Exempt Legal Work

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A law firm can terminate an at-will lawyer who refuses to sign an agreement prohibiting them from soliciting the firm’s customers or clients following cessation of employment, according to the Supreme Court of Kentucky. In...more

Littler

No Subpoena, No Protection?: Indiana Court of Appeals Approves Dismissal of Employee Who Left Work to Voluntarily Testify at...

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It is well settled that Indiana is an employment-at-will state, meaning an employer or employee may terminate the employment relationship for any lawful reason. The Indiana Supreme Court, however, recognizes a limited number...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Indiana Court Declines To Expand At-Will Employment Exception

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Reaffirming Indiana’s “strong” presumption of at-will employment, the Indiana Court of Appeals has declined to expand the public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine to include an employee’s mistaken belief...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Seven Questions That Employers Should Ask Themselves before Discharging an Employee

Employment terminations are serious business and fraught with potential challenges. The simple idea that at-will employees can be discharged for any legal reason without incurring claims, defense costs, and possible...more

Littler

The Montana Supreme Court Issues A Favorable Opinion For Employers Of Seasonal Employees in “For Good Cause” State

Littler on

Montana is well-known in the employment world for deviating from the employment at-will doctrine. In Montana, employees are protected under the Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act (WDEA), which provides that an employee’s...more

Littler

Wisconsin Court Overturns $2.2 Million Jury Verdict in Favor of Former Doctor, Finding His Employment-at-Will Agreement Was Not...

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The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed long-standing precedent holding that employment-at-will agreements may not be modified by a policy or procedure unless it contains an express provision demonstrating that the...more

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