What are an at will employee’s rights regarding termination?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What are an at will employee’s rights regarding termination?
I worked at a company for 4-1/2 years as a delivery driver. A few months ago, the manager hired her husband to do the same job and gave me less days. I called the owner to ask for more days and the following day I was scheduled to work. The manager called me into her office, told me that she didn’t appreciate me going over her head, fired me for going over her head. I’ve been there 4-1/2 years and never had a problem. Told me that she didn’t have to give me any reason by law. Do I have something tangible?
Asked on September 27, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Tennessee
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Did you have a union agreement or employment contract that governed the matters concerning your dismissal? Was there a company policy that was violated by your supervisor's actions? Was your treatment the result of some form of legally actionable discrimination? If not (and from the facts presented there doesn't appear to be), you termination was lawful.
The fact is that not all employee's need to be treated equally or even fairly (short of legal discrimination). Therefore an at will employer can hire/fire, promote/demote, increase/decrease/ salary/hours and generally impose the terms and conditions of employment as they see fit. This includes discharging an employee for any reason or no reason at all, with or without notice.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.