|
An employee may be terminated on several grounds. Especially when there is no employment contract and it is an at-will employment. Below are a few questions that have been answered regarding the grounds for termination: Q. If an employee uses the internet a lot in the workplace; can this be considered as grounds for termination of employment?
Termination due to excessive use of internet may depend on the employment contract (if any), the job profile and the reason for the use of internet. If the job requires one to explore a lot, this would mean that the employee would need to use the internet most of the time. This cannot be termed as excessive internet use. Likewise, if the employee is a receptionist or a secretary that would necessitate the use of internet to discharge the job responsibility; then one may not term this an excessive internet use. On the contrary if the employee uses the internet for non-business purposes such as chatting, shopping, doing some home work, etc. then it may be considered as excessive use of internet. The term “excessive” is also a relative term. Most of the employees being at-will employees; they may be terminated for any reason. The accepted norm is that all office equipment (computers included) are the property of the employer and all e-mails or contents on the computer cannot be hidden from the employer. Therefore, employees may be terminated if they use the office equipment for non-business purposes. Q. If the employee failed in the computer voice analysis, can he/she be terminated?
An employee may be terminated for any reason if there is no company policy or if the employee is not a member of a union that would require the employer to investigate the issue before taking a decision to terminate. However, the termination should not be due to discrimination. Q. Consider a situation where a European company is reporting to a U.S. subsidiary for operational matters. What are the chances of winning the case that has been filed against the European company, for wrongful termination, in the states of Illinois and Georgia?
All Federal laws and State laws need to be followed by any company (foreign or domestic) with respect to employment and discrimination. If there is no employment contract, then it is an at-will employment where the employee may be terminated for any reason. However, the reason for termination should not be discriminatory. As the laws with respect to discrimination would apply to the European company, a petition may be filed against the U.S. subsidiary. Q. A person does not have any employment contract and was an employee of a private firm in the State of New York. However, the employee was terminated and the reason for termination was “staff reduction”. This person has proof that two people were recruited as a replacement for him/her. Can the employer be sued for wrongful termination?
The scenario mentioned would indicate that the employment was an at-will employment where the employee may be terminated at any given point of time and without any reason. Therefore, the employee may not be able to do anything about this and the wrongful termination case (if filed) would be terminated. However, as the employee did not do any wrong and was fired due to no fault; he/she may claim unemployment. Q. An employee had an affair with the co-worker’s wife. This employee eavesdropped on the co-worker’s personal call as he was informed that it was a verbal threat to his safety. The management became aware of this and was of the opinion that he had misused his position for personal benefit. Though the employee informed the management that he did not feel safe at work; he was terminated. What are the chances of this employee winning the wrongful termination suit?
In an at-will employment (most of the cases are) the employer may terminate the services of an employee for even a very simple reason. It may be even due to an employee’s conduct outside the office if they feel that such conduct or behavior could tarnish the company’s image. Only in the event that there is an employment contract that states that an employee may be terminated for a cause; the employee may contest the case. However, it is possible that many reasons may be present for termination. Even if one of it is valid; then one may not be able to win the wrongful termination case. Eavesdropping on a co-worker’s conversation is sufficient grounds for termination due to abuse of power. Coping with the loss of a job is tough and to cope with the loss of a job for no fault of one is even tougher. You may speak to an employment lawyer if you have been terminated and need to know if there were valid grounds for termination.
Related Articles -
reasons for termination, reasons for termination of employment, grounds for termination, grounds for termination of employment, grounds for wrongful,
| 
