Wrongful Termination

SheRonda Taylor

Wk 7 Assign: Wrongful Termination

Legal Issues in HR Management

Westwood College

February 22, 2014

ABSTRACT

In a one to two page essay I will attempt to answer the following questions: What, if any, legal issue does this fact pattern raise for the company? What causes of action would the employee potentially have against the company? Who do think would prevail and why? Be specific and cite legal authority for your conclusions.

INTRODUCTION

An employee was hired as computer technician for an insurance company. The company promised the employee a "fast track" to management. The employee initially received positive feedback on his progress for several months. Then the insurance company experienced declining revenues and systematically reduced the employee's pay and moved him from the IT department to operations, performing data entry. Prior to the reassignment, the employee had no previous disciplinary action taken against him. The employee was placed on a 30 day probationary period and improvement plan when he did not meet productivity levels in his new operations position. The employee protested and quit the following Monday.

In the case of this computer technician, the insurance company cannot get around the law; the courts can construe the resignation as a termination and allow the technician to pursue a claim for wrongful termination under the guidelines of constructive discharge. In the case of constructive discharges the courts examine the following factors to determine whether an employee who resigned was constructively discharged include: demotions;