2 months ago a group of guys at work were standing talking and we're kidding about sexual innuendos and a comment of cross dressing and seeing a pic came up. Someone said something to another employee and they turned the person in. The person it was said

While this sounds patently unfair, an employer can terminate an at-will employee for any reason. That includes termination for engaging in misconduct, even when the employee did not engage in it (i.e., the employer is mistaken) and for conduct that would not generally be seen as misconduct. For example, an employer could lawfully terminate a mechanic for getting grease on the workbench. Not many people would work for such an employer, but the employer would not be breaking the law for making those employment decisions.

When the employer's stated reason for terminating an employee makes no sense, however, the stated reason might be an excuse, or pretext, to fire the employee for some other reason. In that event, the other, real reason might be unlawful. If so, the fact that the employer gave a false, or pretextual, reason could be evidence of the unlawful reason.

Here is more information about proving discrimination and pretext. http://www.myemploymentlawyer.com/wiki/Proving-Unlawful-Employment-Discrimination.htm.

posted by Neil Klingshirn  |  Apr 13, 2016 08:31 AM [EST]