Termination- Company policy and state law
Say I have been terminated, which I have, and company policy requires a written final warning before termination, but termination came before the final written warning. What legal options do I now have?
1 answer | asked May 28, 2002 01:15 AM [EST] | applies to Arizona
Answers (1)
No remedy for violation of company policy
To answer the question "What legal options do I have?" I would need more infromation about the circumstances of your termination. But if you were thinking the company's policy gives you some recourse, think again. Look in the introductory part of the policy book and you will probably find some language that says something like "This handbook is not intended to constitute a binding contract of employment. Employer reserves the right to terminate your employment with or without cause or notice." Even if this language is not in the policy, Arizona has gone one step further to protect employers (yes, I said employers). In order to have any recourse under the terms of a company policy, the policy must state that it is intended to be a binding contract of employment. I have yet to see such a policy, except in the case of one mining company that desperately wants to keep the union from getting a foothold.
Of course, your employer cannot exempt itself from the antidiscrimination laws that protect employees, and there are a few situations in which an employer's decision to terminate an employee is wrongful because it violates some public policy ( such a terminating an employee for refusing to commit a crime or for blowing the whistle on criminal conduct). Violation of company policy is not a violation of public policy, however. Sorry to have to give you the bad news.
posted by Francis Fanning | May 28, 2002 02:30 AM [EST]
To answer the question "What legal options do I have?" I would need more infromation about the circumstances of your termination. But if you were thinking the company's policy gives you some recourse, think again. Look in the introductory part of the policy book and you will probably find some language that says something like "This handbook is not intended to constitute a binding contract of employment. Employer reserves the right to terminate your employment with or without cause or notice." Even if this language is not in the policy, Arizona has gone one step further to protect employers (yes, I said employers). In order to have any recourse under the terms of a company policy, the policy must state that it is intended to be a binding contract of employment. I have yet to see such a policy, except in the case of one mining company that desperately wants to keep the union from getting a foothold.
Of course, your employer cannot exempt itself from the antidiscrimination laws that protect employees, and there are a few situations in which an employer's decision to terminate an employee is wrongful because it violates some public policy ( such a terminating an employee for refusing to commit a crime or for blowing the whistle on criminal conduct). Violation of company policy is not a violation of public policy, however. Sorry to have to give you the bad news.
posted by Francis Fanning | May 28, 2002 02:30 AM [EST]
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