As much as everyone hopes that an employee will always be the right fit for a job, sometimes employers need to discharge a worker. And unless doing so breaks a contract or is based on some unlawful reason (such as illegal discrimination), the dismissal will usually withstand any legal challenge. One of biggest mistakes an employer can make, though, is giving inconsistent reasons for dismissing the employee. This is because inconsistent reasoning hurts the employer’s credibility and can lead a court to find that the stated reason was really a pretext to cover up unlawful discrimination. For example, in one recent case (Barnhart v. Regions Hospital) where a former employee claimed her firing resulted from unlawful discrimination, the employer claimed the real reason was her poor attendance and her failure to call in when she was going to be late or absent. However, other evidence suggested that the employer terminated her because of company restructuring. The judge ruled that this inconsistency called into question the true reason for the employee’ termination, and he ordered that the case would need to go trial where the true reason for the dismissal would have to be decided by a court. Had the employer given a consistent explanation, the case likely would have been dismissed. For more information about employment law, please contact me at: [email protected]. The comments posted in this blog are for general informational purposes only. They are not to be considered as legal advice, and they do not establish an attorney-client relationship. For legal advice regarding your specific situation, please consult your attorney. Copyright 2014 Swenson Lervick Syverson Trosvig Jacobson Schultz, PA
Getting the Story Straight
On behalf of Swenson Lervick Syverson Trosvig Jacobson Cass, P.A. | Feb 27, 2014 | Discipline And Discharge |
Categories
- Affordable Care Act (1)
- Age Discrimination (3)
- Alimony (2)
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (2)
- Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) (2)
- Anti-bias Training (1)
- Arbitration (1)
- Assault (1)
- Assault (1)
- At-will Employment (1)
- Attorney Job Opportunities (1)
- Awards And Recognition (17)
- Beneficiaries (5)
- Blog (2)
- Breaks (1)
- Breaks To Express Breast Milk (1)
- Business Law (4)
- Buy-Sell Agreement (1)
- Cabin Trusts (1)
- Car Accident (3)
- Car Crash (1)
- Castle Doctrine (1)
- Child Custody (5)
- Codicils (2)
- Community Events (4)
- Conciliation (1)
- Contract For Deed (3)
- COVID19 resources (4)
- Criminal Law (2)
- Criminal Law (1)
- Denim Day (1)
- Disability Discrimination (2)
- Discipline And Discharge (4)
- Discrimination (12)
- Disparate Impact (2)
- Disparate Treatment (3)
- Dispute Resolution (2)
- Divorce (4)
- Divorce (6)
- Domestic Violence (1)
- Dress Codes (1)
- Duty To Retreat (1)
- Earnings Statements And Pay Stubs (2)
- Educational Oppotunities (12)
- Election Day Rights (1)
- Employment Law (44)
- Estate Planning (15)
- Fair Labor Standards Act (5)
- Family And Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (1)
- Family Law (9)
- Firm News (12)
- Form I-9 (1)
- Grandparent Visitation (1)
- Hands Free Law (1)
- Harassment Restraining Order (1)
- Health Care Directive (1)
- Immigration (2)
- Interns (1)
- Limited Liability Company (2)
- Limited Liability Company (LLC) (1)
- Liquor Liability (1)
- Litigation (3)
- Local News (5)
- Marital Dissolution (5)
- Marital Property (6)
- Mediation (1)
- Mediation (1)
- Medical Cannabis (3)
- Medical Marijuana (2)
- Member Control Agreement (1)
- Mental Health (1)
- Military Leave (1)
- Minimum Wage (2)
- Minnesota Human Rights Act (3)
- Negligent Hiring (1)
- Negligent Retention (1)
- No-fault Divorce (1)
- Non-marital Property (4)
- Nursing Mothers' Rights (1)
- Offer Letter (1)
- Office Hours (6)
- Office Romance (1)
- Order For Protection (1)
- Overtime Rules (4)
- Paternity (2)
- Pay Equity (1)
- Personal Injury (8)
- Postnuptial Agreements (1)
- Pregnancy Discrimination (1)
- Probate (3)
- Probationary Period (1)
- Quit Claim Deed (1)
- Real Estate (5)
- Reasonable Accommodations (2)
- Record Keeping (1)
- Reemployment Rights (1)
- Release (1)
- Religious Discrmination (3)
- Religious Garb (2)
- Revoking A Will (1)
- Safety Leave (1)
- Salary Requirements (1)
- Self-defense (1)
- Settlement (2)
- Sex Discrimination (3)
- Sexual Harassment (6)
- Share Or Stock Purchase Agreement (1)
- Social Host Liability (1)
- Spousal Maintenance (2)
- Statute Of Limitations (1)
- Statute Of Limitations (1)
- Statute Of Limitations (1)
- Statutes Of Limitation (2)
- Super Lawyers (1)
- Title VII (3)
- Title VII Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964 (1)
- Training (1)
- Trusts (5)
- Unemployment Benefits (1)
- USERRA (1)
- Visitation (3)
- Wage Theft (3)
- Warranty Deed (1)
- Whistleblower Protection (2)
- Wills (5)
- Women's Economic Security Act (WESA) (6)
- Workplace Training (1)
- Workplace Violence (2)
- Wrongful Termination (2)
- Your Guide (4)
Archives
- October 2020 (2)
- September 2020 (1)
- August 2020 (1)
- July 2020 (4)
- May 2020 (2)
- April 2020 (3)
- March 2020 (3)
- February 2020 (2)
- January 2020 (4)
- December 2019 (5)
- November 2019 (4)
- October 2019 (4)
- September 2019 (1)
- August 2019 (1)
- July 2019 (3)
- June 2019 (3)
- May 2019 (1)
- April 2019 (2)
- February 2019 (5)
- January 2019 (3)
- November 2018 (8)
- October 2018 (9)
- September 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (5)
- July 2018 (1)
- May 2018 (2)
- April 2018 (4)
- March 2018 (1)
- November 2017 (1)
- October 2017 (3)
- September 2017 (1)
- July 2017 (1)
- June 2017 (1)
- May 2017 (2)
- April 2017 (1)
- March 2017 (2)
- February 2017 (2)
- December 2016 (4)
- October 2016 (1)
- July 2016 (1)
- May 2016 (4)
- April 2016 (2)
- February 2016 (3)
- January 2016 (1)
- December 2015 (5)
- November 2015 (2)
- October 2015 (3)
- September 2015 (1)
- August 2015 (1)
- July 2015 (5)
- June 2015 (3)
- May 2015 (3)
- April 2015 (4)
- March 2015 (4)
- February 2015 (2)
- January 2015 (4)
- December 2014 (3)
- November 2014 (1)
- October 2014 (4)
- September 2014 (2)
- August 2014 (1)
- July 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (1)
- May 2014 (3)
- April 2014 (3)
- March 2014 (2)
- February 2014 (4)
- January 2014 (4)
- December 2013 (1)
- October 2013 (3)
- July 2013 (1)
- March 2013 (4)
- February 2013 (3)
- January 2013 (6)
- December 2012 (2)
