Legal Question in Employment Law in District of Columbia

can a corporate employer terminate an employee without cause?

A security employee of a corporate body while on duty alerted the store manager about ongoing shoplifting by two customers. Because the store manager did not respond in time, the security officer attempted to stop the shoplifters. In trying to prevent the theft of his employer, the securtiy officer was seriously injured. The customers succeeded in stealing items from the store. When the store manager finally arrived at displaying section of the store and saw the security officer reeling in pain, he admitted that it was management's fault not to have trained the security officer on how to respond to a shop lifting in progress.The security officer returned to his beat the next day. He was later on the second day called to the store manager's office where the store manager, another employee of the store were on a telephone conference with an officer of the corporate body from its headquarters. He was warned against discussing with anyone what transpired in the room regarding the incident of the previous day and what was said during the teleconference before he was summarily fired from his employment without cause. There was no question raised about his conduct on the day in issue or performance in the cause of his employment.


Asked on 4/09/04, 1:22 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jeffrey Sheldon

Re: can a corporate employer terminate an employee without cause?

Although an employee can generally be terminated without cause (unless you have a contract, you are "at-will" and can be terminated or quit anytime, for any legal reason, with or without notice), there are times when it is impermissible. (Such as if the employee is a minority or woman and is being treated differently than men or caucasian employees in similar cases.) In this case, there seems to be a workers' compensation issue since an injury was sustained. (It may be impermissible to fire someone in retaliation for filing a workers' comp. claim or to prevent a claim from being filed.) There may also be a corporate policy dealing with termination.

Without more facts, it is hard to figure out what is going on and whether the employee has a case or not.

Also, unless the employee is subject to a confidentiality agreement, he/she is likely able to discuss the theft and surrounding circumstances with anyone as he/she sees fit.

If you want to discuss this in more detail, please call for a free consultation.

Jeff Sheldon

Jeffrey L. Sheldon, Esquire

The Sheldon Law Firm

17804 St. Lucia Isle Drive

Tampa, FL 33647

813.986.7580

(f) 813.986.7489

(Admitted in Fl., MD, D.C., and Pa.)

[email protected]

http://www.SheldonLawFirm.com

Disclaimer: This posting does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice. It is not confidential, nor is it privileged, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please consult with an attorney for advice specific to the facts of your case.

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Answered on 4/09/04, 10:24 am


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