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Firing

Violating any work rule can be just cause for termination

08/22/2008
Under N.C. General Statute § 126-35, North Carolina state government employees can be discharged only for “just cause,” a term the statute doesn’t clearly define. The vague language can make it difficult to terminate a state employee. But that’s not the case if a state agency has a clear set of rules, can show the employee knew about those rules and broke them anyway …

Longtime hospital worker sues to keep her job

08/22/2008
You’ve got to give points for stamina, no matter the outcome, to 83-year-old Annie Allen, a part-time worker for more than 35 years at John Umstead Hospital in Butner. She’s fighting for her job after being fired earlier this year …

Former N.C. health plan official says firing was unjust

08/22/2008
George Stokes, former chief executive of North Carolina’s state employee health insurance plan, claims he was unlawfully fired and that lawmakers spread inaccurate information while ousting him …

The 6 kinds of terminations … and how to avoid lawsuits for each one

08/21/2008
Terminations are the spark to many employment lawsuits. And for each of the six kinds, there are some common steps employers can take to make sure they defend themselves if the termination is challenged in court …

Stubble trouble: Can you fire unshaven employees?

08/21/2008
Do any of your employees look like they’ve just crawled out of a suitcase? A court recently addressed this question: If an employee is fired for ignoring his boss’s demands to get a shave, does that count as “misconduct” that disqualifies him from unemployment benefits? …

Termination by phone: legal but unwise

08/21/2008
Q. We have an employee who has been working from home. We’ve decided we really need someone in the office. Can we terminate her by phone? Or do we have to call her into the office? — V.N., Florida …

Firing OK if FMLA return date isn’t honored

08/19/2008
When an employee goes out on FMLA leave, set a return date and stick to it. If she doesn’t show up back to work and doesn’t ask for an extension or a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, you are free to terminate her, effective at the end of the leave …

Suit: Lawmakers discriminated when they fired transsexual

08/19/2008
Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn, a transgender former legislative editor in the Georgia General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Counsel, filed a discrimination lawsuit alleging she was fired after she told higher-ups she would begin coming to work as a woman …

What if E-Verify shows someone isn’t authorized to work?

08/19/2008
Q. What happens if I run an E-Verify check on an employee and find out he or she is an unauthorized worker? …

‘One who hired also fired’ doesn’t remove discrimination hook

08/15/2008
It’s logical, right?  When the same person who hired and promoted an employee eventually terminates that employee, there couldn’t have been any discrimination. After all, the hiring supervisor didn’t discriminate at selection time, so why would she discriminate at discharge time? Unfortunately, employers can’t rely solely on this same-actor defense in court …