EMPLOYMENT-AT-WILL
DOCTRINE

Shawunda Baker
STRAYER UNIVERSITY
Gus Weekley, JD
February 8, 2015

Employment-At-Will Doctrine
Under the employment-at-will doctrine, employers have the power hire and fire employees for whatever reason. All 50 states however, have adapted statues that protect employees from wrongful termination. The theoretical philosophy laissez-faire provided the support for this legal rule.
Employment at will is a legal doctrine that gives employers the freedom to terminate employees “for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all.” This statute was developed in the 1800s and promotes the idea that employers have the right to dispose of what they own including their labor. An amendment to this law came in 1935 at a time when many Americans were fighting for labor unions and the right to organize. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers cannot use employment-at-will to terminate an employee as an attempt to prevent the employee from organizing. In the 1960s, the Civil right act prevented employers from using the law to fire someone based on race, national origin, color, religion, sex, age, or disability. Later, statues were enacted that prevented firing for reporting safety violations. In 2002 after several financial scandals made headlines, Congress passed laws that included provisions to protect workers that report financial fraud.
Many companies issue cell phones to their employees to conduct business. This is considered company property because the cell phones is purchased by the company. Also, if the company issues a smart phone like a BlackBerry, a data plan is purchased and the company owns the data stored on the device. The courts have found that unless assurance has been made by management that information such as emails would not be intercepted, there is no reasonable expectation for privacy between