What happens if you are terminated from employment at will but you can’t get a straight answer from the HR department except “you don’t meet performance expectations for the position”?
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What happens if you are terminated from employment at will but you can’t get a straight answer from the HR department except “you don’t meet performance expectations for the position”?
I feel that I was terminated for personal and not professional reasons. They also told me that they were merging the my department with another one and that my boss was going to be in charge of both. I found out a week later that the position is open again.
Asked on August 31, 2015 under Employment Labor Law, Georgia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
Your employer is not required to give an employee at will a "straight answer" about the reasons for termination, since an employee at will may be terminated at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all e.g. an employer could literally terminate someone because they had a bad day and wanted to make themselves feel better by showing how "powerful" they are and firing someone. Since there is no legal requirement for certain reasons or justifications for termination, there is likewise no legal requirement to explain or describe the reason for termination. Personal reasons--e.g. personal dislike, personality clashes, prefering to give the job to a friend, etc.--are all perfectly valid reasons for termination.
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