What happens if a company owner wants to rehire an employee who was discharged for fighting?
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What happens if a company owner wants to rehire an employee who was discharged for fighting?
One employee got into an altercation with another employee on company grounds. Both were termed 5 months ago. The owner now wants to bring one back as he was a
Asked on June 9, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Indiana
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
An employer is free to hire whoever it wants. There is no law precluding a company from re-hiring a worker who was in a previous altercation on work premises. That having been said, if the altercation involved physical violence and the employer is aware of that, then if there is a new incident in which someone is injured, it faces legal liability since they were on notice of this type of pre-exisitng behavior yet brought the employee back anyway. In other words, the employer would be responsible for any injuries since it was negligent in re-hiring the offending employee.
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