What can be done regarding the termination of an employee by a new manager for an issue that was resolved by a prior manager?

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What can be done regarding the termination of an employee by a new manager for an issue that was resolved by a prior manager?

We have an employee that has a legal issue on her background check that occurred over 15 years ago. She has been a great employee for over 11 years. Our previous manager knew of the issue; it was discussed and the decision was made to continue her employment without prejudice. The previous manager has been gone for quite some time and a new manager now wants to terminate the employee because of this. The employee has given no reason to be suspected of any inappropriate action and has proven to be an excellent employee. It is probably worth mentioning that the issue in her background is of a fiduciary nature and a large part of her current responsibility is cash and credit card handling.

Asked on October 10, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Alaska

Answers:

M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 6 years ago | Contributor

The fact is that most employment is "at will", which means that a company can set the conditions of the workplace much as it sees fit absent some form of legally actionable discrimination (that is based on race, religion, nationaity age, disabiltiy, gender,etc.). Accordingly, unless this worker's discharge violated the terms of a union agreement or employment contract, their treatment, while seemingly unfair, was legal.

M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 6 years ago | Contributor

The fact is that most employment is "at will", which means that a company can set the conditions of the workplace much as it sees fit absent some form of legally actionable discrimination (that is based on race, religion, nationaity age, disabiltiy, gender,etc.). Accordingly, unless this worker's discharge violated the terms of a union agreement or employment contract, their treatment, while seemingly unfair, was legal. 


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