What is the true definition of
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What is the true definition of
I have been employed at a company for the past 4 months. My offer letter
was for a 1- ear agreement but in the language, there was a possibility for
termination if the employer feels that there is just cause. The company is
based out of CA, incorporated in DE and I live in MN. Nothing in the agreement states
Asked on June 28, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Minnesota
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
There is no legal definition of "just cause." There are grounds for termination which are considered "for cause" for purposes of determining whether someone is eligible for unemployment benefits after termination, like insubordination, absenteeism, violation of company policy or manager instructions, criminal acts committed at or in the course of work, etc.; these suggest strongly that "just cause" is more than simply that your boss is disappointed in you, but do not definitively establish that a subjectively perceived lack of or deficient sales/prospecting skills would be "just cause," since the definition of "for cause" termination is intended for a different context (i.e. unemployment benefits). Similarly, the lack of a baseline or benchmarks to compare performance against strongly suggests that a perceived shortfall is not "just cause" but does not definitively mean that they could not--were you to sue for "breach of contract"--convince a court that they had "just cause." All we can say, given the lack of definition for this in the law as well as what you write, is that if you were to sue for the additional 8 months, you would have a reasonable chance of success: we cannot state 100% that they could not establish "just cause" as a defense, however.
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