Exam 2: Employment Contracts and Wrongful Discharge

Muriel is the owner of a garment factory in New York City. Ten months back she hired 20 employees to work in his factory, but due to the economic downturn she decided to let go of the new hires in order to save her business. All 20 employees were fired and no explanation was provided. This action is perfectly legal and covered by the doctrine of:

What is META? Explain the importance of Section 3(a)of META.

Steven is the Executive Director at a telecom company in Texas. He regularly misappropriated company funds that belonged to the employee benefit plan and several clients. Robert, his corporate secretary was aware of his superior's illegal activities. He brought this to the attention of law enforcing agencies. What is Robert's role in the above scenario?

Kelly was an employee of a retail outlet. Although the nature of the work and duties performed by both male and female workers were comparable, the remuneration paid to male workers was significantly higher compared to the female employees. When Kelly brought this to the attention of the management and objected to the difference in pay, her services were terminated without good cause. Under which law can she challenge her termination?

Common law deals with issues of wrongful discharge.

What is the exception under employment-at-will?

Unions provide employees:

Public policy exception is not a commonly adopted exception to the pure employment-at-will rule .

Section 10 of the Model Employment Termination Act forbids retaliation against employees who make claims or who testify under the procedural provisions of the META.

Identify two Acts that protect whistleblowers from employer retaliation.

Define a whistleblower and describe the protection offered to whistleblower employees.

Which act was passed by Congress in 2002 and signed by the president for the protection of whistleblowers?

Advocates of employment-at-will point out that:

What are the two most common types of contracts?

If the statute itself provides the employee with a cause of action, the courts are reluctant to recognize an alternative remedy in the form of a lawsuit for wrongful discharge.

A private or civil wrong or injury caused by one party to another, either intentionally or negligently is a(n):

Explain the meaning of the term whistleblower.

The freedom of employees to quit the employment relationship is an important issue underlying:

Define the doctrine of employment-at-will. Explain its exceptions.

Contracts that courts infer from company policies and the behavior of the parties are known as: