Lawsuit Prevention for Employers! On the Firing Line: the Do's and Don'ts of Employment Terminations

Attorney at Law
_____________________
 
523 “B” STREET
PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA 94952
TELEPHONE (707) 778-5000
_________
 
FACSIMILE (707) 778-5005
E-MAIL:  jaygputnam@gmail.com
 
 
September 6, 2017
 
 
HEADS UP!
Lawsuit Prevention for Employers!
On the Firing Line:  the Do's and Don'ts of Employment Terminations

 
 The decision to fire an employee is among the most difficult that employers encounter. In over 36 years of advising employers, it is the author's experience that it is far more common for employers to unreasonably delay making necessary firing decisions than it is to make them prematurely. By procrastinating, the employer does no one any favors. It succeeds only in holding a failing employee captive to a job where he/she will never succeed, instead of freeing him/her to find compatible work.
 
In addition, by avoiding these difficult decisions, employers demonstrate indecision and weakness, which invites lawsuits by complicating the many legal issues that come into play.  The ensuing lawsuit will assert, for example, "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client was fired for being late on a Monday.  Although he had earlier been warned for being late, the employer ignored eight instances of tardiness between the warning and the day he was ultimately terminated for the same infraction. The employer's failure to enforce its own rule so many times amounted to a legal waiver of its right to enforce that rule.  My client was, in effect, set up by the employer’s failure to enforce its own warning."
 
Such arguments have frequently succeeded before juries, which are sympathetic to plaintiffs, in part because they are made up of employees, as opposed to business owners or supervisors.
 
This ongoing seminar series is being conducted by veteran Petaluma labor & employment attorney, Jay Putnam. Putnam, has advised employers exclusively, in labor matters for over 36 years. He hopes to provide local business owners and managers with a solid, working understanding of California labor law, as a means of helping them avoid the often crippling cost and disruption caused by lawsuits resulting from a misunderstanding of applicable legal requirements.
 
Members are encouraged to bring their questions.  Putnam says he intends to conduct the seminars as informal, working sessions, where people can bring their questions and leave each month with important information that will immediately improve their business operations.