Updates on cases, laws, and other topics of interest to local governments

Subscribe by Email

Enter your Email:
Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz

Subscribe in a Reader

Follow Municipal Minute on Twitter

Disclaimer

Blog comments do not reflect the views or opinions of the Author or Ancel Glink. Some of the content may be considered attorney advertising material under the applicable rules of certain states. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Please read our full disclaimer

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Lessons Learned on At-Will Employment



The Illinois Appellate court recently gave employers a refresher course in the pros and cons of maintaining at-will status of employees. In this case, when an assistant principal's employment was not renewed at the end of the school term, he sued for retaliatory discharge.  Although he was awarded a $1 million jury verdict, the appellate court reversed the trial court finding that a retaliatory discharge claim can only be brought by at-will employees. The appellate court determined that because the employee was retained for a specific period of time, there was an employment "agreement" between the employee and the school district. Taylor v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago, 2014 Ill. App. (1st) 123744.

While the outcome was favorable to the district under these facts, the finding that an employment "agreement" existed because an employee was hired for a particular term could be problematic in other circumstances.

Check out the full post on The Workplace Report.

0 comments:

Post a Comment