"You're Fired!": The Common Law Should Respond with the Refashioned Tort of Abusive Discharge

Authors

William R. Corbett, Louisiana State University Law CenterFollow

Abstract

An at will prerogative without limits could be suffered only in an anarchy, and there not for long--it certainly cannot be suffered in a society such as ours without weakening the bond of counter balancing rights and obligations that holds such societies together. Thus, while there may be a right to terminate a contract at will for no reason, or for an arbitrary or irrational reason, there can be no right to terminate such a contract for an unlawful reason or purpose that contravenes public policy. A different interpretation would encourage and sanction lawlessness, which law by its very nature is designed to discourage and prevent.

Comments

41 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 63 (2020)

Keywords

Anarchism, Contracts, Government policy, International sanctions, Societies

Date of Authorship for this Version

2020

Volume Number

41

Issue Number

1

First Page

63

Last Page

120

Repository Citation

William R. Corbett, "You're Fired!": The Common Law Should Respond with the Refashioned Tort of Abusive Discharge, 41 BERKELEY J. EMP. & LAB. L. 63 (2020).