After four years, the Wrongful Termination case was approaching trial date. An Expert Witness was brought in to testify on behalf of the fired employee. Depositions by witnesses and HR leadership confirmed the company disregarded its own policies in the termination. The next day the company settled out of court for a purported $1.9M.
Galactically Stupid Reason the Company Had to Pay Up
Company policy required review of a one-page ‘Pre-Termination Checklist’ before approval of involuntary terminations. The checklist posed 19 standardized ‘Red Flag’ questions, that if applicable, required additional review to ensure compliance with policy and the law. Its consistent use over five years and in hundreds of terminations had successfully reduced legal challenges. Inexplicably, it wasn’t used in this case. Had it been referred to, any of 11 Red Flags could have derailed this wrongful termination. The resulting ‘System Failure’ was avoidable and costly.
During deposition, the VPHR offered a conga line of justifications for the termination. As each reason attracted a direct hit from the Plaintiff’s attorney for lack of evidence or precedent, the company shifted to yet another. Company witnesses contradicted each other – with one even committing perjury. The company’s inability to offer a plausible reason for suddenly not using its own Pre-Termination Checklist only added suspicion to their motives. If ever there was evidence that a company needed to give careful review as to the suitability of its HR leadership, it just got 1.9 million reasons.
Adopting a Pre-Termination Checklist can bring immediate ROI
One Labor Attorney I’ve spoken to said in many cases the difference in winning or losing a case can come down to use of a Pre-Termination Checklist. Implemented correctly, utilizing the checklist complements existing processes and can pay immediate dividends. It provides another tool to ensure involuntary terminations don’t attract unwarranted legal attention. Check out KeystoneHR’s upgraded Pre-Termination Checklist – MC5.
KeystoneHR offers Best Practices focused HR and related policies and documents, training, consultation, and project work. With over 40 years of progressive HR experience in Fortune 500 companies and upper-end LLC’s, our team is ready to help. See our website – KeystoneHR.com. KeystoneHR – Best-in-Class helping Best-in-Class.
