NewCorp's liabilities and rights in wrongful termination and sexual harassment cases

NewCorp

Legal Encounter

What liabilities and rights do NewCorp and Pat have in this situation? What legal principles, such as statutory or case law, support those liabilities and rights?

NewCorp is liable to follow the guidelines of the handbook outlining how to deal with unsatisfactory employees, but they also have the right to dismiss an employee at will. Pat on the other hand, has the right to be informed about the indication of the problem and put through a corrective plan to improve his shortcomings before dismissal. Nevertheless, this is a case of implied contract where there is lack of clause clarifying that the policy is not intended to include employment affiliations (Cheeseman, 2010). The employment-at-will doctrine allows the employer to dismiss employ at will; however, in this case NewCorp violated their own guidelines showing poor ethics in the decision to terminate Pat's employment.

Wrongful discharge is supported by the case law while employment-at-will supported by the statutory law. There are Employment Discrimination laws that protect employees from discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, sex, physical disability or age of employees (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2013). Some bodies also seek to prevent employment discrimination in terms of job termination, promotion, hiring, compensation and different types of harassment. Bottom line is, unilateral termination of a contract can be categorized as a wrongful termination, and most cases create risks for potential lawsuits for the company. If Pat suits and wins, the company can be liable for compensatory damages (Cheeseman, 2010).

Legal Encounter 3

What specific regulatory compliance issues arise in this scenario? How should NewCorp address those issues? How should NewCorp manage the legal risk associated with those issues?

The specific regulatory compliance issues that arise in this case are Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). This act attempts to assure healthy and safe working conditions for all employees by ensuring enforcement of standards and provisions under the Act (United States Department of Labor, 2010). To address the issue, NewCorp should analyze the problem by making sure that the company does not violate employee's rights and complies with federal regulations.

NewCorp can manage legal risk associated with this issue by ensuring they have a record of injuries, prevent and recognize hazards, prevent potential hazards, report serious injuries and other things that affect employees in the workplace. They should also inform employee's right under OSHA. Paul thinks that it is dangerous to work in confine spaces even though the safety manager has inspected the area and concluded that it was safe to work. If Paul sues the company as he wants to, he needs to prove that the behavior (claustrophobic) that he has developed as impact of unfavorable work conditions. He also must prove that NewCorp Company intentionally exposed him unsafe working environment. This will be hard to prove because the company complies with OSHA standards and regulations, and safety manager inspected the place and found it safe. Therefore, he can only collect for workers compensation, and NewCorp might have to cover Paul's claim by using the company's insurance or use state founds (Cheeseman, 2010).