If the employee is not working up to the set performance criteria, then he can be fired. This is the trend that is nowadays seen in companies. While most of the “at-will” terminations of the employee are ethical, in some cases it may be due to malicious intentions of colleagues or supervisors. In such cases, employees can get relief by claiming for “tort interference with contract”. Let us know more about it in detail.
What is Tort Interference with At-Will Employment?
If your employer has sued you due to any personal grudge or malice, then your case will be considered under Tort Interference with At-Will Employment. In such a case, you can file a claim to save yourself from the monetary losses incurred due to it.
What are the signs of Tort Interference with At-Will Employment?
A person who undergoes this situation will relate to any of these signs.
- Allegedly defeating an employee from getting promotion,
- Considering a lower performance employee for promotion in place of high performance employee
- No strong and convincing reason for demotion or termination of an employee
In these cases, one can raise the claim at the Supreme Court. On receiving the claim application, the court claims in the “at-will employment context”. It focuses on certain aspects such as:
- The origin and development of the tort;
- The different categories of defendants and the asserted “conditional privileges” by them
- The idea of “impropriety” and the load to prove it.
How is the case dealt by the court?
Initially when the court receives the claim for tortious interference with at-will employment, it is seldom treated with suspicion. It is true that “at-will employees” can even be demoted or terminated for three reasons, no cause, good cause or morally unethical cause. Another cause of suspicion is due to the viewing interference tort as a “backup measure” in against to breaches.
When resolving this claim process, the employer is not considered as a viable party. They are not held liable for any sort of causing interference as the liability is not forced for interference with your own contract. In such circumstances, the “at-will contract” happens between employee and the employer.
As per the defamation removal law, the employer would not be targeted and so won’t possess vicarious liability. In such cases, company directors and corporate officers are targeted for any kind of personal liability.
This tort has been made to safeguard against interfering with different types of contractual relations that include real estate deals, lease rights, listing agreements, contracts, etc. to perform services, business purchases and “exclusive rights” agreements.
The court found that there is an “honor” for corporate directors or officers in ending the work contract of employees. This privilege gets destroyed when the object pressurizes the plaintiff into complying with the wishes of the defendant in some form of collateral matter.
Conclusion
Life is unpredictable. Layoff has become a common term in corporate life. To save from such unfortunate happenings, it is very important for an employee to learn about the claim concept and the procedure to file it.
