Wisconsin Employment Law Basics – Employment At Will

Douglas J. Carroll, Jr. Employee Rights, Employee Rights News, New Client Tips

Carroll Law Firm, SC is a Wisconsin Employment Law Firm representing employees, professionals and executives.  From offices in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Carroll Law Firm, SC, provides superior Employee Rights  legal representation to employees  in Milwaukee County, Waukesha County and throughout the entire State of Wisconsin.

This article is the first in a series of articles which focus on providing Wisconsin employees with basic information about the law and regarding their employment rights. This first article will focus on the doctrine of Employment-At-Will, the bedrock of employment law in the United States.

As a Wisconsin employment lawyer I’m often contacted by potential clients who believe that they have been wrongfully discharged because they were terminated for no reason or an unfair reason. Unfortunately, in many of these cases our country’s adherence to the Employment-At-Will doctrine means that they have no legal recourse against their employer.

Under the Employment-At-Will doctrine an employee has the right to quit his or her job at any time, for any reason or no reason at all. Similarly, the employer has the right to terminate the employment relationship at any time for any reason or no reason at all.  

Since Employment-At-Will is the default in the United States, unless an employee is afforded greater protections through an employment contract, a collective bargaining agreement, civil-service rules or an employment manual that rises to the level of a contract, the Employment-At-Will doctrine governs the employment relationship. There are however numerous exceptions to the employment at will doctrine. As an employee rights lawyer in Wisconsin my primary focus in analyzing the facts relating to any potential clients discharge primarily focuses on gathering information to determine if the employee was discharged in a situation that is an exception to the employment at will doctrine.

Most of the exceptions to Employment-At-Will focus on the protected category of the employee or the protected activity in which the employee engaged.  Examples of exceptions to the employment at will doctrine include discrimination based on age, disability race, gender or ethnicity, and retaliation for reporting sexual harassment or opposing discrimination.  This is only a very small list of the exceptions to the Employment-At-Will doctrine.  If you have recently been discharge from employment and wish to receive evaluation of your potential claims please complete the initial assessment form for a free initial assessment.