A termination for cause is not a slap on the wrist. It is the pinnacle of punishment for an employee. And because it is rarely carried out appropriately, when cause cases turn up in courts, many of us in the employment bar take notice.
A termination for cause usually happens when an employer is fed up after ongoing performance issues, major lapses in judgment or serious misconduct. The misconduct must be willful and not trivial. It is the most severe penalty an employee can receive. Most often, perks and pay seize the day a termination for cause takes place.
Even if misconduct rises to the legal threshold of cause, it must be well documented and well supported by evidence. An employer needs receipts.
And today I tell you a story of an employer that had the bones of a good cause case but did not have the evidence to back it up.
An equipment company that I will refer to as “Tractor” terminated an employee who I will call “Shawn.” Tractor terminated him after various incidents including crashing the company truck, members of the public complaining about his driving and an incident where Shawn injured himself at least once.
