If an employee is “at-will,” it usually means you can discharge the person at any time for any lawful, non-discriminatory reason. But what if a manager is motivated by improper, though not illegal, personal concerns when recommending an employee be fired? In a new decision, the California Court of Appeal has ruled that as long as the employee is at-will, a manager will almost always be protected from personal liability by virtue of the “manager’s privilege.”
Worker Embarrasses Supervisor
The case involved Boyd Halvorsen, who worked as a district manager for Aramark Uniform Services, Inc. Halvorsen arranged to purchase specialty linens for a new restaurant without getting a long-term contract from the restaurant first. But he claimed he had gotten the approval of his supervisor, Peter Scianna, before proceeding. The restaurant closed three weeks after it opened, leaving Aramark with a large inventory of expensive, unusable linens.
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When Halvorsen was later questioned in a company meeting about the linen purchase, he stated that Scianna had approved it. The next day, Scianna confronted Halvorsen and accused him of lying and embarrassing him at the meeting. Another supervisor then informed Halvorsen that he was being terminated “due to performance.”
Termination Based On Improper Motive
Halvorsen sued Aramark for wrongful termination. He also sued Scianna personally for interfering with his employment relationship with Aramark. Halvorsen argued that Scianna had an improper motive-protecting himself from embarrassment-when he urged the company to terminate Halvorsen. But the California Court of Appeal threw out Halvorsen’s case against Scianna.
Manager Has Absolute Privilege
The court began by observing that Halvorsen was an at-will employee. The court also recognized that an employer needs its managers to be free of the threat of a lawsuit so that they can fully and openly consider whether an employee should be fired. Therefore, the court concluded that when a worker’s employment is at-will, managers are absolutely privileged to communicate with the employer concerning the person’s termination. Although this is a developing area of the law, the ruling suggests that managers can’t be personally sued for interfering with a worker’s employment relationship with an employer.