Document Type
Speech
Publication Date
1987
Abstract
The past decade has seen a genuine revolution in employment law, as some forty American jurisdictions, in square holdings or strong dictum and on one or more diverse theories, have modified the conventional doctrine whereby employers "may dismiss their employees at will...for good cause, for no cause or even for cause morally wrong." In this paper I shall briefly review the theories most frequently invoked by the courts in dealing with wrongful dismissal and indicate their deficiencies as a permanent solution for the problem. Next, I shall summarize the major arguments for and against the doctrine of employment at will. Finally, I shall consider some of the particular issues that will have to be resolved in any proposed legislation. But first, to view the whole question from a somewhat different perspective, I should like to look at a few sociopsychological factors that may help explain why the United States remains today the last major industrial democracy in the world without generalized "just cause" protections for its workers.
Recommended Citation
St. Antoine, Theodore J. "At-Will Employment and the Handsome American: A Case Study in Law and Social Psychology." Speech. Los Angeles: UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations, (November 1987).