L.B. 324: Codification of the Public Policy Exception to the Employment-At-Will Doctrine in Nebraska
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Authors
Loudon, Timothy D.
Issue Date
1986
Volume
19
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|Absent a contract for a definite term, most nonunion, private sector employment relationships in this country are presumed to be terminable at will. The employment-at-will rule has been traced to an 1877 treatise by H.G. Wood, in which he wrote: "With us, the rule is inflexible that a general or indefinite hiring is prima facie a hiring at will, and if the servant seeks to make it out a yearly hiring, the burden is upon him to establish it by proof." In addition to a number of significant statutory inroads into the employment-at-will doctrine, courts in recent years have begun to develop a variety of exceptions to the at-will rule premised upon general contract and tort principles. The most frequently litigated exception to the employment-at-will doctrine, however, has involved discharges violative of public policy. Public policy challenges to the employment-at-will doctrine typically allege that an employee was discharged in retaliation for: (1) refusing to commit an unlawful act,(2) reporting suspected violations of law or other wrongdoing to the authorities, or (3) exercising or otherwise asserting a legal right or a legal duty...
Description
Citation
19 Creighton L. Rev. 599 (1985-1986)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law