Page 2 - White Paper-Employment Termination

Most of the time, the termination of a job is stressful and anxiety provoking

for both the person losing their job and the person making and delivering the

termination decision. In this paper we try to provide a quick reference guide for

employers who want to make sure they get this piece right and employees who are

wondering if their termination was lawful.

Massachusetts, like many other states, is an “at-will: employment state. This

means that, subject to the exceptions below, an employee can be fired for a good

reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all. This also means that, contrary to popular

belief, there is no legal requirement that an employer use warnings or “progressive

discipline” before terminating an employee.

Discrimination

Despite an employer’s freedom to terminate for any reason or no reason at

all, federal and state law prohibit making such a decision based on a person’s

membership in a protected class. “Protected Classes” include:

• Race and/or Color (Federal and Massachusetts law)

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