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affect your decision about whether to contest a departing

employee’s eligibility. Finally, in Chapter Eight, we

offer some practical advice to employers based upon our

years of experience navigating employment relationships

gone bad.

Chapter 1

Termination and Discipline

A. “At-Will” Employment

The voluntary, or “at-will” nature of the

employment relationship is a key concept in

Massachusetts employment law. Though the phrase “at-

will” is often used as shorthand for an employer’s broad

discretion to fire an employee, the concept also has its

roots in the laws against slavery and indentured

servitude, and the idea that nobody can be compelled to

work for anyone else. In its purest form, either the

5| Rules of the Road