Pennsylvania is an “employment-at-will” state. The employment-at-will doctrine provides that, unless certain exceptions apply, the employer or the employee may terminate the employment relationship for any reason or for no reason at any time. Generally, no cause of action will exist for wrongful discharge for terminating an at-will employment relationship. However, there are exceptions to this general rule, arising from contract law or public policy principles.
There are at least 30 state and federal statutes prohibiting the discharge of an employee for specified reasons. Some of these more well known laws include: the Americans with Disabilities Act; Age Discrimination in Employment Act; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act; and the Family and Medical Leave Act. There are other lesser known laws that are designed to provide protection to employees from wrongful termination. For example, employees are protected from discharge for reporting illegal activities of the employer (where there exists a statutory duty to do so), refusing to lie to federal or state investigators, filing a workers’ compensation claim, refusing to take a polygraph test, or participating in jury duty.
The employment at will presumption can be defeated if a contract can be shown to exist between the employer and employee. Proving such a contract can be difficult. The employee bears the burden of proving the existence of the contract. Even employee handbooks normally do not create such a contract. In Pennsylvania, contracts have been implied based on employee handbooks or policies only when they state that they are to be legally binding.
If a contract exists, other factors are considered in determining whether the employee maybe terminated. They include whether the employee is within a definite term of employment, whether the contract relies on a “just cause” or other specific reasons for discharge, and of course, whether the employees’ acts arise to the level of “just cause” or otherwise meet the standard for discharge.
This is a tricky area that should be navigated by employers and employees with great care.
— J. Ken Butera