An often misunderstood concept is what it means for an employee to be “wrongfully terminated.”  Recently fired individuals sometimes seek the advice of an attorney regarding whether their previous employer may have run afoul of employment laws in terminating their employment.  Almost always, the answer is “no.”

In Michigan, the employer-employee relationship is “at will.”  In short, that means that the employer may fire the employee for any reason or for no reason.  Likewise, the employee may simply stop coming to work without even uttering the words, “I quit,” and there is nothing the employer can do about it.  Basically, the employment relationship in Michigan is no-strings-attached.

There are three limited exceptions to this general rule.  

First, an express or implied contract for employment may modify the “at-will” rule.  If the parties enter into an employment contract, the employer may be limited in the ability to terminate an employee to situations where termination is for a “just cause.”  In addition, the parties may agree that the contract is for a specified duration.  

Kassem Dakhlallah

Second, the employer may not fire the employee in violation of a statute.  For example, the employer may not discriminate against the employee on the basis of race, religion, age, gender or disability as this would violate state and federal anti-discrimination legislation.  In addition, many states, including Michigan have Whistleblower Protection laws that prevent employers from termination employees for shedding light on violations of the law occurring in the workplace.

Third, the employer may not fire the employee in violation of public policy.  The usual example is that an employee cannot be forced to choose between losing their job and breaking the law.  Thus, an employer may not fire an employee for refusing to engage in money laundering, for example.

There are no other exceptions to the general rule that employment is at-will.  So, an employer can legally treat employees with complete disrespect and even outright contempt, and there is little the employee can usually do about it besides quitting.  Thus, with the employment relationship, as with all relationships, selection is everything.

— Kassem Dakhlallah is a partner with Jaafar & Mahdi Law Group, P.C.  His practice focuses on complex litigation including class actions, representative actions, commercial litigation, civil forfeiture and personal injury. He can be reached at (313) 846-6400 and kassem@jaafarandmahdi.com.