ABA Family Legal Guide

Law and the Workplace

Leaving a Job

Being Fired

Have the courts recognized any exceptions to an employer's ability to fire at-will employees at will?

Yes. In approximately forty states, including Oregon, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan, the courts have held that an employer cannot fire a worker for reasons that conflict with, or undermine, a state's public policy. This is known as the public policy exception to employment at will.