"Fire at Will?" Yes, in New York and Connecticut
As indicated by a recent Employee Rights Post, firing an employee on trumped-up charges in retaliation for filing discrimination charges is a definite no-no.
The story illustrates the importance of context. For example, New York and Connecticut are both “at will” states. This means that employees can be fired at any time for any reason, even “trumped up” reasons. But, there are always exceptions, prohibited discrimination being one of the biggest, and retaliation being another.
When employer and employee are covered by non-discrimination laws (not all are), the firing can’t be for a discriminatory reason. And, even if the firing is for a seemingly legitimate reason, it can’t be in retaliation for filing discrimination charges.
Retaliation occurs when the employee has already made a complaint about some kind of discrimination and the employer takes an adverse action, such as firing the employee. Retaliation can also involve actions other than firing, such as demotion, unfavorable assignments and general harassment.
To be clear, an employee can still be fired or transferred for legitimate reasons. But, as suggested by Ellen Simon, those reasons will need to stand up to scrutiny because of the context - - a pending discrimination complaint.
Note, too, that the original discrimination claims can be dismissed while the retaliation claim survives.
