Dive Brief:
- Employers can fire workers for many things, but employees cannot be fired for things like refusing to commit an illegal act, performing jury duty, exercising a legal right (filing a workers' compensation claim) or reporting criminal activity, according to HR.BLR.com.
- In a decision this past September, the Utah Supreme Court added another one when it ruled in Ray v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., that employees shouldn't have to choose between protecting themselves and keeping their jobs, the article reports.
- Walmart has a workplace violence policy that requires employees to stay out of violent situations and get to safety. They must also contact law enforcement rather than approach a person who may be armed, threatens to use a weapon, or is violent. The policy was designed to foster and encourage a safe workplace.
Dive Insight:
Wal-Mart terminated a total of five employees who worked at two different Utah locations who defied the workplace violence policy. Both involved disarming shoplifters without calling police. Wal-Mart argued that the employees' right to self-defense "doesn't trump" its right to regulate its workplace, according to the article.
In its defense, Walmart cited cases from various states where courts ruled for employers, but in this case the Utah Supreme Court ruled there is a "clear and substantial public policy" in Utah favoring self-defense, as the "right to self-defense is in the state's constitution, statutes, and case law and affects the public at large."
Author Kelsey Crosse, an associate at the Davis Brown Law Firm in Ames, IA, recommends that employers encourage employees to get law enforcement help, rather than attempt to become workplace heroes. While employees must be able to protect themselves when they're facing imminent danger, they need to be able to determine when self-defense is the right thing to do and when their aggressive conduct "may cause more harm than good."
