Barney's company creates promotional campaigns for other businesses. He just learned that the firm lost the Lisle Account, a long-standing customer. In the short term, this will significantly reduce the need for several creative writers and web content developers the company has on staff. As he prepares to call each employee in for dismissal, Barney reviews the best way to approach this inevitable task. He decides that it is best not to tarnish the image of the company so rather than tell each that they lost an important account, he will blame the need to reduce the workforce on new technology the firm is implementing and his personal evaluation of their work. He also plans to offer a two-month severance payment, as long as each signs a no-compete agreement good for one year. In that way, he may be able to call them back if new accounts emerge. All of these strategies are considered good procedures that would surely avoid "wrongful discharge lawsuits."

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Blaming the need to reduce the workforce on new technology and personal evaluations of their work, instead of the true reason (loss of an account), could be seen as misleading and unethical. This approach could potentially increase the risk of wrongful discharge lawsuits, especially if the employees find out the real reason for their dismissal. Offering severance in exchange for a no-compete agreement is a common practice, but the overall strategy of misleading employees about the reasons for their dismissal is not recommended.

Barney's Company Creates Promotional Campaigns for Other Businesses