Reference no: EM13270860

Imagine you are a recently-hired Chief Operating Officer (COO) in a midsize company preparing for anInitial Public Offering (IPO). You quickly discover multiple personnel problems that require your immediateattention.

1. John posted a rant on his Facebook page in which he criticized the company's mostimportant customer.

2. Ellen started a blog to protest the CEO's bonus, noting that no one below director has gottena raise in two (2) years and portraying her bosses as "know-nothings" and "out-of-touch"

3. Bill has been using his company-issued BlackBerry to run his own business on the side.

4. After being disciplined for criticizing a customer in an email (sent from his personal emailaccount on a company computer), Joe threatens to sue the company for invasion of privacy.

5. One of the department supervisors requests your approval to fire his secretary forinsubordination. Since the secretary has always received glowing reviews, you call her intoyour office and determine that she has refused to prepare false expense reports for her boss.

6. Anna's boss refused to sign her leave request for jury duty and now wants to fire her forbeing absent without permission. As an astute manager, you will need to analyze the employment-at-will doctrine and determine what, ifany, exceptions and liabilities exist before taking any action. As you proceed with your investigation, youdiscover the company has no whistleblower policy.In preparation for this assignment, use the Internet or Strayer Library to research your state'semployment-at-will policy. Write a five (5) page paper in which you:

1. Summarize the employment-at-will doctrine discussed in the text and then evaluate three (3) ofthe six (6) scenarios described by determining:

a. Whether you can legally fire the employee; include an assessment of any pertinent exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine.

b. The primary action(s) that you should take to limit liability and impact on operations;specify the ethical theory that best supports your decision.

2. Examine your states policy on employment-at-will. Analyze at least one (1) real-world example ofan employee or employer utilizing your state's employment-at-will doctrine in the last five (5)years. Include a summary of the main issue and the outcome in the identified real-world example.

3. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment.

Note: Wikipedia is not an acceptable reference and proprietary Websites do not qualify as academic resources.