Why can't you make the time to document this separation adequately through escalating discipline? Rule 5 - Let the jobholder have her or his say. Remember that this person has a bad disposition to begin with. Often when you take over a new department, you'll have at least one problem worker to deal with. You can use these insights to improve the company actions and profitability. Through your questioning, there's a good chance the sacked employee will say something you can use against her in a unlawful layoff suit. To make matters worse, you must know the average award in a illegal separation trial is $536,927 (according to Jury Verdict Research) and the employee wins about 70% of the time (according to Steven Mitchell Sack in Getting Fired.) Most disciplinary actions for a disobeyed order should fall between the lines of a written notification, suspension from work, relocation to a different organization or even dismissal if it harmed a coworker or it seriously affected the business. Otherwise, you find yourself in the middle of a illegal dismissal lawsuit. You should carefully document all attempts to contact the jobholder along the way. Your layoff notice wants to get to the point quickly and not give more information then necessary.

So, if you laid off the worker for misbehavior, you can legitimately fight the claim. The administrator then sends you and the employee a letter about his status. You should have a legitimate reason for terminating the employee, and you must communicate this reason to your employee. The employee should then sign documentation showing that he or she is aware of the problem and recognizing that you have discussed it.