If you are terminated for breach of confidentiality, can legal action be taken against the employer if there was no breach?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If you are terminated for breach of confidentiality, can legal action be taken against the employer if there was no breach?
An HR employee was termed for breach of confidentiality, when in fact they never breached confidentiality or it was never proven. This breach was based on a conversation with their ex-boss. The recently terminated employee called their former boss to vent about a situation that happened at work. The new boss found out and terminated them.
Asked on January 17, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If the employee did not have an employment contract, which contract limited the grounds or reasons for terminating the employee, or provided some process or procedure for discipline and termination which must be followed, the employee could be fired at any time, for any reason. Therefore, in the absence of an employment contract, this employee would not have any grounds for a lawsuit or any cause of action--the employer may fire him or her for calling a former boss to vent, and the employer does not need to prove or establish the alleged action.
If there is a contract, then its terms, in regard to termination and discipline, may be enforced.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.