And, from what I heard, she wasn´t fired, technically speaking. There was some kind of mutual agreement on finishing the working relation, with a substantial compensation.
May I stray a little and ask if it is true that in the USA, in general terms, of course, that an employee can get the boot for little or no reason, and anyway, with very little compensation?
Here in Spain there are strict legal reasons-in theory- for firing, and the leagal compensation for an unfair termination is 45 days of salary per year of contract with a limit of 42 months. There are plenty of situations in which despite having been a fair termination (economical reasons) you have a compenstion of 20 daÿ´s salary with a limit of 12 months.
In your TV shows one gets the impression that you can get dismissed for nothing with no notice and a week´s compensiation
!!!
Varies by state. I live in an "at will employment" state where you can fire someone without cause for virtually any non-discriminatory reason and give them zero notice and zero compensation. "I don't like the color of your shirt" or "Today the sky is blue and your last name is Blue" is a valid reason. Not that a reason is ever required. No severance or separation payments are required in my state, except paying out someone's accrued but unused vacation time if that is part of the employee's agreement. Most employees in this state work in "at will" positions and do not have a formal employment agreement that guarantees them a fixed period of employment (ie 1 year at $50,000 per year). Professionals included.
From our state's unemployment office:
"The term "Employment-at-Will" means unless there is a specific law to protect employees or there is an employment contract providing otherwise, then an employer can treat its employees as it sees fit (including the assignment of demeaning tasks) and the employer can discharge an employee at the will of the employer for any reason or no reason at all."
Discriminatory treatment based on a protected class (race, religion, color, nationality, disability, age, etc) is prohibited, as is termination as retaliation in some circumstances.
The main reason an employer would want a valid reason to terminate an employee is to keep their unemployment insurance premiums low. Employers who have high proportions of their payroll being terminated without cause end up with a worse rating for their unemployment insurance premiums. So it costs them some.
In practice, employees are frequently given two weeks notice if they are being terminated. Sometimes they work out the remaining two weeks, sometimes they just get paid for the two weeks and are escorted out the door and their personal effects are mailed to them by HR. For cause terminations don't always get the two weeks severance. Practices vary widely though. In return, it is considered professional to give your employer two weeks notice if you are quitting. I don't know if this is common to all states, and the two weeks notice from employee to employer may be longer for "key person" positions.
But yes, it is kind of like TV portrays it. One day the president of the company can walk in and say "You've been too lippy lately, and I don't like it. Pack your crap, you're fired." Like Donald Trump does it! Then you get an attorney from the back cover of the phone book to sue your employer for wrongful termination and/or discrimination of some sort because you are/are not a minority, are/are not a female, are/are not pregnant, are/are not a certain religion, etc. The American Way!
I was exaggerating about the hiring a lawyer part. The large majority of terminations do not result in the terminated employee seeking legal redress.
