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Think You Know What Constitutes Good Cause?

By Kevin C. McCormick
March 27, 2008

Most standard employment agreements and personnel policies include provisions that condition the receipt of certain benefits or trigger certain disciplinary actions on the basis of 'good cause' or 'cause.'

For example, an employment agreement may limit termination only in those circumstances in which the employer has cause to do so. Other times, the receipt of certain benefits, such as severance, is limited to those situations in which the employee's departure from the company was for some reason other than 'cause.' Occasionally, examples of what constitutes cause is set forth in the agreement or the policy. More often, however, the agreement does not contain any description, and it is left up to the employer to decide whether cause exists.

Many employers believe that since they make the first call as to whether cause exists, that is the final call. However, as demonstrated by the jury verdict in a recent Maryland trial, it is the jury, not the employer, that gets to make the final call as to whether cause exists. Kinsbourne, et al. v. 180's LLC, Case No. 24C6001910, Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland (2007).

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