Assignment #5 - Dillon v. Champion Jogbra

Assignment #5 - Dillon v. Champion Jogbra

Background of the Case

Champion has been sued by Linda Dillon as she was encouraged to take a finer and more responsible position in the company, but was later fired as she was not able to fulfill her duties as expected. Linda claimed that her employer had agreed on the fact that they will give her time to take on the duties and settle on the position at the provision of training and development. Despite of the agreement, she was put on training for only four days and was fired without any prior notice. The given case puts importance on the employers' need to create a design portfolio for the employee and ensure that things are written on handbooks (Garmisa, 2003). The employer has to stay careful with the disclaimers and the wording of the handbook to ensure that nothing creates a contractual liability for them in the future.

Here in this case, the Court has to decide whether an implied contract can lead to termination in the presence of a disclaimer or not. This case discusses in detail the importance of the will of the employer/employee and the exceptions of will. It also highlights the permissible/impermissible grounds of termination, breach of contract and the effect of disclaimers. The employment-at-will stance is one in which the relationship between the employer and the employee maybe discontinued for any reason. However, under this law, the employee may not be wrongfully terminated from the job without serving a notice period and cannot be fired at any time for good, bad or no reason (Doyle, 2013). The Supreme Court has constitutionally established the law according to which employers can no longer terminate the employee for exercising their rights.

What were the legal issues in the case?

This has been highlighted in this case that employers who do not follow the rules, regulations, laws and policies as set out in the Constitution or the company wide code of conduct may be get sued for their wrongful act. These policies are contracts that both the employer and the employee have to follow. In case of Dillon vs. Jogbra, the Court found that the disclaimer that was given to the employee conflicted with the discipline system of the employer (Supreme Court of Vermont, 2002). The Court claimed that the employer was sending mixed messages to the employee about their current status within the company. This gave the employee the right to pursue a case as the contract was breached. This is however suggested that the policy must include at-will statements where it is highlighted that the management has the right to practice discretion in its implementation.

In this case of Dillon vs. Jogbra, the plaintiff Dillon has filed a suit in which she has alleged her employer for wrongful termination from employment. At the prosecution, Linda complained that the Court has erroneously taken the decision as Jogbra had not modified the status of Dillion in the company and ...