An accounting employee was terminated for unsatisfactory performance based on the supervisor’s recommendation. The employee sued the supervisor for intentional interference with her contractual relationship with the employer, alleging the supervisor manufactured performance issues as a pretext for causing her to be fired in retaliation for the employee complaining about the supervisor. The trial court dismissed the case, saying that even if there was a contract it would be interfered with, it was an at-will employment contract, which meant that it could have been terminated at any time. On appeal, the case was reinstated.
Why This Is Important… the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court said that if the supervisor’s act was outside the scope of the supervisor’s authority, the fact that the at-will employment contract could be terminated at any time was not justification or not allowing the case to continue. If what the supervisor did was within the scope of their authority, there would be no liability. This case creates a new cause of action against supervisors. If this theory spreads among the states, it will create a new avenue for potential personal liability.
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