Rochelle Eisenberg: You can fire somebody because you don't like the way they part their hair or you don't like the way they smile.
Mary Keating: Business judgment would seem to say only fire the employee for a good reason but unless it's an illegal reason and there are only a few of those. The employment relationship can be terminated at any point.
Rochelle Eisenberg: That's correct, however you better be able to justify why you fired somebody in the event of charge of discrimination is filled against you.
Mary Keating: Being fired can be a very traumatic event.
Rochelle Eisenberg: I would not be that aggressive with the departing employee and I would be more respectful of the departing employee.
Mary Keating: Keep things objective, focused on job performance.
Rochelle Eisenberg: We met on March 1, March 15, April 1, April 15. We talked about your poor job performance, it wasn't working, we are not a match, I am afraid that we are going to have to terminate your employment. And at that point, at that point, you do not let the employee have access to their computer. That's the big issue now. Files can be erased, or an attempt to erase them -- we know that files really can't be erased, but people can go in and sabotage a system.
Mary Keating: Allow the person to get his or her personal items but not let them stay to work the rest of the day.
