Scenario

Mr. Con Fused has been an employee at Regional Hospital for the past five years. His employment there was recently terminated. The reason for the termination was: Inability to follow instructions. However, Regional has adopted an "at-will" policy. So in reality, no reason has to be given for the termination. Never the less, Mr. Fused was very upset at his termination....so upset, that he went to the media with his story.

Scenario for Post 1

You work for the human resources department at Regional. The hospital attorney is preparing for a news conference regarding the termination of Mr. Fused. In an effort to help the attorney, you draft justifications for an "at-will" termination of a hospital employee. What are your reasons for supporting this policy? Your job is to convince the public that this is a necessary and useful policy.

Scenario for Post 2

Now you work for a public advocacy group that has decided to help Mr. Fused. You hold a news conference in response to the hospital's news conference. What flaws do you find in the hospital's position? Why is "at-will" wrong for the medical industry? Be sure to read through posts of your fellow students, then select the "hospital" post that interests you the most.

Scenario for Post 3

Read the post

The hospital has indicated that they will be terminating Mr. Con Fused for failing to follow instructions.However, based on the at-will doctrine no reason was given for his termination.The hospital takes the service provided by their employees very seriously and it is their job to make sure all patients and fellow staff members are receiving the best care.The hospital felt it was in their best interest to terminate Mr. Con Fused.

The relationship between the hospital and Mr. Con Fused was governed by the common law doctrine of employment at will.Either party could terminate the employment relationship at any time and for any reason, unless doing so violated an employee's statutory or contractual rights.This was clearly an issue with this situation.Also, it is important to note that terminating this employee did violate any federal or state statute such as any sort of discrimination.

Base on this policy, the hospital reserves the right to not disclose specific termination reasons other than the decision was based on the best interest of the hospital, patients and supporting staff.

Which side seems more logical to you? Should the medical industry abide by an "at-will" doctrine? Why / why not? Be sure to cite to a post.