I'm being a shit house lawyer here, but I had a year and a half of law school and it included tort law, and from what I can tell from the article the court is making the case that this is the wrong cause of action. That is, fraud is the wrong rule that was broken, to seek relief. I could be all wet, but if that is the case, there may be another way to seek relief. I won't be offended by correction, certainly.

That said, at will employment is the other end of the pendulum from the hey day of the UAW/Teamsters Union I grew up with in Detroit. It's places too much power in the hands of one side and corruption is sure to follow. I think we are probably at a low point in my lifetime in terms of worker's rights.

But all the union talk is not rhetoric. When the unions were big, everyone knew they were mobbed up. There were death threats back and forth between union and management. There was a lot of union money stolen from workers that enriched corrupt people. Of course it was before the state ran the lottery so they provided that service. It was much different times. Happy medium was probably 85 to 95.

Or at least live and work in a state that has some degree of employee protection on the books.

When I talk about rhetoric, I'm talking about equating labor unions with communism and other hyperbolic nonsense that one usually hears from places like the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, etc.

Ah, I see. Been a while since I've read much of that, but it's not hard to construct the argument. Grim.

Probably the biggest anti-union gripe I hear that's complete BS is "you can't fire anyone," especially teachers.

Every Union contract I've ever read has the conditions listed under which a union member can be fired. The problem for many assholes in management is that this requires things called "documentation" and "evidence," whereas they just want to fire someone that they don't care for. It requires due diligence from management, and very often, those are the real lazy fucks that think things like refusing to do jobs that aren't in your job description for no extra pay is a fireable offense.

Not to mention the whole "at will" system allows bigotry and discrimination with no paper trail. Fun times.

I've heard people citing construction workers and how "there's always workers who aren't actually working."

First: they tend to be working right by traffic and with dangerous equipment. You want a spotter for that stuff.

Second: Two people digging a hole goes faster than one even if you only have one shovel. One can work while the other rests.

Yep. And that perception leads to this "at will" stuff which lets workers be fired for no real reason and no sympathy from an ignorant public right before they'd normally get a bump in pay (hi, Wal-Mart!).

Surely this travesty will ignite the national public into a frothing rage, and they will demand restitution and protection from the powerful.

What is an at will employee?

Someone who can be fired just for the hell of it.

In AZ everyone is an "At Will employee". At will was the nice name they put on the bill that took away your right to sue if you got fired for no reason/ bull shit. It also means that you can quit at any time. Like that matters. It's bull shit and I knew a couple of people that were fired for things out of their control as scape goats. One of the reasons I came back to California.

A lot depends and the scale of the business. I once had to fire a guy just because he was an asshole and none of us liked working with him. He did his job well enough, but in a small company, his mere presence made it an unpleasant work environment for all of us. He was a detriment to the organization. If guys like him could sue for being fired, it would bog down the world of small business.

Being able to quit at any time does matter. Leaving at a bad time can seriously screw other employees and the business as a whole.

Two weeks notice is a good business etiquette, in both directions. When I fired that guy, I asked him to be gone by the end of the day, but gave him two weeks salary as severance. I didn't have to, but not being an asshole is generally better for everyone in the long run. It's best to part an good terms, or at least not on really shitty terms.

Ever hear the phrase "Fire at will?"

Pretty much that.

my boss lies to me all the time and there is nothing i can do about it. if i call him on it he changes the subject or flat out denies it.

please don't let him see this decision.

I'm so fucking glad I got out of Texas. It's in a race to the bottom.

Kansas isn't far behind. It'll be a real example of mindless, partisan voting if Governor Brownback stays in office. Not only does he favor things of this nature for labor, he's basically cut taxes for corporate entities (and the rich, naturally) so much that even big corporations like Applebee's have decided that Kansas is probably not a good place to stay, economically. Since the GOP basically runs the state, how his base manages to not realize that the right wing line about taxation and regulation is burning their economy to the ground probably has a name that psychiatrists prescribe medication for.