QUESTION
My husband was fired from AdultWorld for telling a customer One to a booth because they were involved in sexual relations is that wrongful termination
Asked on Aug 14th, 2012 on Labor and Employment - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
My husband worked at Adult World in our area for just under a year. He was always on time, never missed a day and went above and beyond his job description..ie maintenance, displays, etc. The rules of the back viewing booths are one to a booth on several occasions he had to kick someone out or tap on the door to say one to a booth. People were constantly having sexual relations in the back rooms. He refused to let that go on..Even though he worked their that is something meant for private and not in a public venue where it is illegal. He was once told to turn a blind eye and when he refused 2 months later after stopping it again he and another employee were fired. Never questioned about the incident just fired they said for yelling at a customer. Can we take action against Adult World for wrongful termination? They fired him because he wouldn''t let sex acts happen.
1 ANSWER
Litigation Attorney serving Media, PA
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Eckell, Sparks, Levy, Auerbach, Monte, Sloane, Matthews & Auslander, P.C.
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Generally speaking, Pennsylvania is an at-will employment state, which means that unless an employee has a contract or is a member of a union, the employee can be terminated for good reason, bad reason, or no reason whatsoever, so long as the reason is not discriminatory or illegal.
It doesn't appear from the facts you provided that your husband was terminated on the basis of his sex, age, national origin, religion, disability or race. If so, his termination would not constitute illegal discrimination or retaliation under federal or state discrimination laws.
Pennsylvania allows for very limited exceptions for claims of wrongful termination of at-will employment where there is no illegal discrimination or retaliation. However, some court decisions in Pennsylvania have allowed claims for wrongful termination for violations of public policy. It is possible that your husband could argue that the real reason for his termination, i.e., refusing to allow customer to engage in public sex acts in the booths, was a violation of public policy because such activity is illegal and he should not be punished for reporting illegal behavior to his employer. But, the odds of successfully prevailing on that argument are probably low, given the reluctance of PA courts to create new exceptions to the at-will employment doctrine.
If either you or your husband would like to speak about this matter in more detail, feel free to either call me directly at (610) 565-3700 or email me a mdavey@eckellsparks.com
Michael J. Davey, Esq.
Eckell Sparks Law Firm
Answered on Aug 16th, 2012 at 3:31 PM