Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

Engineers and accountants have sued their employers for retaliatory termination after objecting to the employer’s skirting of government regulations. College professors regularly contest the denial of tenure at colleges and universities.

Safeguarding a reputation for professional expertise and good judgment is of paramount importance to business professionals. Whatever profession you are in, a good public image is difficult to earn and easy to lose. In today’s litigious, media-driven times, negative publicity (e.g., from a financial fraud claim by a disgruntled partner, a malpractice claim by a dissatisfied client, or a discrimination or harassment claim by a terminated employee) can have a devastating effect on the reputation of the business, even if the story is completely untrue.

Today, every professional practice is potentially vulnerable to lawsuits by employees for termination and other employer decisions that adversely affect the employee’s life. For example, take a professional practice that terminates a receptionist after she reveals that she is pregnant, or after she rebuffs the romantic advances of the managing partner. Or a firm that does nothing after an employee makes repeated complaints about sexual harassment by a junior partner. These firms should expect to be the subject of a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or the analogous state agency, and very likely a lawsuit.