{"id":549,"date":"2013-01-19T03:16:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-19T03:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/"},"modified":"2013-01-19T03:16:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-19T03:16:00","slug":"termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Termination Of NFL Coaches Gives New Years Reminder Of Termination Tips For 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seven NFL head coaches were terminated on Black Monday, duly named because it is the Monday following the end of the regular season when coaches typically get the axe.\u00a0 The coaches sent packing and looking for their next job are:\u00a0 Andy Reid of Philadelphia, Lovie Smith of Chicago, Norv Turner of San Diego, Pat Shumur of Cleveland, Romeo Crennell of Kansas City, Chan Gailey of Buffalo and Ken Whisenhunt of Arizona.\u00a0 Several General Managers were also fired.<\/p>\n

These terminations were no surprise and were without controversy.\u00a0 This was due to the fact that their teams\u2019 performances did not reach reasonable objective standards \u2013 enough wins. Norv Turner, for example, had failed to reach the playoffs in the past three seasons. Gene Smith\u2019s record with the Jaguars was 22-42 and his team went 2-14 in 2012, the worst season in franchise history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Termination decisions, however, are not always so clear.\u00a0 Often, the decision is based on subjective and objective reasons.\u00a0 Other factors may make the decision more complex.\u00a0 For example, the employee to be terminated may be in a protected class; the employee may have engaged in protected activity (such as complaining about discrimination); there is little documentation to support the decision, or the employee is well liked.<\/p>\n

There is no way to fully insulate an employer from being sued as a result of terminating an employee.\u00a0 Here are a few basic tips, however, that should be followed to reduce the likelihood of being sued.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
    Make Sure The Termination Is Not A Surprise<\/span>.\u00a0 If properly managed, no employee should ever be surprised by termination decision based on performance.\u00a0 Prior to termination, the employee should have been notified of performance problems, told what the employer\u2019s expectations were as well as the consequences of what would happen if performance did not improve.\u00a0 Employees are more likely to accept a termination without challenge if they knew it was a possibility and believe that they were given a fair chance to succeed. \u00a0Contrast this with the termination of Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 General Manager, Brian Burke, who never saw his termination coming and stated that \u201cthis one here was like a two-by-four upside the head to me.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n
    Be Consistent With Discipline<\/span>.\u00a0 The most obvious way to guard against a\u00a0 discrimination claim is to apply rules equally to all employees and to be\u00a0consistent with discipline. The genesis of any discrimination claim is an employee\u2019s belief of being treated differently.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n
    Properly Document Performance Issues<\/span>.\u00a0 In order to terminate an employee, an employer should have good documentation that supports the decision. \u00a0A lawsuit can be won or lost on documentation.\u00a0 Employee files should contain recent performance reviews, records from counseling sessions with the employees and\u00a0\u00a0any discipline or corrective measures taken leading up to the termination.\u00a0 For example, an employer will have a difficult time convincing a jury that an employee was properly terminated for poor performance if there is no documentation illustrating the performance problems.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  4. \n
    Avoid Using Email To Discuss Personnel Problems<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0 Email is not an effective way to criticize or discipline an employee.\u00a0 It will likely anger the employee and initiate an ugly exchange.\u00a0 Emails can also be forwarded so there is little control over who receives it.\u00a0 In addition, emails are discoverable in litigation. Because emails are typically less artfully written than letters, they may not serve as great exhibits.\u00a0 Disciplinary matters should be discussed in person.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  5. \n
    Provide The Real Reason For The Termination<\/span>.\u00a0 Always provide the real reason\u00a0\u00a0for the termination.\u00a0 Giving a phony reason for the termination, even if to avoid hurtful feelings, can be detrimental in any subsequent litigation.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  6. \n
    T<\/span>reat Employees With Respect<\/span>. Litigation often comes about when terminated employees feel they were disrespected.\u00a0 Being terminated is an emotional event.\u00a0 Be conscious of your comments and respond to requests for information on benefits, unemployment or other issues that may arise.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  7. \n
    Keep Termination Meetings Brief<\/span>.\u00a0 Termination meetings should be short and to the point.\u00a0 If possible, the meetings should be conducted at the end of the day.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  8. \n
    Consider Providing Severance Pay In Exchange Of A Release<\/span>.\u00a0 The surest way to\u00a0 obtain peace of mind and avoid a lawsuit stemming from a termination decision is to obtain a full release of claims from the employee.\u00a0 The release must be supported with some benefit to be enforceable.\u00a0 Therefore, an employer will have to provide money or some other benefit in exchange for the release.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Terminations are necessary and will always be a difficult challenge for an organization.\u00a0 With proper consideration and planning, however, terminations can be accomplished without creating unnecessary disruption and litigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Seven NFL head coaches were terminated on Black Monday, duly named because it is the Monday following the end of the regular season when coaches typically get the axe.\u00a0 The coaches sent packing and looking for their next job are:\u00a0 Andy Reid of Philadelphia, Lovie Smith of Chicago, Norv Turner of San Diego, Pat Shumur […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTermination Of NFL Coaches Gives New Years Reminder Of Termination Tips<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Termination Of NFL Coaches Gives New Years Reminder Of Termination Tips\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seven NFL head coaches were terminated on Black Monday, duly named because it is the Monday following the end of the regular season when coaches typically get the axe.\u00a0 The coaches sent packing and looking for their next job are:\u00a0 Andy Reid of Philadelphia, Lovie Smith of Chicago, Norv Turner of San Diego, Pat Shumur […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-19T03:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ken Winkler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ken Winkler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/\",\"name\":\"Termination Of NFL Coaches Gives New Years Reminder Of Termination Tips\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-19T03:16:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-19T03:16:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0bdd515c852a347a4fad0fd9a856021f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Termination Of NFL Coaches Gives New Years Reminder Of Termination Tips For 2013\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/\",\"name\":\"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.\",\"description\":\"A Business Law Firm In Atlanta\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0bdd515c852a347a4fad0fd9a856021f\",\"name\":\"Ken Winkler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ken Winkler\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/author\/ken-winkler\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Termination Of NFL Coaches Gives New Years Reminder Of Termination Tips","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Termination Of NFL Coaches Gives New Years Reminder Of Termination Tips","og_description":"Seven NFL head coaches were terminated on Black Monday, duly named because it is the Monday following the end of the regular season when coaches typically get the axe.\u00a0 The coaches sent packing and looking for their next job are:\u00a0 Andy Reid of Philadelphia, Lovie Smith of Chicago, Norv Turner of San Diego, Pat Shumur […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/","og_site_name":"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.","article_published_time":"2013-01-19T03:16:00+00:00","author":"Ken Winkler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ken Winkler","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/","name":"Termination Of NFL Coaches Gives New Years Reminder Of Termination Tips","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-19T03:16:00+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-19T03:16:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0bdd515c852a347a4fad0fd9a856021f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/termination-of-nfl-coaches-gives-new-years-reminder-of-termination-tips-for-2013\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Termination Of NFL Coaches Gives New Years Reminder Of Termination Tips For 2013"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/","name":"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.","description":"A Business Law Firm In Atlanta","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0bdd515c852a347a4fad0fd9a856021f","name":"Ken Winkler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ken Winkler"},"url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/author\/ken-winkler\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}