Sudden Termination Without Notice Due to Gossip: Can Legal Action Be Taken?

Hi all,

One of my friends has been terminated without any prior notice. In the appointment letter, it states one day's notice, but he has been terminated with immediate effect. The reason for the termination is some gossip created by his colleagues, which has not been proven to him. Can he take legal action against the company?

Can anybody shed some light on this issue?

Hi,

1. What were the conditions set forth in the appointment letter?
2. Does the employee come under the category of an industry employee?

Unless you go through the conditions of employment, we cannot come to a conclusion as to whether the termination is legal or illegal. In some terminations, the "Principles of Natural Justice" may not be applied.

Subba Rao Bhagavatula.

Certainly! Here is the revised version of your text with corrected spelling, grammar, and formatting:

Can I know whether termination can be without following the principles of natural justice? Because, as far as my knowledge is concerned, termination has to be done after following the procedure outlined in Standing Orders or Conduct Rules. In this case, even notice is also not served. As you are aware, the opposite party has to be given the opportunity to be heard as per the principles of natural justice. Is there any case that supports the idea that the principles of natural justice need not be followed? Kindly clarify my doubts.

You are right, no termination is valid unless made without conducting a domestic enquiry and following the principles of natural justice. However, if the terms of service do provide for a notice period and when the employee has not completed 240 days in the organization, the employer can terminate the service of any employee without notice and without holding an enquiry. Whether an employee is employed in a factory or not, the legal validity of termination remains the same. In new generation employment, these kinds of retrenchments are very common. The employees are not informed of their rights, and on the other hand, the employer will take every advantage of it by dividing the employees. If the employees feel that they all work for remuneration and they do not take anything extra from the office where they work, there can be unity among them and there will not be any scope for backstabbing or gossiping. If the employer finds the employee to be undivided, he will also recognize the employees.

No court will insist that any employer retain unproductive labor. If terminated, the employer should have some FABRICATED reasons, of which one reason shall definitely be non-performance. In circumstances where an employee cannot win the help of other employees, there is no scope in narrating the legal side. Therefore, forget about it.

Regards,

Madhu.T.K

Hi,

You have a good case unless the termination is for non-performance during probation or the termination is on account of loss of confidence for reasons like theft, misappropriation, etc.

Regards,
Valar
svalarmathi@yahoo.com

Thank you, Madhu,

Your quote on termination with immediate effect has helped me very much. I was exactly in this ambiguity about what to do for an immediate termination. I have joined an organization this month only, and an employee who is not performing at all has been absent for the last 1.5 months, giving a reason of illness due to diabetes.

My management told me to terminate him with immediate effect, but terminating immediately is definitely against the rule of natural justice. Hence, I was not able to make any decision. Thanks to your advice, I could come to a conclusion regarding my decision.

The relationship between the employer and employee is governed by the Industrial Standing Orders Act of 1947 and also the contractual terms and conditions where both parties have agreed upon it.

So, here the man who was terminated from the job without any proven charges - it is a violation of the principles of natural justice, and further remedies are available to him to seek justice as per the law.

Regards,

Bharat

Good evening to all.

Let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Venkateswara Rao, and I have over 16 years of experience in HR, IR, and HR-related legal matters in diversified industries. I have also practiced for some time in labor court.

With my experience in the related field, I would like to say that it is very difficult to come to a conclusion regarding whether the termination of an employee by their employer is justified or not in the given circumstances. This is because, as you all know, in every employment, the appointment order prescribes the terms and conditions to be governed and observed by both the employer and employee. However, for an employee covered under the provisions of the ID Act, 1947, the remedy is available to challenge the termination by the employer if adequate opportunity of being heard is not given to the employee by their employer at the time of dismissal without observing due procedure.

This facility is available particularly to employees who fall under the workman definition of the ID Act. If an employer terminates the services of an employee who completes the minimum service of 240 days in a year without following the procedure of issuing a charge sheet, holding an enquiry, etc., and without paying retrenchment compensation, in such a case, the termination is considered to be malafide, and the concerned employee has the right to avail the remedy either through the Labor Court under Sec.2-A or the Shops and Establishments Act, but not in both. There have been many decided cases in favor of the workmen by the Apex court and various High Courts of states.

To provide complete details may take much time. Hence, I sincerely appeal to all of you to pardon me for now, and I will certainly come back with full details regarding the termination of Trainees, Probationary, and regular category of employees, and under what circumstances the termination is held to be valid, etc.

Thank you to all for giving me this chance to share my views with you.

Yours sincerely,

Venkat
Hyderabad

Hi all,

Reply of Mr. Venkat is absolutely correct, and in this platform, it is not possible to deal with the case in detail as lots of nitty-gritty are involved.

Coming to the case, any employee can be terminated with immediate effect without giving notice. In this case, the company will have to pay the dues as mentioned in the appointment letter. If the company does not pay him the relevant compensation, then he can go to court and claim for the compensation.

There is no point in asking for reinstatement as it will take a long time for the case to be settled, and in the meantime, your friend will get another job. Even if he gets reinstatement, the company will play some game or another and will compel the employee to resign.

The best course of action would be to ask your friend to look for a new job and seek compensation from 'this' employer. If he doesn't get it, then he can go to court to claim compensation as mentioned in the appointment letter.

This is only a practical solution. I don't think a theoretical solution will be of much help. The principle of Natural Justice is not of much help for us practically speaking.

What do you say, Venkat?

Regards,
Nilendra

Termination cannot be done with immediate effect until and unless a formal inquiry is conducted, the employee has been charged, and the report of the inquiry is submitted to him for a chance to reply. However, please check whether he has completed his temporary period and falls under the Industrial Dispute Act-Workman category.

If you can provide clarity on the case, clear guidance will definitely be given.

Regards,
Keshava

Dear All,

Termination with immediate effect is based on theft, rape, and other illegal activities such as fraud, bribery, etc. However, it should be proven on the ground; otherwise, the employee can seek assistance from the nearest ACL. For non-performance as well, you cannot simply terminate; you must provide genuine reasons following the principles of natural justice.

Thanks & Regards,
B. RAVI MURUGAN