Scenario: You have an employee who has worked with your company for two years. He typically does acceptable work – he’s not the proverbial “rock star” but he gets it done. Then the quality of work starts to slip. Paperwork isn’t being turned in on time or sometimes not at all. You give him the benefit of the doubt and assume maybe he is just distracted with personal matters and hope for him to get back on track. The issues continue for months before the frustration becomes overwhelming and you decide you just need to get rid of him. Besides, you’re in an at-will employment state! You meet with the employee, tell him you aren’t happy with his work, and part ways. Then a week later, you get a letter from the EEOC notifying you of a claim filed against your company for discrimination. What went wrong?
