Firing at Will: A Manager's Guide

Risky BusinessThe Perils of Employee Lawsuits

We've talked about why you need to be free to fire people, as unpleasant as that might seem. Now we need to talk about the downside to firing people, and the serious risks it brings to your business.

The point here isn't to dissuade you from firing the employees you need to fire; that would go against the central premise of Firing at Will. Instead, the goal here is to let you go into that important decision-making process with your eyes wide open, and to prepare you for the consequences. Because there will be consequences.

Let's start with the lesser consequences, and work our way up. First off: gossip. ...