ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the development of the employment-at-will doctrine in American jurisprudence and the development of the legislative and judicial exceptions. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 was the first important statutory exception to employment at will. The NLRA became a template for other antiretaliation statutes protecting voluntary, socially valued conduct. The antidiscrimination doctrines offer inadequate protection to those covered, and few employees have engaged in conduct protected by the antiretaliation doctrines. Together, the antidiscrimination statutes, antiretaliation statutes, and judicial public policy exception make up the law of wrongful discharge. In general, judicially created exceptions fall into three categories: exceptions based on public policy, exceptions based on implied contracts, and exceptions based on an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Critics of contemporary employment at will decry its failure to provide human beings with basic fairness and simple justice. Employment at will is defended primarily on the basis of market economy theories.
