Abigail Harrison works as a secretary at BuildCo, a large construction company that specializes in government contracts. Abigail is in charge of reviewing the invoices that BuildCo is sent to the state of Vermont regarding the construction of a new facility for the state's department of transportation. Abigail discovers that BuildCo managers have been illegally overcharging the costs of time and materials in their invoices to state officials. Abigail tells her co-worker Irene Ichan about the overcharges during a lunch break and suggests that they should be fixed. Two weeks later, Abigail is abruptly fired by her immediate supervisor. Assuming that her termination was because of her disclosures to Irene, did BuildCo legally terminate Abigail? 1. Employment at will (does - does not) give employers broad discretion to hire and fire their employees.
2. Employment at will (requires - does not require) employers to give an employee sufficient notice before the employee is discharged.
3. The most common exception to the employment at will doctrine is the exception based upon (contract theory - tort theory - public policy).
4. The public policy exception (may - may not) apply to an employee discharged for whistleblowing.
5. Whistleblowing involves the disclosure of (unsafe - inappropriate) or (unethical - illegal) activity to appropriate individuals or entities, such as government authorities, upper-level managers, or the media.
6. Did Abigail speak about illegal activities by her employer?(yes-no)
7. Did Abigail report her findings of illegal overbilling to government authorities?(yes-no)
8. Did Abigail report her findings of illegal overbilling to upper-level managers? (yes-no)
9. Did Abigail report her findings of illegal overbilling to the media? (yes-no)
10. Is Abigail a whistleblower under the law? (yes - no)
11. Why? (Abigail did not report illegal activity. - Abigail did not report activity to the necessary individuals or entities)
12. Can BuildCo legally fire Abigail in this case? (yes - no)