Boston College Law Review Volume 23 Article 1 Issue 2 Number 2 3-1-1982 Employment at Will: Do Exceptions Overwhelm the Rule? Gary E. Murg Clifford Scharman Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/bclr Part of the Contracts Commons, and the Labor and Employment Law Commons Recommended Citation Gary E. Murg & Clifford Scharman, Employment at Will: Do Exceptions Overwhelm the Rule?, 23 B.C.L. Rev. 329 (1982), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/bclr/vol23/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. BOSTON COLLEGE LAW REVIEW VOLUME XXIII MARCH 1982 NUMBER 2 EMPLOYMENT AT WILL: DO THE EXCEPTIONS OVERWHELM THE RULE? t GARY E. MURG * CLIFFORD SCHARMAN ** An employee's ability to retain his job traditionally has been subject to the employment-at-will rule. Under this rule, an employer could discharge his employee for no cause, good cause, or even bad cause.' This long-standing rule was recognized uniformly throughout the nation, and until recently was ap- plied without hesitation to give an employer the right to discharge an employee for any reason. 2 During the past two decades, however, a surge of judicial in- t Copyright © 1982 by Boston College Law School. B.A., Wayne State University, 1967; J.D., Wayne State University, 1970; L.L.M., Labor Law, Wayne State University, 1974; currently adjunct professor at Georgetown Universi- ty, Washington, D.C.