He who does the hiring should also do the firing

Here’s an important reminder: If possible, the same manager who made the hiring decision should also make the firing decision. That’s because presumably a manager wouldn’t hire someone knowing they belonged to an obvious protected classification (such as age, race, disability) and then turn around and fire that person because of that status.

Recent case: During her interview, Carol disclosed that she was a cancer survivor. She said this made her a tenacious, dedicated employee. The company hired her.

Then she failed to meet sales goals and the same manager who interviewed and hired her terminated her. She sued, alleging disability discrimination.

The employer argued the supervisor wouldn’t have hired someone he knew had a disability only to then fire that worker because of the disability. The court agreed with the employer’s reasoning and tossed out the case. (Sbarbaro v. RDC, ED PA, 2018)