California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from LaGoe v. Duber Indus. Sec., Inc., 194 Cal.App.3d 349, 239 Cal.Rptr. 445 (Cal. App. 1987):
We observe at the outset the difficulty with this kind of case is that under existing law a well pled complaint alleging wrongful termination generally entitles the plaintiff to go to a jury, usually on the basis of whether the stated reason for the firing was a pretext for an unlawful employment termination. (See Khanna v. Microdata Corp. (1985) 170 Cal.App.3d 250, 215 Cal.Rptr. 860.) This has led to the widespread belief that one can get to a jury on virtually every termination. The courts have been at odds on how to place reasonable restraints on this burgeoning area of the law but have as yet found no straightforward method. The test that we set forth today in our decision is: 1) whether there is a legitimate business interest for the employee's termination; and 2) whether there was good faith reliance thereon.
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