Firing A Jerk
By Amy E. Feldman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Can you fire someone just cause he's a jerk?
Fans of The Young and the Restless were surprised when Michael Muhney was killed off, allegedly for groping a costar-twice. The groping has not been proven, and some fans were so outraged that they started a Facebook campaign to have him reinstated and even pooled money to fly a banner over CBS' headquarters to express their support for him.
Muhney, who apparently thinks highly enough of himself to have told people that he was up for a part in the show Scrubs but lost out because he was too good looking (a real handicap in Hollywood) was rumored also to have been written off the show Veronica Mars because of his difficult attitude.
But, if the groping was never proven, did CBS have the legal right to fire him?
We have become so focused on specific labor and employment laws, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that it is perfectly legal to discipline a person just for being a jerk. Employers are allowed - encouraged, even - to have a code of conduct, written or unwritten that puts an end to drama created by a high maintenance diva.