12.2 The Arizona Employment Protection Act.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

12.2 The Arizona Employment Protection Act. In 1996, the Arizona legislature enacted the Arizona Employment Protection Act, A.R.S. § 23-1501 et seq. (“AEPA”). Prior to the enactment of the AEPA, Arizona common law governed employment relationships. The AEPA reaffirmed that employment relationships are both contractual in nature and terminable at will by either party.¹ The intent of the legislature in enacting the AEPA was to limit the circumstances where a terminated employee can assert a claim against an employer.²

In order to assert a wrongful termination claim under the AEPA, an employee must demonstrate one of four theories of liability:

(1) termination in breach of a written contract;

(2) termination in violation of an Arizona statute (including the Arizona Civil Rights Act);

(3) termination in retaliation for the refusal to violate the Arizona Constitution or an Arizona statute; or

(4) “in the case of a public employee,” if the employee has a right to continued employment under either the United States or Arizona Constitution.³

The AEPA “shifted...