Thinking beyond 'you're fired!' How to terminate an employee in Colorado.

• Author: Hartman, Holli
• Position: Guest column

DONALD TRUMP MIGHT BE THE ONLY SUPERVISOR who can fire an employee on impulse and not lose any sleep over it these days. As an employment attorney, I hear from business owners and executives who probably have been tempted to lean across a boardroom table and say "You're fired!" to a poor performer. But unlike Trump on the set of "The Apprentice," they have to consider what might happen afterward.

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Will the employee sue for discrimination or wrongful termination? Will the employee try to collect unemployment benefits? Will the employee go berserk?

These fears are not unfounded. Each year, about 80,000 charges are filed by employees with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency that enforces federal employment discrimination statutes. The number of employees claiming that their employer retaliated against them has doubled since 1992.

A desire to avoid lawsuits leads some employers to take painstaking care in documenting employee wrongdoing. An employer once asked me whether it was safe to fire an employee who established a competing business and then directly solicited the company's clients while on the job. The employer had grounds to terminate but monitored the employee for several more weeks to gather additional evidence in the event of a lawsuit.

With the myriad federal and state laws now governing the employment relationship, an employer may wonder: Whither the days when an employee could be fired for any reason or no reason? At-will employment is still the default rule in Colorado, but employment laws create a minefield that employers must navigate. Here are some things to think about before saying "you're fired."

Is there an employment contract? The ability to terminate an employee at-will may be limited by express or implied contracts or even oral promises made to the employee.

Written contracts are common for executives or commissioned salespersons. Review the contract prior to terminating the relationship. If the contract describes the procedure or limits the causes for termination, then abide by the terms. If the terms have not been followed, remedy any breaches before termination. If severance was promised, pay it.

An implied employment contract may arise from language used in an employee policy handbook. Colorado courts have bound employers to handbook policies that outline specific procedures for terminating employees, that list causes for termination, and that assure fairness or equal...