Bob Nobile Quoted in BusinessWeek
"Fear of Firing: How the threat of litigation is making companies skittish about axing problem workers"

The Cover Story in the April 23, 2007 issue of BusinessWeek, "Fear of Firing: How the threat of litigation is making companies skittish about axing problem workers," reports on the legal hurdles HR professionals need to know to make appropriate staffing reduction decisions if the company has a poor performer but he/she is in a "protected" class to navigate extreme litigation avoidance. "These workers wield a potent weapon; they can force companies to prove in court that there was a legitimate business reason for their termination. And once a case is in court, it's expensive. A company can easily spend $100,000 to get a meritless lawsuit tossed out before trial. And if a case goes to a jury, the fees skyrocket to $300,000, and often much higher. The result: Many companies today are gripped by a fear of firing. Terrified of lawsuits, they let unproductive employees linger, lay off coveted workers while retaining less valuable ones, and pay severance to screwups and even crooks in exchange for promises that they won't sue. The fear of firing is particularly acute in the HR and legal departments. They don't directly suffer when an underperformer lingers in the corporate hierarchy, but they may endure unpleasant indirect consequences if that person files a lawsuit. . . . A number of defense attorneys and HR managers said companies they work for prefer to buy themselves peace of mind over facing the prospect of being sued. "They don't want the publicity or the expense," says Robert J. Nobile, an attorney at Seyfarth Shaw in New York. "Some of them say, Hey, we'll swallow our pride and pay 10 grand now rather than 100 grand later."'