Forced Transfer?

Missy

A "hypothetical" question from our executive group- What recourse does the company have if it wants to move an employee to a new location and replace the employee in our current location? "Hypothetically", the employee refuses to take the transfer. (It's possible that the hypothetical employee in question is from our parent company overseas, although I wasn't given any details.)

Thanks for your input!

Theresa Gegen TX

If an employee is overseas, this hypothetical is very difficult to answer. That's because the company would have to consider the effect of any overseas laws and the citizenship of the employee. Laws in may European Countries are more favorable to employees than US laws. Further, the employee may have a contract, that limits the company's ability to move the employee.

Even if the employee is not overseas, if the employee has a contract moving them a long distance might not be allowed.

With or without a contract, the forced transfer could result in a constructive discharge of the employee (if the employee decides to quit rather than go). Then the employee maybe able to sue for wrongful discharge (for example if the replacement employee was younger than the employee who refused the transfer, the employee may have a claim for age discrimination).

Bottom line is that a lot more facts need to be developed to give any type of satisfactory response to this hypothetical. I strongly encourage your company to hire legal counsel, who can associate with overseas counsel to determine the legal risk. A wrongful termination (by means of a forced transfer) could result in millions of dollars of liability for the employer (especially if this is a high ranking employee).

Good Luck!

Theresa Gegen
Attorney Editor - Texas
Andrews & Kurth, LLP
Dallas, Texas