My husband and I own a small business with about 24 employees, almost half are teenagers. We took all the employees out for dinner and let those who had spouses bring them along. I found out the next day that one of the employee's husband threatened one of our teenage employees. The employee (who is in her 30's) never approached my husband and I that she was having any kind of trouble with the teenager, however the teenager (whom we have put in charge quite often) said she was angry with him for sending her home early when business was slow. This often happens and in our business and was the first time the employee had been sent home. She had only been with us for a couple of weeks. My husband and I are angry that the husband would do this, especially to a teenager. We feel we need to protect the teenager and are discussing firing the employee. Can we fire her for what her husband did? We are deeply concerned for the safety of our teenage employees and don't feel they should have to be subject to this, so we would like to make a strong point now that we won't tolerate it, but I want to be sure we are doing the right thing by firing her.
We especially don't want any retaliation so we want to be careful in what steps to take.
Any thoughts?

You can fire people for no reason at all if you are in an 'at will work' state,

Since she really wasn't in the wrong you can ban him from the business and I think that would include so many feet from the store.
And tell her why.

Or you could talk to her and tell her that she needs to keep him under control and it isn't his business what decissions are made at the store. So if he doesn't want to see her fired lay off.

You can't fire her for "what her husband did." But, like all of your other employees, she is an "at will" employee. That said, you can dismiss her at any time without cause (and conversely, she can leave at any time.) Your reason can just be simply that "we don't need you anymore." If she presses, just say "well, business has been slow and we're overstaffed so we need to cut back And as this is a low-paying job [I make that assumption because you employ a significant number of teenagers], we feel we owe you the chance to go out and find something more steady and lucrative for yourself." Or, if you feel you need to stall her even more, you can probably start by simply not scheduling her next week. If/when she questions that, just tell her "we'll call you when we need you." Then just not schedule her the following week either, etc. etc.

I don't see any reason why she can't be dismissed for what her husband did. Whether she put the husband up to it consciously or unconsciously she was responsible for the incident.

If she had a problem with another employee, she needed to bring it to your attention, not her husband's.

However, I wouldn't fire her out of hand. I would discuss the situation with her and sound her out. It could be she will not be happy taking orders from someone so much younger.

But if you want to just let her go, tell her it hasn't worked out and you will have to let her go.

Hello:

Scott is correctamundo...

An "at will" employee can be fired for ANY reason whatsoever, INCLUDING what her husband did. You could even tell her that's why you're firing her, and I WOULD.

excon

Your responses have been VERY helpful.
It really helps go get others opinions who are outside of the situation.
I hate to let someone go for any reason with times the way they are, but I cannot tolerate someone threating our employees.
I appreciate your taking the time to respond.

Let us know how it turns out.

I will, thank you!

I just wanted to let you know that we let the employee go with no incidents. Of course, it was difficult, especially with times the way they are, but we couldn't have that cloud hanging over everyone's head and wondering if they were going to be the next target. I really appreciated your responses - it was very helpful. Thanks again!