Unjust Dismissal in the Context of Organizational Justice

Abstract

The issue of unjust dismissal is best understood by placing it in the broader context of a comprehensive model of organizational justice. This article presents such a model based on the application of two perceived principles of justice (balance and correctness) in an organization's pursuit of three goals (performance, community, and dignity), at three organizational levels (outcome, procedure, and system). For perceived fairness to exist, the system must be adequate at each level. The theory of organizational justice is applied to the creation, implementation, and interpretation of disciplinary policies and rules. The article concludes by providing prescriptive advice for the design and operation of discipline and discharge systems, based on the model presented, and suggests that they include written warnings, the opportunity of a hearing, the right to be represented, the right to appeal, and reinforcement of the system through a broad statutory framework.

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References

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10. Jeremy B. Fox and Hugh D. Hindman , “The Model Employment Termination Act: Provisions and Discussion,” Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 6(1):33-44 (Mar. 1993).

11.

11. Stuart A. Youngblood , Linda K. Trevino , and Monica Favia , “Reactions to Unjust Dismissal and Third-Party Dispute Resolution: A Justice Framework,” Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 5(4):283-307 (Dec. 1992).

12.

12. Ibid., pp. 286-87.

13.

13. Blair H. Sheppard , Roy J. Lewicki , and John W. Minton , Organizational Justice: The Search for Fairness in the Workplace (New York: Lexington Books, 1992).

14.

14. This outline will be drawn from ibid.

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15. J. Stacy Adams , “Inequity in Social Exchange,” in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, ed. L. Berkowitz (New York: Academic Press, 1965), 2:267-299.

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16. Max Weber , Law in Economy and Society, ed. Max Rheinstein , trans. Edward Shils and Max Rheinstein (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1954).

17.

See also Herbert L. Packer's discussion of the due process model in The Limits of the Criminal Sanction (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1968), pp. 149-173.

18.

Andrew Von Hirsch , Doing Justice: The Choice of Punishments (New York: Hill & Wang, 1976).

19.

Stuart Henry , “Legislating Just Cause, 1980-92,” this issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

20.

20. Sheppard, Lewicki , and Minton , Organizational Justice, pp. 11-12.

21.

21. As in William I. Thomas's famous axiom, If people define a situation as real, then it is real in its consequences.

22.

22. Michael Keeley , A Social Contract Theory of Organizations (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1988).

23.

Leon Festinger , A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1957).

24.

24. Rawls's concept of “judging fairness from behind the veil” is discussed as one possible resolution to this dilemma. John Rawls , A Theory of Justice (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Belknap Press, 1971).

25.

25. Models of workplace discipline and discharge vary in the weight they give to these dimensions. See Stuart Henry , “Disciplinary Pluralism: Four Models of Private Justice in the Workplace,” Sociological Review, 35:279-319 (1987).

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26. This is further complicated by recognition of the existence of different corporate cultures, different organizational cultures, and different occupational subcultures within the same organization.