Greene’s Jewelry Wholesale Llc.

I. Introduction

Greene’s Jewelry Wholesale LLC. has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Jennifer Lawson. She has countersued for wrongful termination. The facts are that Jennifer Lawson was employed by Greene’s Jewelry Wholesale, LLC located in Derry, New Hampshire. Jennifer was employed as a junior executive secretary, for two years. Although she frequently arrived to work late, Jennifer was professional, articulate, diligent and skilled employee who received high marks on each of her annual reviews. When Jennifer learned that she was pregnant she informed Lisa Peele, head of human resources, that because of some high-risk factors she may have to take additional time off from work. During their meeting Lisa Peele congratulates Jennifer on her pregnancy and informs her that her position has been eliminated. Peele explains that the company is downsizing and will no longer have a need for any of their junior executive secretaries.

After termination Jennifer shares a draft letter written to Greene’s intellectual property attorney, which details the secret process for creating Ever-Gold, which is Greene’s Jewelry’s trade mark secret. Jennifer meets with the Human resource manager of Howell Jewelry World, a competitor of Greene’s and shares the confidential trade secret. When Jennifer was hired at Greene’s she was required to sign a confidentiality agreement, agreeing never to disclose any information that she might acquire from Greene’s regarding the process used to create Ever-Gold. However, Jennifer was interviewed by Naomi White of Howell Jewelry and offered a job contingent upon her providing Howell with the confidential draft letter she had taken from Greene’ Jewelry, upon her termination. Jennifer agrees and discloses the letter. As a result, Howell has acquired knowledge of the secret process used to create Ever-Gold and created a similar product with like qualities and characteristics. Meanwhile, Jennifer has been terminated from Howell and is working for another competitor. Greene fears Jennifer will disclose the Ever-Gold trade secret to this company also.

Greene’s breach of contract claim is strong because the contract between Jennifer Lawson and Greene’s Jewelry World was legally enforceable and exhibited all the features of a valid contract.

II. Client’s Case

A. Facts and Laws

1. The defendant, Jennifer Lawson is counter suing the plaintiff for wrongful termination. Jennifer was employed with Greene’s Jewelry as an at-will employee for three years. In the state of New Hampshire, Greene’s principal place of business since 1957, under the employment-at-will doctrine employers and employees have the legal right to terminate the work relationship at anytime for any reason, unless there is an implied or express contract, discrimination or retaliation. Federal antidiscrimination laws protect employees from losing their jobs based on their race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, pregnancy, age, or genetic information. Employees can sue their former employers under a variety of antidiscrimination laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 USC Sec. 2000e et seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (42 USC Sec. 12101 et seq.), the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). Jennifer Lawson believes that she was terminated from Greene’s after disclosing to Lisa Peele, head of human resources, that she may have to take additional time off because of complications during her pregnancy. Jennifer was not the only employee effected by the position of junior executive secretary being eliminated, because of the downsize of Greene’s Jewelry all employees in this position were terminated. There are no laws that state that an employer cannot terminate employees when financial problems arise within the company and the head of human resources, for Greene’s Jewelry does not have the authority to make an on the spot decision to downsize a group of employees making the wrongful termination claim brought fourth by Jennifer Lawson not valid.

2. Jennifer Lawson was hired by Greene’s Jewelry two years ago. When she began her employment at Greene’s she signed a confidentiality agreement, agreeing never to disclose any information regarding the process used to create Ever-Gold. Ever-Gold is Greene’s primary asset of creating a synthetic gold-colored material used in Greene’s jewelry. After being informed of Greene’s plan to downsize and no longer employ junior executive secretaries, Jennifer Lawson removes all her belongings from the building along with a confidential draft letter to Greene’s intellectual property attorney. This letter detailed the confidential process of creating Ever-Gold, which is Greene’s Jewelry’s trade secret. Jennifer immediately contacts one of Greene’s competitors, Howell Jewelry World, and agrees to share the company trade secret in return for employment. Once Jennifer reaches an agreement with the hiring manager at Howell she gives the competitor a copy of the confidential letter that she removed from Greene’s Jewelry, a clear breach of contract. Jennifer was employed with Howell briefly; however, she began employment with another jewelry competitor of Greene’s Jewelry and she is still in position of the confidential document containing the trade secret. Based on these facts Greene’s Jewelry LLC. Is confident in it’s suit against Jennifer Lawson for breach of contract and feel the facts clearly provide concrete evidence.

3. Jennifer Lawson is suing Greene’s Jewelry for wrongful termination because she feels she was terminated from the company because she would need additional time off from work because of pregnancy complications. Termination of an employee because of pregnancy is a violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (McAdams, Zucker, Neslund and Neslund, 2015, p. 574) and is treated as discrimination. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) says that a company must accommodate the pregnant employee by either proving alternate assignments, lighter duties, or unpaid leave as it would with employees on disability (The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978). Jennifer was immediately informed of the companies plan to downsize when she spoke with Human Resources about her pregnancy making it impossible for the downsizing to be used as a cover to wrongfully terminate her. The downsize eliminated all junior executive secretary positions throughout Greene’s Jewelry. New Hampshire is an employment-at-will state. As stated in the text “An at-will employee, by definition, is not under contract for a definite period, and as such can be fired at any time (McAdams, Zucker, Neslund and Neslund, 2015, p. 536). Limitations to the at-will rule are as follows: Express or implied employment contracts, Implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and public policy, none of which apply to the termination of Jennifer Lawson.

When Jennifer discovered the confidential letter containing Greene’s