When deciding if your termination was legal and warranted, the courts will also look at your past reactions to similar infractions. If in the past another employee has been fired for breaking the same rule, the court will see that you are fairly and equally applying your rules and disciplinary actions to all of your employees and should rule in your favor. However, if you did not terminate an employee who broke the same law in the past, then the court will probably rule in favor of the employee.

Past precedents of your reactions to rule infractions will determine the legality of your termination policies in the future. Because of this, many lawyers and legal advisors suggest that you terminate every employee that breaks a rule in order to preserve your legal right to terminate employees in the future.

The final factor that courts take into consideration when determining if a termination due to a rule infraction is legal is if the termination is an appropriate reprimand for the rule that was broken. This not only takes into consideration the type of rule that was broken but also the length of time that the employee has been employed. As a general rule the longer that the employee has worked for you, the more corrective or disciplinary steps you have to take before terminating their employment.

For example, an employee who is still in their six month probationary period can be fired for breaking a rule immediately.  However, an employee with tenure can only be fired after you have made "reasonable attempts" to correct their behavior or to correct the situation. These attempts may include verbal and written warnings, demotion, reduction in pay, and even counseling.

While these steps are required before terminating a tenured employee in most cases, certain situations necessitate immediate dismissal including: stealing money from the company, displaying violent behavior, endangering employees and customers, and any other unlawful behaviors and actions are all reasonable grounds for immediate dismissal without other disciplinary steps.