Extortion may be exception to at-will doctrine, California appeals court rules

An employee was threatened with termination unless he donated a substantial amount of money to his managers' reelection campaign. After making only a modest donation, he was fired. He then sued for wrongful termination based on extortion. A California appellate court recently decided that even though the former employee was employed at will, he might have a "property right" to continued employment because of the extortion.

Employee required to 'donate' $1K to union leaders' reelection campaigns

International Union of Operating Engineers Local No. 3's members elect the union's officers and directors. John Galeotti worked for Local 3 as a nonmanagerial at-will employee. In 2006, Russell Burns and Dan Reding formed a political organization called "The Gold Ticket" to defeat Local 3's incumbent officers and directors and replace them with their slate of candidates. The Gold Ticket won three-year terms in 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018.

Starting in 2009, The Gold Ticket distributed fliers soliciting donations from Local employees to fund its reelection campaign. The fliers described the donations as "voluntary." However, union employees, including Galeotti, "understood that the payment of money to The Gold Ticket election campaign was required for them to keep their jobs."