ho held that "any action by either party which violates, nullifies or significantly impairs any benefit of the employment contract is a violation of the implied-in-law covenant of good faith and fair dealing." Another important exception was to make actionable on public policy grounds employer retaliatory discharges designed to punish an employee, who exercises his constitutional rights (such as the right to free speech) or who refuses to carry out an unlawful order, such as when a company attorney declined direction to destroy documents under subpoena.
(3) Many civil rights statutes permitted plaintiffs to
recover attorney's fees. In 17 out of 32 wrongful
discharge cases in California, plaintiffs who won
collected punitive damage awards.
(4) Under state IIED laws, plaintiffs wronged by employer
actions can claim damages for the intentional
infliction of emotional distress, for extreme and outrageous emplo
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