What “Just Cause” Really Means and Why Workers Need It Now More Than Ever

Most U.S. workers can be fired for almost any reason under the at-will system. But imagine a workplace where termination had to be fair, documented, and based on real evidence instead of personal bias, convenience, or political pressure.

That’s what just cause provides.

“Just cause” is a standard that requires employers to show a legitimate, well-supported reason for firing or disciplining a worker. It’s commonly found in union contracts and in a few jurisdictions with strong worker protections.

Under just cause, an employer must demonstrate:

A clear rule existed
The rule was reasonable
The worker was aware of the rule
The employer investigated before disciplining
The investigation was fair and objective
The evidence supported the conclusion
The discipline matched the severity of the offense

This structure protects workers from arbitrary or politically motivated punishment; something especially important in periods of economic instability or governmental transition.

Why Just Cause Matters Right Now

With mass layoffs, automation, AI restructuring, political turnover, and pressures on federal and public-sector employees, workers are more vulnerable than ever to sudden job loss.

Just cause can:

Reduce wrongful termination
Increase transparency in decision-making
Promote fairness and stability
Encourage employers to address issues through coaching, not firing
Protect workers from retaliation for speaking up about workplace concerns

Several cities and states (most notably, Oregon, where we are supporting the campaign) are exploring just-cause policies as a way to improve job stability, especially for workers who have historically faced discrimination or instability in employment.

Even without legal mandates, workers can pursue just-cause protections through:

Union contracts
Workplace campaigns
Community advocacy
Policy engagement at the local level

What Workers Can Do

Learn whether your employer already has just-cause language in its handbook or collective bargaining agreement.
Talk to coworkers about the importance of due process.
Document workplace issues and disciplinary actions.
Support local legislation that moves away from at-will employment.

Job security shouldn’t be a privilege. It should be a basic expectation.

We’re committed to advancing that expectation to workers across the country. We champion policies that strengthen job security, defend access to the courts, and ensure employers can’t sidestep accountability. When workers understand their rights, and when the law recognizes their humanity, entire communities benefit.

Together, we can build a stronger future where fairness is the norm, not the exception.

Nearly 20% of U.S. businesses have cancelled efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) among their workforce since the latest presidential election, according to a recent report by Resume.org. In addition to this, approximately 1/5 of the 965 executives polled in the survey found their employee morale, performance and recruitment have suffered.

Other outcomes highlighted in the survey include a decline and deprioritization in the hiring of under-represented employees, a reduction in innovation by staff, and about 1/3 of companies reported difficulty in attracting and retaining such workers. Unsurprisingly, companies who dropped their DEI programs have also reported an increase in incidents of discrimination and bias in their workplace.

“Companies that abandon DEI risk reputational harm, disengagement, and an inability to adapt to an increasingly global, values-driven marketplace,” said Kara Dennison, head of career advising at Resume.org. “Elimination of these programs can hurt a company’s culture, cause job performance to suffer, and lead employees to feel less psychologically safe.”

DEI work involves developing policies and practices that assure the absence of barriers to the full participation of under-represented groups in an organization’s activities, including business and service delivery by government and private industry.

Some of America’s largest corporations, including Amazon, Google, McDonald’s, Target, Verizon and Walmart, have announced the elimination of their DEI programs in response to pressure from supporters of the current U.S. administration. However, they don’t count for the majority. Many well-known corporations such as Apple and Costco remain part of the 80% of U.S. companies committed to DEI and investing in inclusive work environments.

Following the DEI boom of 2020, employment in jobs related to DEI efforts have reportedly dipped in 2025. 17,700 people remain employed in such positions, compared to 20,048 positions in 2023, a high point of DEI employment.

“DEI” is a label that has been applied to a range of efforts by both private business organizations and governmental units to examine and address potential forms of bigotry and discrimination, such as race, religious and disability bias, in workplaces and other spaces where they operate. While similar efforts existed pre-2020, this initiative became nationally demanded in response to a long series of incidents of Black Americans being killed at the hands of police and private (White) citizens under circumstances which threw doubt on the need for the use of the force applied. The most notable trigger was the May 2020 killing of George Floyd, a Black resident of Minneapolis, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. The officer responsible was subsequently convicted of murder. Floyd’s death and the reaction that followed was yet another reminder of the structural racism, bias and oppression that continue to plague our country and show up in our workplaces.

The United States of America was born in an era of great disparities among people. Although male English citizens at that time were able to vote for members of Parliament, colonists in New England and other parts of North America had no say in their government under the king of England. Women and other groups were also denied opportunities for work and voting because of their status.

Despite the inclusion of language supporting equal rights in our country’s foundational documents, and despite a years-long, bloody civil war in defense of those rights for enslaved people, segments of the U.S. population have continued to resist and protest efforts to uphold them for all Americans. Years of protests and demonstrations supporting rights and the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s reflected further attempts to achieve this goal, in the face of lynchings and other abuses of minorities. The appearance of DEI efforts in all parts of the country in the wake of the George Floyd murder represents another, arguably more broad-based, effort towards that goal.

The present White House administration’s executive order to eliminate DEI programs within the federal government and by public pressure against private organizations is part of a plan to deny and suppress the facts concerning America’s history of racially disparate treatment. This includes the support and condoning of slavery and how it affected those enslaved under it, and other historical information which the administration finds unpalatable. However, feedback from companies that have cancelled DEI efforts seems clear: the elimination of DEI does nothing to improve working conditions for workers, much less for our country as a whole.

Commitments by businesses hoping to fulfill the ideals that have made America great are the surest way to greater worker satisfaction and company success. Companies should stand strong against political efforts to eliminate DEI programs. Their future might depend on it.

Written By Paul H. Merry, Stand Up For Workers Board Member

Category: Workplace Equality