Introduction: The Hardest Part of Your Job

1. "At Will" Is Alive and Well
2. The Freedom to Fire
3. Risky Business: The Perils of Employee Lawsuits
4. The 30 Riskiest Employees to Fire
5. Why Me? The Reasons for Firing
6. How to Fire an Employee
7. Retained Dignity
8. The Paper Trail
9. Second Chances and PIPs
10. Sign of the Times: Layoffs
11. Discrimination Cases: Part 1
12. Discrimination Cases: Part 2
13. A Big Payday: Wage Cases
14. He Said, She Said: Sexual Harassment
15. Lawyering Up
16. Throw Out Your Personnel Handbook
17. Hiring to Avoid Firing
18. Gruntled Employees
19. Appendix B: Firing Around the World
20. Appendix A: Firing Checklist
21. Appendix C: Sample Documents