Can I be fired for admitting to my boss that I'm on the job market?

Q: I just got fired for no reason.

I admit I wanted a new job and thought a good strategy would be to better showcase myself on LinkedIn by removing my employer's name from my profile.

My boss saw this, called me in and asked, "Are you looking for a new job?" I felt cornered and said, "No."

My boss then pushed and said he'd seen my LinkedIn profile. When he said that, I didn't feel I had anyplace to go and so said, "Yes, I am." I expected him to ask, "How come?" or even, "What will it take to keep you here?" Instead, he said, "I can't trust you," and fired me, effective immediately, with two weeks' pay.

Do I have any recourse?

A: You may. Your answer most likely rests on how a court might evaluate what happened to you against the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The good faith doctrine refers to the unwritten mutual promise that employers and employees treat each other fairly. Courts in Alaska and six other states (Montana, Idaho, California, Delaware, Wyoming and New Hampshire) observe this doctrine and multiple Alaska Supreme Court rulings turn on this issue.

According to former trial litigator turned HR consultant Rick Birdsall, you may have a strong argument under the good faith and fair dealing doctrine. According to Birdsall, "Your employer gave you a lose/lose choice when he called you on the carpet and interrogated you for job shopping. Had you initially been truthful with your response to his question 'are you looking for a new job,' he would likely have evaluated you as untrustworthy and a short-timer and you would still be unemployed. This has the pungent odor of bad faith."

Additionally, Birdsall suggested you explore, perhaps with an attorney, whether your termination for untruthfulness "was actually a pretext for firing you because you've engaged in a protected activity, such as protesting safety concerns, or other unlawful discrimination such as firing you because of your race, age, sex or membership in another protected class."

On the other hand, said Birdsall, "Your employer may argue that once he learned you were looking for employment elsewhere, and you lied about it, you became a risk." Birdsall noted, "Countless incidents exist where short-timers have harmed employers by taking proprietary materials such as client lists before going to work for a competitor. This gives your employer a valid basis for concern about your 'trustworthiness.' "

Birdsall summarized his view by saying: "If I had to choose sides — and I hate losing — I would choose yours. Ultimately the legal system is a 'people-based' system and the decision could come down to the jurors."

While you may be in a good position where employment law is concerned, I'm troubled that you excused your lie by saying you felt cornered. What might have happened if you'd said to your boss: "I like working here but I want more, including more responsibility leading to career growth. I admit I put myself out there. What can I do here that expands my responsibilities and makes me more valuable?" In other words, instead of hoping your employer would ask, "What will it take to keep you here?" you were truthful and turned what became a lose/lose confrontation into a win/win possibility.

Once trust is lost in a work relationship for either the boss or the employee, work life often heads south. What restores it? Honesty.