Opinion ID: 1817599
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Heading: Employment Status of Public Employees Under the Common Law.

Text: Before we begin our analysis of section 20.7(3), it is helpful to briefly summarize the common law principles governing a public employee's employment in the absence of a statute altering these legal propositions. We first note that under the common law public employees were presumed to be employed at will. See Van Baale v. City of Des Moines, 550 N.W.2d 153, 156 (Iowa 1996); see also Lee v. Halford, 540 N.W.2d 426, 429 (Iowa 1995) (observing that the contractual rights of public employees are largely a creature of statute). Employment at will has traditionally been defined to permit an employer to discharge an employee for any reason or for no reason at all. See French v. Foods, Inc., 495 N.W.2d 768, 769 (Iowa 1993). Consistent with this traditional definition of the doctrine, we have noted: In the absence of a valid employment contract either party may terminate the relationship without consequence.  Anderson v. Douglas & Lomason Co., 540 N.W.2d 277, 281 (Iowa 1995) (emphasis added). These characterizations of the doctrine do not, however, reflect the current formulation of an employer's rights vis-a-vis an at-will employee. In Springer v. Weeks & Leo Co., 429 N.W.2d 558, 559-60 (Iowa 1988), this court held that some reasons for discharge are not permissible even in an employment-at-will situation. In that case, we recognized that even under employment-at-will relationships, an employee has a remedy for damages [ ] when the employment is terminated for reasons contrary to public policy. Id. Since our Springer decision, we have labeled this remedy an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine. E.g., Anderson, 540 N.W.2d at 282; Fogel v. Trustees of Iowa College, 446 N.W.2d 451, 455 (Iowa 1989). In reality, however, it operates as a modification of that doctrine. As we recognized in Springer, even an at-will employee may not be terminated for any reason without consequence. Thus, the modern employment-at-will doctrine is perhaps more aptly described as one that permits termination at any time for any lawful reason, that is, a reason that is not contrary to public policy. See Fogel, 446 N.W.2d at 455 (The district court determined that Fogel was an at-will employee whose employment could be terminated at any time, for any lawful reason. This common law doctrine of employment at-will is firmly rooted in Iowa law.).