Dentists and “Wrongful Discharge” – What a Headache!

One in Four Dentists Suffers from Ex-Employee Headaches

In this survey, we asked dentists if they have had “wrongful discharge” headaches from past employees. The majority (72%) have not had such trouble. However, 9% of dentists report being sued for wrongful discharge, and another 19% say they’ve been accused of it.

We asked dentists, “Have you had negative experience with letting employees go?“

• “It’s always negative, but no real problems.” (Oregon periodontist)
• “I’ve always been happy they were gone.” (New York dentist)
• “I had a disgruntled ex-employee of ten years bring action against me by the state dental board.” (Maine dentist)
• “I have had to continue to pay unemployment to two former employees who hop from job to job.” (California periodontist)
• “One time I let a hygienist go and she took a large number of patients to another dentist’s office and started working a few hours a week and collected all the unemployment she could.” (Michigan dentist)
• “My God, who hasn’t had problems with former employees??!! Never sued, but a heck of a lot of drama.” (Illinois dentist)
• “Yes, we have an employee who successfully sued a former employer, and she is always alluding to that fact.” (Pediatric dentist)
• “I went through the employee standards protocol for what is required and covered myself. It is a bit of work but much easier and less costly than going through the courts.” (Canada dentist)

Read the complete wrongful discharge survey results…