LAST CHANCE AGREEMENTS – A Useful Tool

A Last Chance Agreement ("LCA") is an agreement between the employee and the employer, usually as a last effort to avoid termination, where the employee must agree to the LCA as a condition of employment to keep their job.  An LCA is typically structured so the employee agrees that if the employee engages in one more incident during the term of the LCA, the employee will be terminated.  LCAs have traditionally been used in the union context with the union and the employee agreeing to an LCA with the employer to avoid termination and the grievance arbitration process.

A recently published Michigan Court of Appeals' decision, Jewett v. Mesick Consolidated School District, No. 348407, 2020 WL 3005995 (Mich. Ct. App. Jun. 4, 2020), highlights why an employer should consider an LCA when it has reached a decision to terminate an employee, even in a non-union situation.  In Jewett, the plaintiff brought a disability discrimination lawsuit against the employer.  By way of