In VanBuren v. Grubb, No. 120348 (Nov. 1, 2012), a
sharply divided Supreme Court of Virginia surprised employers by
holding that a common law tort action for wrongful discharge in
violation of public policy may be brought against an individual
manager or supervisor.
Wrongful Discharge in Virginia
Unlike many states that have substantially revised and
effectively limited the operation of the employment-at-will
doctrine, Virginia has rejected similar efforts for decades. Today,
Virginia is one of the few states that continues to "strongly
adhere" to the traditional employment-at-will doctrine.
Exceptions to employment at will in Virginia are both few in number
and narrow in scope. The state supreme court created one such
exception in Bowman v. State Bank of Keysville, 229 Va.
534 (1985), holding that a corporate employer could be held liable
in tort for wrongfully discharging two shareholder employees of the
corporation for refusing to vote their shares in accordance
