'At Will' Employment

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - People often live with annoying coworkers because they think they have no choice. There are options.

Sound masking technology is all the rage, with revenues for the technology rising 50% in the last two years. It's a sound system installed in an office to make it quieter and to mask the sounds of the obnoxious coworker talking loudly on speakerphone in the cubicle next to yours.

One cheaper way to make the office quieter? Fire the annoying coworker. But people wonder: can you fire someone who, though competent, is so irritating you want to choke him? Yes.

Unless someone has an employment contract or is party to a collective bargaining agreement, he's an employee at will. That means he can quit at any time - or be fired with or without cause at any time for any reason, just not a discriminatory reason.

Firing someone because he's genuinely annoying isn't discriminatory. Even annoying people have families to feed and firing someone isn't something to take lightly. But if your choice is to fire someone or to choke him, it's perfectly legal to go with the pink slip.