On December 1, 2021, the South Carolina Supreme Court answered three certified questions from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina that provide clarification on the legal rights stemming from the at-will employment relationship, including its termination, and a third party’s potential liability for interfering with such a relationship. The S.C. Supreme Court’s decision in Hall v. UBS Financial Services Inc. et. al. (S.C. Supreme Court Opinion No. 28068), has significance for all employers in South Carolina, including the health care industry in which at-will employment relationships are common.

Questions Presented by the United States District Court to the S.C. Supreme Court:

1. Are terminable-at-will employment relationships contractual in nature as a matter of law?
2. Does the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing arise in the context of terminable-at-will employment relationships, and can employer’s termination of an at-will employee constitute a breach of the relationship such that it may give rise to a claim by the former employee against the employer for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing?
3. Can an employer’s termination of an at-will employee, which results from a third-party employee’s report to the employer, constitute a breach of the relationship such that it may give rise to a claim by the former employee against the third-party employee for tortious interference with contractual relationship? (Note...

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