A Different Way to "Get Even" after Unjust Terminations : Remedies, Not Retaliations as a Means to Restore Organizational Justice

This research systematically investigates a variety of potential remedial actions that an organization can undertake to restore justice and avoid litigation after the unfair termination of an employee. Specifically, we draw upon relational and instrumental models of organizational justice and upon social exchange theory to develop hypotheses that relate specific types of injustice to specific remedial actions on the part of the organization. In addition, we hypothesize on the role the contacting of an attorney plays in these relationships, since past research suggests that the mere fact of filing a lawsuit through an attorney may shift the focus towards a monetary remedy rather than a socioemotional one. We test these hypotheses in three studies with both field survey data and experimental data