Muhammad Ali surrounded by supporters and press outside the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station in Houston. Library of Congress.
For Reference: click Here to read IP 2026-036
Or copy/paste the following URL in your browser:
https://sos.oregon.gov/admin/Documents/irr/2026/036text.pdf
Just cause ensures that disciplinary action is based upon merit not a misunderstanding, covert discrimination, or retaliation. This standard of due process ensures discipline is informed by objective evidence, equitable treatment, reasonability, notice, and more.
Why a right?
Worker rights are human rights. Due process is fundamental to democracy. It protects the practice of all freedoms, including expression and association. A right to due process is established by the 5th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Derived from such, civil service employees have due process rights at work stemming from the recognition of the property interest to their employment, unless explicitly limited by a state law. Read more about Loudermill Rights here.
We're proposing a higher just cause standard. Loudermill Rights are not comprehensive. Just cause is distinct. The current standard of just cause provided by Oregon state law is limited, applying only to public safety officers and classified school employees. All workers deserve just cause employment protection.
Union and private employment contracts conventionally include just cause, due process, job security provisions, but most private sector employees in Oregon and throughout the United States are employed at-will. This means they can legally be fired on a whim, without any reason or prior notice, so long as the action does not violate other laws that protect against discrimination. At-will employment practices are a vulnerability to workers that attempt to form or join unions to advocate for improved working conditions. Unjustly, still to this day, not all workers even have the right to collectively bargain over the terms and conditions of their employment.
Under at-will, without establishing just cause, discrimination and retaliation are easy to hide.
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