Hope Civic has reasons

I do hope that Yvonne A.K. Johnson’s termination from Spokane Civic Theatre was not taken lightly by the board of directors. While Washington is indeed an at-will employment state, I believe it is incumbent upon community-minded institutions to treat employees with greater dignity than strictly required by state law.

Employers cannot expect high productivity or positive morale unless employees have a fundamental sense of security in their jobs. Obviously, all businesses (and thus all jobs) are subject to the vagaries of the economy, but employees should not be subject to the capricious whims of their superiors.

Cause may not be required to terminate an employee in Washington, but in healthy workplaces workers sense that they will not be cast aside casually or inhumanely. It may well be that the board of directors at Spokane Civic Theatre did, in fact, have good cause to terminate Johnson’s employment. Perhaps the directors are merely being responsive to the community they have been charged with serving.

If that is the case, I have no doubt that Spokane Civic Theatre will be well-served by their decision.

James Ryan

Spokane