Is Virginia an at-will state?

“We have also held, however, that the common law employment-at-will doctrine is not absolute, and we have recognized certain narrow public policy exceptions to this doctrine.”

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What it means for Virginia employers

For a Virginia employer the practical question is rarely whether at-will applies. It is whether a dismissal collides with a policy the General Assembly has written into a statute. The Supreme Court of Virginia has tied the exception to legislation. As Bailey summarizes the cases, the plaintiffs in Bowman and Lockhart relied on statutes in which the General Assembly had established public policies their former employers contravened, while in Lawrence Chrysler Plymouth Corp. v. Brooks (1996) the employee had no cause of action because he was unable to identify any Virginia statute establishing a public policy that Lawrence Chrysler violated. (Bailey v. Scott-Gallaher, Inc., Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 960530 (1997))

Bowman itself grew out of corporate law. Employees who were also shareholders were dismissed after complaining they had been pressured to vote their stock for a merger, and the court relied on the statute that protects a shareholder's right to vote free of duress and intimidation (then Code § 13.1-32). An employer may not use the threat of discharge to control a right the legislature has protected. (Bailey v. Scott-Gallaher, Inc., Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 960530 (1997); Mitchem v. Counts, Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 990399 (2000))

Refusing to commit a crime is one route into the exception. In Mitchem v. Counts (2000) the court let a claim proceed where the employee said she was dismissed for refusing her employer's demands to engage in conduct that Code §§ 18.2-344 and 18.2-345 then made criminal, and it observed that the General Assembly did not intend the at-will rule to shield employers who threaten discharge to force employees into criminal activity. Both of those sections have since been repealed (§ 18.2-345 in 2013, § 18.2-344 in 2020). Since 2020 a statute also speaks to this directly: Code § 40.1-27.3 bars an employer from discharging an employee who refuses to engage in a criminal act that would subject the employee to criminal liability. (Mitchem v. Counts, Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 990399 (2000); Code of Virginia § 18.2-344 (repealed 2020); Code of Virginia § 18.2-345 (repealed 2013); Code of Virginia § 40.1-27.3, Retaliatory action against employee prohibited)

Discrimination claims followed a different path when Mitchem was decided. Mitchem explains that the 1995 amendment to the Virginia Human Rights Act (then Code § 2.1-725(D)) limited causes of action based on the policies stated in that Act to the remedies in civil rights statutes and ordinances, so a common law wrongful discharge claim built on a different statute, such as a criminal statute, was not cut off by that provision. The Act has since been moved to Title 2.2 of the Code and amended several times (its history line runs to 2024), and this page has not verified how the current Act treats such claims. (Mitchem v. Counts, Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 990399 (2000); Code of Virginia § 2.2-3900, Virginia Human Rights Act (history line))

Virginia's separation paperwork is separate from the at-will question. Under 16VAC5-32-20(F), in force since July 4, 2024 according to the Virginia Administrative Code history, every employee who is separated from the employer gets a copy of the Separation Notice to Workers about unemployment compensation. (16VAC5-32-20, Virginia Administrative Code; Virginia Register of Regulations, Vol. 40, Iss. 20 (May 20, 2024))

Exceptions and special cases

• Public policy (Bowman v. State Bank of Keysville, 229 Va. 534, 1985): limited. The employee has to identify a Virginia statute that establishes the public policy the dismissal contravened. Later decisions (Lockhart, Bailey, Mitchem) apply the same narrow exception rather than creating new ones. (Mitchem v. Counts, Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 990399 (2000); Bailey v. Scott-Gallaher, Inc., Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 960530 (1997))
• Implied contract from a handbook, and an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing: this site has not verified a Virginia rule on either yet, so this page makes no statement about them. The Virginia rulebook shows the official links to check.

Worked examples

A supervisor's instruction that a criminal statute forbids

A Richmond store manager tells a cashier to do something a Virginia criminal statute prohibits, the cashier refuses, and the owner is now considering letting the cashier go. The question the Bowman line of cases asks is whether a specific Virginia statute establishes the policy involved; Mitchem v. Counts treats refusing to commit a crime defined by statute as within the exception. A practical step before any decision is to review the instruction itself and to document the actual, unrelated reasons in writing. (Mitchem v. Counts, Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 990399 (2000))

Separation notice for a dismissal on Monday, October 19, 2026

A Norfolk contractor ends an at-will worker's job at the close of the shift on Monday, October 19, 2026. Under 16VAC5-32-20(F) the worker receives the Separation Notice to Workers at the time of separation, handed over in person or sent electronically that day, or mailed to the last known address. Handing it over with the termination letter at the meeting keeps both documents together. (16VAC5-32-20, Virginia Administrative Code)

How to act on it

At-will: Virginia and neighboring states

Each state links to its rulebook. Only rules we verified are shown.

Questions about Virginia at-will rules

The verified rules behind this page (2)

• Public policy: Virginia recognizes only a narrow public-policy exception to at-will employment (Bowman v. State Bank of Keysville), which its Supreme Court has construed narrowly and applied in few instances. (Bailey v. Scott-Gallaher, Inc., Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 960530; Mitchem v. Counts, Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 990399; verified Sep 24, 2026)
• At the time of separation from employment, a Virginia employer must give every separated employee a copy of the required Separation Notice to Workers about the availability of unemployment compensation, in person or electronically at separation, or by mail to the employee's last known address. (16VAC5-32-20(F); Virginia Register of Regulations, Vol. 40, Iss. 20 (May 20, 2024), final amendment to 16VAC5-32; verified Sep 24, 2026)

Sources (8)

• Bailey v. Scott-Gallaher, Inc., Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 960530 (1997)
• Mitchem v. Counts, Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 990399 (2000)
• 16VAC5-32-20, Virginia Administrative Code
• Virginia Register of Regulations, Vol. 40, Iss. 20 (May 20, 2024)
• Code of Virginia § 18.2-344 (repealed 2020)
• Code of Virginia § 18.2-345 (repealed 2013)
• Code of Virginia § 40.1-27.3, Retaliatory action against employee prohibited
• Code of Virginia § 2.2-3900, Virginia Human Rights Act (history line)

Checked Sep 24, 2026 · How we verify every rule · Report an error

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