“Terminate” vs. “Fire”

Dear Legal Writer: The verb “terminate” is NOT a synonym for “fire.”

I learned this rule the hard way. I hope to save you a similar day.

My mistake actually got a BigLaw partner to aim an assault rifle at me!

(Ok, it was an imaginary one, but I was just a first-year associate, and the experience had a big
effect on me.)

Here’s how things went down

In a brief I was drafting for an employer in a discrimination case, I’d written that our client had
“terminated” the plaintiff. I thought that sounded less harsh than “‘fired.”

The partner was not pleased. She jumped from her chair: “Who are you, the Terminator?” she
asked.

The partner was a rotund, older woman who was wearing a floral house dress & ballet flats at the
time. The whole thing would have been quite hilarious if I weren’t so petrified.

The point of her stunt was to show disdain for my sentence,

“The company terminated the plaintiff.”
Instead, she urged, I must write,
“The company terminated the plaintiff’s employment.”

I obeyed, but I was seeing lawyers and judges use the word “terminate” as a synonym for “fire” all
the time, so I was a bit perplexed.

1: “The company fired the plaintiff.” ✅
2: “The company terminated the plaintiff.” ⁉️

Is the second sentence wrong?

Back to the partner.

She got quite animated when explaining to me why—yes, absolutely—the second sentence was dead wrong.

✏️ “To terminate” means “to bring to an end,” she explained.

And as attorneys for a company defending an unlawful employment termination case, we absolutely
did not want to suggest anything of the sort.

Well, she was right, and she made her mark on me. I’ve never written “terminated the plaintiff” (or
anyone) ever again, and I can’t imagine that I ever will.

But I still see others do it all the time.

Do you use terminate in place of fire

Maybe you should stop.

Fondly,
Amanda

P.S. I collect all my legal writing tips at #DearLegalWriter. You can follow the hashtag for future
tips.