Terminate an employee without buying a lawsuit

This step produces a complete inventory of the employee's personnel file — every performance review, written warning, PIP document, and attendance or productivity log — plus a list of the gaps an investigator would notice. The trick: the file is rarely in one place, and the gaps only become visible once every source is laid out and dated.

• Collect every source of the file: the HR folder, the manager's notes and laptop, payroll records, the attendance or time-tracking system, and email threads about performance.
• List each document on a checklist: offer letter, job description, signed policy acknowledgments, performance reviews, written warnings, PIP documents, attendance and productivity logs, customer complaints.
• For each document, note its date, its author, and whether the employee signed or acknowledged it.
• Write the gap list: every missing review, unwritten warning, and unsigned acknowledgment that would make the termination look sudden.
• Save the inventory as personnel-file-inventory-<name>.docx — the next three steps build on it.