ABC Corp ( has 100 employees) hired Jason as manager of sales in North Carolina . This position is responsible for activities related to maintaining sales force relationships . Jason supervised 51 employees and lower-level supervisors, and he dealt with high end customers . Jason relocated from another city 400 miles away, moved his family, and sold and bought a home. His wife quit her job to seek employment in NC. After Jason worked for three months with ABC, his supervisor explained that things were not working out and that Jason would be discharged with 30 days of severance pay. Jason was surprised because his employer gave no previous indication of any problem. ABC had a personnel manual, which it gave to Jason when he was hired and which outlined a process for dealing with employees that were not meeting employment goals. The handbook stated " If the job performance of an employee is unsatisfactory, the employee will be notified of the problems and placed on a probationary plan for 3 months.

If the employee’s performance does not improve to a predetermined level by the end of that 3 month period, the employee will be terminated.". When hired, Jason signed a document to show his understanding that the company observed employment at will with respect to discharge, but he believed that ABC would still have to follow the probation procedures. Jason had recently joined the local chapter of the Democratic party and several of ABC's management members had noticeably avoided him after he vocalized his opinion on proposed cuts to social programs at a recent community forum. Jason believed this may be the underlying reason for his discharge since most of ABC's management are politically conservative

What possible liabilities and rights do ABC and Jason have in this situation?

What legal principles, statutory and/or case law, support those liabilities and rights?​