A performance improvement plan (PIP) is supposed to be your paper trail. You set expectations, give the employee a fair chance, and when they don't improve, the termination speaks for itself. In practice, wrongful termination defense lawyers see many PIPs that do the opposite: vague goals, missed check-ins, and a firing date that happens to land right after a complaint or medical leave. A poorly run PIP can become Exhibit A for the employee. The short answer: a failed PIP sup