West's Encyclopedia of American Law | Just Cause

A reasonable and lawful ground for action.

Appearing in statutes, contracts, and court decisions, the term just cause refers to a standard of reasonableness used to evaluate a person's actions in a given set of circumstances. If a person acts with just cause, her or his actions are based on reasonable grounds and committed in GOOD FAITH. Whether just cause exists must be determined by the courts through an evaluation of the facts in each case. For example, in Dubois v. Gentry, 182 Tenn. 103, 184 S.W. 2d 369 (1945), the Supreme Court of Tennessee faced the question of whether a plaintiff who leased a filling station had acted with just cause in terminating a lease contract. The defendant station owner argued that the plaintiff had no right under the terms of the lease to terminate it. The court found that the plaintiff had just cause to terminate...